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Cedrik Neike

Member of the Managing Board (CEO Digital Industries), Siemens

Search every verified Cedrik Neike interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, visited the company’s Nanjing Lighthouse Factory in July 2026, where he participated in AI-guided assembly on the shop floor. During the visit, Neike stated that "the factories of the futures will be built in the digital world before built in the real world" and noted that the Nanjing factory was first constructed as a digital twin in the metaverse. He also said that Siemens has been in China for more than 150 years and that the G200 Sinamics inverter was "designed in China for China, but also for the rest of the world." In April 2026, Neike participated in a panel discussion with Pringles leaders on digital transformation in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. He described CPG as a $2.5 to $3 trillion industry with "enormous responsibility" and said that "great taste does not need to produce great waste." Neike discussed using digital twins and AI to create an "infinite cycle of learning and innovation" in manufacturing, adding that the industrial metaverse is being built "use case by use case and thread by thread."

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“CPG is one of the world's largest industries, worth I think, between 2.5 and 3 trillion dollars. It isn't highly consolidated; only around 10% consists of large enterprises. And it carries enormous responsibility, because we need to understand what technology can do, since so many people depend on this industry.”

“The only chance in Europe we have is fast adoption and using the capability and knowledge we have. And we were on a panel on the BDI yesterday. Three out of the four biggest electrical companies, infrastructure companies in the world are European. Three out of the four biggest automation companies are European. We have to take that advantage. But the reality every time we wait is something we lose.”

“China has today the most advanced factories in the world. If you want to see the most advanced factories in the world, you go to China. You go to a Xiaomi. China has more AI engineers than any other country in the world and they're going forward... So instead of being afraid of China and cutting them out, we have to lean forward and compete in China. We did something as Siemens. We put a lot of engineering into China”

“The reality is is that the decision on what's going to happen AI will change if Germany will be successful or not. It's absolutely clear. So we need to invest and we will do a lot of mistakes. So the reality we will have to spend the money. We as Siemens will put a billion dollars in on the AI and it's still not enough to be able to do it. The question is is we cannot do it alone and we need to work with others... we”

“India is really on the verge to leapfrog in terms of manufacturing. It has built the infrastructure it needed because you need infrastructure without infrastructure you cannot do manufacturing. Now it needs to lean in in manufacturing but it needs to be careful not to do the manufacturing of the old but the manufacturing of the future because it's not going to be about cheap labor anymore, it's going to be about how ”

“Consumer AI is very strong in the US. It's also in China. Now, everybody is pivoting towards industrial AI. And I think this is the big chance of Europe and other countries which are very industrially focused, Korea, Japan to actually take on this because for AI you need data and for data you need to really train your industrial knowledge. So I think Europe has a chance as long as it's not overregulating to have that”

Other executives at Siemens

  • Roland Busch, President & Chief Executive Officer
  • Jim Snabe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
  • Peter Koerte, Member of the Managing Board, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer

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