Embedded World 2025 was the latest edition of the premier show for the embedded industry. Various industry players, including chip manufacturers, IoT device vendors and software specialists exhibited their latest innovations. Counterpoint Senior Analyst Parv Sharma and Research Analyst Taimur Zafar discussed key takeaways from Embedded World 2025, with trends including Edge AI, low-power solutions, Wi-Fi and automotive.

The Interview

Key Takeaways

Edge AI

• Edge AI was the key trend at Embedded World 2025, with most vendors showcasing edge AI solutions.
• AI integration is happening at CPU, GPU or NPU depending on the use case.
• Low-power solutions are becoming more critical for Edge AI, particularly in industrial IoT use cases.
• Edge AI is more secure, avoiding sensitive information being sent to the cloud, and reducing security vulnerabilities. Important for industrial, enterprise and consumer IoT.
• Edge AI enables lower latency and more natural interaction with AI. Improving user experience and providing a true agentic AI solution.

Wi-Fi

• Gateways are becoming smarter, enabling AI routers and gateways. On-device AI solutions will enhance user experience.
• Enterprise gateways providing UWB and Wi-Fi 7 are increasing the amount of use cases delivered by a single device.
• This enables real-time video analytics, location tracking and access control. These devices can also run AI models with smarter notifications and video analysis.

Cybersecurity

• The key use case for edge AI avoids the cloud, providing a more secure AI use case. Particularly important in industrial and enterprise solutions but consumer data is also very sensitive.
• Qualcomm’s Aramco demonstration showcases an AI assistant that can help engineers identify, use and troubleshoot different machinery. Models running locally and trained on user manuals of Aramco equipment.
• Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) in Europe to safeguard consumers and businesses. Device vendors and chipset manufacturers must provide software support for devices to ensure security updates. Potential fines of 2.5% of revenue.

Analyst Take

• Edge AI was the core theme at Embedded World 2025, with security and low latency being key drivers for its uptake.
• While Edge AI solves security and latency issues, a hybrid approach, utilizing both cloud-based AI and AI on the edge is required depending on a particular use case. This will enable the best user experience while maintaining security for sensitive applications.
• Wi-Fi gateways are becoming more complex, running AI models on-device and providing improved experiences. Industrial and enterprise gateways can particularly benefit from more complexity. Incorporating UWB and Wi-Fi in a single access point is very useful and can deliver multiple applications in a single device.