The physical world is becoming increasingly complex, and the rise of Physical AI, autonomous robots, intelligent sensors, and embedded decision-making, will only accelerate this trend.

Managing this complexity requires more than passive monitoring: it calls for digital counterparts that actively work side by side with physical assets. This talk presents Digital Twins not just as simulations, but as active digital entities that continuously integrate real-time data, historical knowledge, algorithms, and AI models, including AI agents, to support and increasingly act on behalf of physical systems.

We discuss how this shift redefines Digital Twins as a core enabler for managing the growing complexity of Industrial IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems, and what challenges, from trustworthiness to temporal consistency, must be addressed to make these intelligent digital counterparts reliable in industrial settings.

Attendees will leave with a clear vision of why active, AI-augmented Digital Twins are becoming essential as physical systems grow more autonomous and complex.