An industrial group is selling part of its business and is not talking about withdrawing, but rather sharpening its focus: Thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology has sold its Automation Engineering business unit to Munich-based Agile Robots. The deal, announced in November 2025, has now been completed. For both sides, it is more than just a change of ownership. It is a change of roles.

At thyssenkrupp, the direction is clear. Away from breadth and towards focus. In future, the segment will concentrate on chassis, components, aftermarket and forging business. Automation Engineering no longer fits into this picture - at least not in its previous form.

"With the successful completion of the transaction, we have taken another important step in the implementation of our strategy. This paves the way for Automation Engineering's further development under a strong industrial owner. At the same time, we are further sharpening our portfolio with a view to growth and capital market viability," says CEO Volkmar Dinstuhl.

What sounds sober is part of a larger pattern: industrial companies are reorganizing. Capital-intensive, complex areas are being divested if others can develop them better. Growth is no longer necessarily generated in-house.

Automation Engineering becomes Krause Automation

Automation Engineering becomes Krause Automation. The new name was not chosen at random. It builds on more than 75 years of engineering tradition and is also intended to mark a new start.

Under the umbrella of Agile Robots, it becomes an independent provider of industrial automation. One that combines traditional strengths - special machine construction, plant integration - with new technologies: Robotics and artificial intelligence.

Agile Robots has made targeted acquisitions for this purpose. With the acquired assets in Europe and North America, the company is not only expanding its portfolio, but also its reach. New markets, new customers, closer relationships with OEMs.

Above all, however, something is emerging that has just become a promise in the industry: an end-to-end offering. From the industrial robot to the finished production system. From planning to project completion.

Physical AI - the great promise

Agile Robots calls this "Physical AI". This refers to the combination of artificial intelligence and physical machines. Systems that are not only programmed, but also learn. They perceive their environment, process data and adapt.

"This step reflects our ambition to realize the full potential of Physical AI for the global industry," says CEO and founder Zhaopeng Chen.

And he specifies: "The result: complete manufacturing systems in which all elements are intelligent, networked and continuously learning".

Elsewhere, he puts it in more accessible terms: "The result is complete manufacturing systems in which all elements are smart and networked with each other. They can then learn continuously."

That sounds like the future. In fact, it is already the present - at least to some extent. Agile Robots claims to have installed more than 20,000 robotic solutions. The company, founded by researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), sees itself as a bridge between research and the factory floor.

Germany can - still

The takeover is also a signal in the direction of the location debate. German industry is under pressure: transformation of the automotive sector, global competition, rising costs. And yet there are still arguments in favor of the location.

Mechanical engineering expertise. Industrial know-how. But above all: data. Real production data, collected over decades.

"By combining the AI capabilities of Agile Robots with the engineering expertise of Krause Automation, the joint company is a strong example of what German industry can achieve on a global scale - with intelligent automation solutions for customers, from robot hardware and AI software to complete system integration, developed and delivered from Germany," says Rolf-Günther Nieberding, who will lead Krause Automation as CEO in the future.

Those who master robotics and AI are no longer tied to one industry

This marks the start of a new chapter for Krause Automation. Under the new owner, sectors that previously played no role are opening up: Consumer electronics, medical technology and logistics.

The logic behind this is simple: those who master robotics and AI are no longer tied to one industry. Automation is becoming a cross-sectional technology.

And yet an old question remains: Who can really integrate these systems? Technology alone is not enough. It's about implementation, about engineering, about the interaction of many parts.

This is precisely the bet of this deal. That the combination of decades of experience and new technology will result in more than the sum of its parts. Or, to put it another way: that the machine will not just be faster. But smarter.