ZHAW’s CAI Captivates Global Audience at WEF 2026
Under the motto “Touching Intelligence,” a delegation from ZHAW’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI) showcased the future of embodied AI at the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.
The Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI) at ZHAW had a strong presence at the World Economic Forum 2026, bringing the concept of “Touching Intelligence” to life. Represented by Dr. Jorge Peña Queralta, Pascal Sager, Patrick Giedemann and Linus Stuhlmann, the CAI team demonstrated how AI is evolving into physical, interactive systems that can be experienced firsthand.
A central element of the presence was the promotion of the Davos Tech Summit. The CAI team presented its robotic systems at various locations including the AI House and the Promenade to showcase the current capabilities of autonomous systems. This was part of a preview of the Davos Robot City that will come alive for the first time in July this year.
A humanoid robot drew crowds by performing fluid dance routines, highlighting breakthroughs in robot learning and human-robot alignment. This was joined by an agile quadruped robodog and a robotic dinosaur from CAI’s spin-off Binabik.ai, which added a unique dimension to the Robot City experience.
The robots walking on the promenade was a highlight for many spectators and attracted media from all over the world, from China or India to European outlets, with a very prominent coverage from several DACH media institutions as for example RTL and 20mins. Even though it was already covered broadly by mainstream media, this didn’t hold back local spectators from filming themselves and adding their encounter to their personal social media feeds.
The team’s activities extended beyond the technical demonstrations. A highlight of the week included a photo shooting in the mountains, capturing the striking contrast between the rugged Alpine landscape and the cutting-edge technology of the robots, as well a strong media presence in local and international newspapers and television.
By engaging with global leaders and the public, the CAI successfully demonstrated that the next frontier of artificial intelligence might be physical, mobile, and tangible.
We were lucky, that with so much technology, we only experienced a few little hiccups, as for example the Robodog in the Dino costume overheated from time to time, and we had to carry it ourselves. On a sidenote: this thing is heavier than it looks.
Besides that, we can definitely highlight that this marketing stunt was a full success for the Davos Tech Summit, ZHAW and Binabik AI. We will be back to Davos no later than July this year!