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E62: The Rise of Physical AI and What It Means for Us

Research @ Citi Podcast  •  Podcast  •  January 15, 2026
Citi logo, Research @ Citi, Episode 62, title- The Rise of Physical AI and What it Means for Us, speakers images and names, two bulls
Research

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Physical AI marks a critical evolution beyond traditional automation and robotics, integrating AI into real-world physical processes to enable unprecedented design optimization and autonomy across industries
  • The widespread deployment of IoT and digital twins provides the essential data and simulation environments, serving as the foundational building blocks for Physical AI's self-learning and optimization capabilities
  • Physical AI adoption is positioned for substantial industrial growth, driven by increasing efficiency demands and labor challenges, leading to a potential re-allocation of capital expenditures and accelerated productivity gains

Elise Badoy, Head of Europe, UK, Middle East and Africa Equity Research, sits down with Martin Wilkie, Head of Capital Goods Research, to discuss physical AI, how it's transforming industrial processes, and why advances in robotics are about more than humanoid designs.

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Elise Badoy is a Managing Director and Head of Equity Research in EMEA. Elise joined Citi in February 2010 and is a member of the Global Research Executive Committee. Prior to Citi, Elise worked at Goldman Sachs from 1999 to 2009, initially on the buy-side at GSAM and from 2001 in GS's Global Investment Research division covering the Consumer Staples sector. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, she worked at Daiwa Securities in Equity Capital Markets and at ING Barings in Investment Banking.

image of Elise Badoy

Martin Wilkie heads the European Capital Goods Research team and also heads the Global Capital Goods research pod and the Automation Theme Group at Citi Research. He has been an industrials analyst since 2003, having had various other roles in banking since 1994. He is based in London and started with Citi in 2015. Martin previously worked at Deutsche Bank from 2006 to 2015 also covering the Capital Goods sector, having also worked previously at Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

image of Martin Wilkie

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