We are living through a moment in which AI is spreading faster than any technology before it. Yet at the same time, Large Language Models (LLMs) are beginning to show their limitations. The real breakthrough will not come from systems that can merely talk and generate, but from AI that can see, hear, sense, and act in the physical world.

Using a simple but powerful framework—the four waves of AI (Perception, Generative, Agentic, and Physical AI)—Pieter explains how intelligence evolves, why Big Tech is investing heavily in AGI, and why hardware, wearables, and so-called large world models are the missing link.

What happens when intelligence breaks out of the screen and starts operating among people? What does this mean for work, organizations, leadership, relationships, and human meaning? And perhaps most importantly: is this a future we actually want?

This keynote deliberately balances between utopia and dystopia. It is neither a doomsday narrative nor a techno-evangelical pitch, but an invitation to think, to position, and to choose. Designed for leaders who understand that technology is no longer an IT issue, but a strategic and deeply human challenge.

No hype. No science-fiction futurism.

Just a clear framework to understand the next ten years—and to anticipate them more intelligently, starting today.