Empowering the Fifth Industrial Revolution: How Wandelbots and Microsoft Are Enabling Physical AI in Manufacturing

A new era for industrial innovation

Manufacturing is entering a new age. Across industries – from automotive to electronics – companies are realizing that the future of competitiveness depends on their ability to connect physical operations with intelligent, adaptive systems.

We call this transformation the Fifth Industrial Revolution: a world where artificial intelligence extends beyond data centers and software into the physical realm – the rise of Physical AI.

In this new era, robots are no longer rigid machines executing pre-programmed tasks. They are learning, self-optimizing systems that collaborate with humans, adapt to change, and continuously improve. But getting there requires a fundamental shift in how we think about automation.

What if the biggest unlock isn’t another robot?

What if the biggest unlock for your factory wasn’t an additional robot or another MES upgrade, but the ability to run automation with the same reliability, governance, and scalability your enterprise already expects from the cloud?

Manufacturing leaders are confronting a new reality:business cycles are accelerating, AI demands integrated data, engineering capacity is limited, and production systems must adapt faster than traditional automation architectures allow.

Cloud providers such as Microsoft have built the digital backbone – identity, governance, high-performance compute, data services – required to run industrial workflows at scale. NVIDIA provides advanced simulation and accelerated computing for modeling physical behavior.

The question is no longer whether these capabilities exist, but how manufacturers can combine them to modernize the operational core of their factories.

The limiting factor is rarely strategy. It is the disconnect between the shop floor and the enterprise systems above it.

The collaboration that makes it possible

At Wandelbots, we believe software is the key to unlocking this revolution. Our platform, Wandelbots NOVA, acts as the software layer for robotics, enabling robots to learn, communicate, and improve – regardless of brand or model.

In most factories today, automation logic is still embedded in isolated controllers across robots, stations, and tools. This creates a structural gap: MES and ERP systems hold the business logic, Azure holds compute and intelligence, but the shop floor cannot provide the contextual, real-time data needed to close the loop.

A software-defined execution layer – such as Wandelbots NOVA OS – bridges this divide by providing a unified interface for heterogeneous equipment. Once operational data becomes standardized and accessible, higher-level systems can finally integrate production behavior, quality signals, and asset context into enterprise decision-making.

Together with Microsoft, we are building the foundation that makes this transformation possible. NOVA connects the Operational Technology (OT) world of robotics with the Information Technology (IT) world of cloud and AI.

Built on Microsoft Azure, NOVA Cloud provides a secure, scalable infrastructure to manage robots at enterprise scale. Using services such as Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Arc, and Azure Fabric, NOVA enables seamless cloud-to-edge orchestration, so robots on the factory floor can be programmed, monitored, and optimized directly from the cloud.

From connected data to intelligent operations

Since early 2025, we’ve strengthened NOVA’s data layer through close collaboration with Microsoft and NVIDIA.With NOVA Cloud, manufacturers can now define which data to extract, analyze, and iterate on – empowering fleet management, advanced path planning, continuous optimization, and predictive operations.

The result is a bi-directional data flow between the shopfloor and IT systems, integrating seamlessly with management tools, BI systems, or third-party services.

By closing this loop, companies can:

• establish global standards to simplify operations and accelerate rollouts,

• drive continuous process optimization, for example achieving near-zero quality issues,

• and build the foundation for self-optimizing, dark-factory concepts.

In other words, automation stops being a black box and becomes a transparent, software-defined capability that the entire enterprise can reason about.

Using simulation as the engine for continuous improvement

Once the operational layer is connected, simulation becomes a strategic asset rather than a side project.

NVIDIA Omniverse and Isaac Sim, running on Azure, enable teams to test, optimize, and validate new workflows before deployment. Simulation-first engineering reduces downtime, accelerates changeovers, and creates the rich data foundation required for AI-driven optimization.

This creates an end-to-end flow: shop floor → unified execution layer → simulation → cloud intelligence → governed deployment → shop floor

It’s a continuous improvement loop that makes Physical AI practical – grounded in real data, real constraints, and real production outcomes.

Driving progress for people, not just machines

The Fifth Industrial Revolution is not about replacing people – it’s about empowering them.

Wandelbots’ mission to democratize robotics remains unchanged: we enable anyone – regardless of technical background – to teach, deploy, and manage robots easily. A software-defined layer means operators, engineers, and developers can collaborate on automation using tools and interfaces that make sense for their roles.

Our collaboration with Microsoft amplifies this vision. Together, we’re bringing the power of cloud, data, and AI into the hands of every manufacturer – so they can adapt faster, operate smarter, and shape the next generation of intelligent, sustainable production.

Looking ahead

As the lines between digital and physical continue to blur, Wandelbots NOVA will evolve to support the next wave of robotics – from industrial arms to humanoids and drones.

With the integration of Generative AI and foundation models, NOVA will ensure that even the most advanced robots remain accessible, usable, and part of a continuously learning ecosystem. New robot forms will require new programming concepts, and our platform is designed to make those concepts available to real factories, not just research labs.

The Fifth Industrial Revolution has begun.And together with Microsoft, we’re making Physical AI the driving force behind it.

At Microsoft Ignite, Wandelbots is presenting alongside Microsoft and NVIDIA to showcase how a software-defined automation strategy enables Physical AI in real factory environments. The sessions highlight how Wandelbots NOVA connects robotics with Azure services and NVIDIA simulation to deliver enterprise-ready automation that is adaptive, data-driven, and scalable across global operations.