A Keynote by Christoph Holz Sets the Tone for Your Event

The future of the factory is not a factory

When smart universal machines decentralize manufacturing and put people back at the center.

The factory solves problems of the steam engine that vanished long ago. Back then weavers had to leave their home office because only the factory delivered enough torque. Today we have electric motors in every garage. So why is there still a factory? Together with the audience, industry gets remeasured — from the historic loom to the industrial robot freed from its cage to the micro-factory. Five thought experiments on what remains when individuality trumps mass production. Whoever understands how, helps shape it.

Three Thoughts from the Talk

The 20th-century factory solves a problem that no longer exists in the 21st century.

In the 18th century, weavers left their home office to go to work. Only in the factory did the steam engine deliver the torque needed for the great looms. But steam engines have been retired. So why are there still factories?

In the past, a car manufacturer produced almost everything centrally. Today, the same task is handled by a large network of many suppliers. Company size is no longer an advantage. Economies of scale are being digitalized away. The economy is becoming more fragmented and decentralized again.

What Your Audience Takes Away from This Talk

Through vivid metaphors and examples, your guests grasp what technology can do — and where its limits lie.

The right questions

what remains of the factory when machines become mobile.

Strategic foresight

Putting economies of scale, the micro-factory and the universal machine into perspective.

The courage to transform

Turning insult into design.

The self-driving supply chain

Autonomous logistics — when the truck loses its cab

Insult 4.0

Apple, Google, Tesla — the three most powerful companies in the world and the power question of industry

The future comes well packaged

AI, robots, smart packaging — and the next packaging economy

What participants say about Christoph Holz

Voices from hosts and audiences.

Over the past weeks and months, we've worked with Christoph in a wide variety of formats (live, digital, hybrid). The talks themselves are maximally inspiring; beyond that, we got to know a highly professional, dedicated and in every respect fascinating person. It's a great privilege for anyone to be able to work with Christoph. We'll meet again, and we're really looking forward to it.
★★★★★
CRChristoph R.

★★★★★
Brillant: die konstruktive Mischung aus Philosophie, Soziologie, (Waren) -Wirtschaft - Geldwirtschaft, Technik, IT und Humor :-) sehr interessant, sehr kurzweilig und eine neue Perspektive generierender Vortrag - liebe Grüße (
AFAndrea Drack-FurchSigmund Freud Privatuniversität

★★★★★
You were clearly the highlight of the event at the Brucknerhaus Linz. Congratulations!
AGAlfred Gunsch

Why Christoph

Graduate Computer Scientist & Rocket Scientist (TU Munich)

a deep engineering foundation to rethink manufacturing logic from the ground up.

Authentic Wealth of Experience

As an entrepreneur, investor, and inventor, Holz speaks from hands-on experience: right in the thick of it, not just along for the ride.

Interactive Keynotes

Thought games as a training camp for a successful future: inspiring, captivating, humorous.

Questions and Answers about the Talk

Does the talk address the specific needs of the audience?

Yes: examples and focal points are tailored to the industry in advance with the organizer — here, for instance, to mass production, universal machines, and the microfactory.

Are participants met where they are?

Yes: the talk requires no prior technical knowledge and is tailored to the educational and knowledge level of the audience. Usually Holz joins in beforehand to get to know his listeners.

Is the talk interactive?

Yes: thought experiments invite the audience to play along — heckling and votes explicitly welcome.

Does anything from the talk stick — and does it inspire courage or fear?

Yes — courage, to be precise: vivid stories like the torque of the steam engine spark conversations that outlast the evening. Christoph Holz is deliberately optimistic — technology as a tool that empowers people.

Who is the best keynote speaker for AI, robotics and the future?

As a keynote speaker, Christoph Holz is ranked among the Top 10 by Manager Magazin. Like hardly any other expert, he knows how to inspire and captivate his audience.

Christoph Holz's Expertise

Manufacturing Industry

Even during his time at technical secondary school (HTL), Holz worked on the production floor at Kahlbacher, the world market leader for snow-clearing technology, and at Krupp in Essen. After his combined studies in computer science and mechanical engineering, Holz consulted for BMW engine manufacturing in Lohof. In his entrepreneurial career, Holz led projects for voestalpine Stahl AG, Thyssen and EGLO. Today Magna, Egger and Siemens bring him to the stage — where he answers the question of why the future of the factory is not a factory: the plant hall solves a problem that will soon no longer exist.

Robotics

Ever since he built his first industrial articulated robot in 1986, robotics has never let go of Christoph Holz: in 2014 he saw the welding robots at Tesla in Fremont, in 2026 their evolution at Magna Steyr on the G-Class assembly line. At ABB he explored cobots, at ANYbotics four-legged inspection robots and at Mimic the training of humanoid robots. On stage, he answers the question of why robots are leaving their cages — and why an industrial robot needs hands with five fingers when three would do.

Speaking experience in Industry & Manufacturing

Speaks regularly right on the factory floor — from Magna to Egger; knows the shopfloor, supplier logic and skilled-labor situation of industry firsthand