Masters & Robots 2026: Europe's First Humanoid Robot Fashion Show

The 10th edition of the Masters & Robots conference in Warsaw closed with a first for Europe: a fashion show for humanoid robots and "robotic dogs". Founders, investors and experts spent the preceding sessions debating how to build resilient companies under uncertainty, under the motto "Turbulence ahead. Buckle up!"

Intuition and relationships over hard data

In a panel on running companies in constant uncertainty, moderated by Jarosław Sroka for Sebastian Kulczyk's InCredibles, participants concluded that calculations and data are essential, but intuition, trust and human relationships still decide whether a young tech company survives a market shock.

Przemek Gdański, CEO of BNP Paribas Bank Polski, and neuroscientist Vivienne Ming warned against the human tendency to take shortcuts. Our brains are wired to save energy, they argued, yet only organisations that stay curious and intellectually humble will succeed with technology. Behavioural economist Phil Barden added that algorithms predict repeatable behaviour well but cannot grasp the emotional and social motives behind a new product's success.

Adam Pantanowitz argued, using his own projects, that major breakthroughs rarely come from labs with unlimited budgets. They often emerge under tight financial constraints, when a technology has a clear humanitarian purpose.

Robots on the runway, security in focus

The fashion show was staged with technical support from x-kom robotics and in cooperation with the Institute of Creative Industries, which brought in Polish designers to create collections for the machines. Organisers described it as an artistic reflection on the space humans and machines share.

On cybersecurity, Ramses Gallego of DXC Technology said that in the Internet of Things the key question has shifted from "who has access to what?" to "what has access to what?". Investigative journalist Geoff White argued that cybercrime has become a professional industry, which tech firms can beat only by using AI in defence while keeping people in the loop.

Jowita Michalska, CEO of Digital University, said technology must support people but never replace human judgement in decisions affecting lives. Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski compared digital skills to learning to wear a seatbelt, adding that, unlike with tobacco companies, there are no decades to regulate big tech and educate citizens: "at most a few years".

The conference is organised by Digital University, with BNP Paribas Bank Polski, Kulczyk Investments, InCredibles, DXC Technology and the Ministry of Digital Affairs as strategic partners.