How do you explain hundreds of robotics products to thousands of global attendees with fluency, clarity and a human touch? At Automatica 2025, ABB and experiential marketing agency 2Heads answered that question with ABBigail, an AI-powered metahuman who served as the company’s technical expert, digital host and brand storyteller.
ABB, a global leader in robotics and automation, arrived at Automatica in Munich, Germany, with a packed slate of product announcements: new robots, software tools, and programming innovations designed to make automation more accessible across manufacturing and automotive sectors. But with hundreds of SKUs, siloed technical specialists, and audiences from around the world, ABB faced a perennial trade show challenge: How do you unify complex innovations into a clear, cohesive narrative?
Enter ABBigail. Designed as a bilingual 38-year-old robotics engineer with eight years of experience and an expert in her field, she was trained on vast sets of product data and more than 70 topics, and could explain complex robotics concepts while feeling friendly and approachable to attendees.
“ABBigail’s superpower is the capacity to connect the dots between software and hardware, sustainability and strategy, product and purpose, which would have been hard for an individual staff member or one silo,” says Karoline Winzer, creative technologist at 2Heads, who led the team that designed her. “But equally, we do need to be careful about how we design and develop these interactions going forward so that we don’t replace human connection but rather, use the AI capabilities and tools to augment an immersive trade show experience.”
How did staffers feel about her in the booth?
Initially, they were a little skeptical about a metahuman being able to answer technical questions, but the trust grew exponentially as they kept testing her knowledge, Winzer says. Pretty soon she became a go-to source. “We were also surprised by the variety of interactions people had with her. Questions varied from ABB products to general conversations to who was her favorite robot.”
This level of interaction wouldn’t have been possible a year ago, Winzer says. As people get more comfortable with AI as part of their daily lives, a metahuman interaction as a branded experience is a logical new frontier.
“AI has enormous potential,” says Winzer. “If we do it right, it opens up an entire world of storytelling that augments human capacity as it exists. What we need to be really clear on is how we create those interactions moving forward to not replace a human connection but enhance what is already possible. There are a lot of creative ways forward.”
Photos courtesy of 2Heads
