admin The message from Kuka lands at an awkward moment for European industry. Data from Eurostat show that 20% of EU enterprises with at least 10 employees used at least one AI technology in 2025, up sharply from earlier years, but the figure also underlines how much of the bloc’s corporate sector still has not adopted the technology. In manufacturing, the share was 17.3%, trailing more digitally intensive sectors such as information and communication. That gap matters for a region trying to defend its industrial base against rivals in North America and Asia that are investing more aggressively in software, automation and advanced production systems.
Schell’s argument is not that Europe lacks industrial expertise. On conventional automation, the region remains formidable. The International Federation of Robotics said on April 8 that Western Europe reached a record robot density of 267 units per 10,000 manufacturing employees in 2024, ahead of North America’s 204 and Asia’s 131. Germany ranked third globally at 449. Those figures show that Europe is still deeply automated in established factory operations, especially in engineering-heavy sectors.
Yet robot density does not tell the whole story. The same robotics data show Asia continues to dominate installation growth, while China alone accounted for 54% of all robots installed worldwide in 2024, with about 295,000 units. The federation’s 2025 industry outlook was blunt that Europe is set to remain absent as a growth driver this year, with weakness in the automotive sector, high costs and overregulation making the European Union less attractive despite its strong installed base. Installations in Europe are expected to fall below 79,000 in 2025.
That backdrop helps explain why Kuka is broadening its map. In a company strategy update published last month, Kuka said its 2025 revenue was split roughly evenly across EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, a sign that the group is less tied to Europe than it once was. It also said it invested a record €213 million in research and development in 2025, while revenue in China crossed €1 billion for the first time. Kuka has expanded training, research and application centres in Asia, including Vietnam, is building up its presence in India, and has set up a software and AI centre of excellence in Silicon Valley.
For Kuka, the commercial wager is that industrial customers are moving from rule-based automation to systems that can interpret intent, learn from data and adapt in real time. The company publicly introduced its Kuka AMP software platform at Nvidia’s GTC event and says the next stage of factory automation will rely on “physical AI” that blends robotics, software, simulation and machine intelligence. Schell has described robots as evolving from programmable machines into intelligent collaborators, while also stressing that traditional automation remains the backbone for safety-critical and high-volume production.
Kuka’s own figures show why the company is eager for a new growth cycle. Its 2024 annual report recorded revenues of €3.7 billion, orders received of €4.1 billion and a workforce of 14,783. Those results reflected a tougher market than the one industrial automation companies enjoyed during the post-pandemic reshoring surge. Kuka’s challenge now is to convert its robotics heritage into a broader software-and-systems offering at a time when customers are demanding lower costs, faster deployment and clearer returns on AI spending.
Ownership also shapes the company’s position. Kuka has been fully controlled by Midea since the squeeze-out of minority shareholders was completed in 2022, cementing its place within a Chinese industrial group while it continues to market itself as a German-founded automation specialist. That dual identity may prove useful as the company seeks growth in both Western and Asian markets, but it also places Kuka in the middle of a more politically sensitive debate over technology supply chains, industrial resilience and strategic dependence.
