From prototype to production: How Qualcomm Dragonwing powers industrial and enterprise transformation with edge AI
What you should know:
- Qualcomm Dragonwing processors are helping to drive AI‑enabled digital transformation at scale, leveraging a broad technology portfolio of AI, connectivity and computing products and solutions.
- We collaborate closely with the global IoT ecosystem to deliver cutting-edge, scalable edge AI solutions that create value in multiple industry verticals.
- At Embedded World 2026, we’re showcasing solutions powered by our industrial processors and AI on-prem appliances, demonstrating how they enable real‑world, edge AI across diverse use cases.
In just a few years, AI has leaped from research labs to the real world. As this momentum accelerates, AI is no longer a vision, but a reality. One which is not confined to the cloud, instead quickly moving to the edge. Generative AI, agentic AI and physical AI are now being embedded directly into the devices and infrastructure that power our world. This imminent shift changes the game, especially for teams moving from prototype to production — success depends not on training the largest models, but on deploying AI that is efficient, secure and scalable where it matters the most. At Qualcomm Technologies, our edge AI processors portfolio is purpose-built for this future, designed to enable intelligence across industries, from early validation to scaled deployment.
That’s the difference between edge AI in theory and edge AI in production. Edge AI is where artificial intelligence matures from only running in centralized data centers to distributed, real-world deployments. Real-time decisions can't wait for the cloud. Sensitive data can't risk exposure. Billions of devices can't rely on constant connectivity. Purpose-built edge AI processors solve all these challenges, embedding intelligence directly into the devices and AI appliances.
Unleashing full-scale industrial intelligence with Dragonwing processors
Our journey in industrial and embedded IoT began many years ago, culminating in the launch of our most advanced, industrial-grade Dragonwing IQ Series processors in 2024, including the Dragonwing IQ6, IQ8 and IQ9. These processors are designed to bring AI to the edge across factories, warehouses and infrastructure. In 2025, we expanded this portfolio with the Dragonwing IQ-X Series, powering the next generation industrial PCs running Microsoft Windows. Most recently at CES 2026, we unveiled our flagship Dragonwing IQ10 Series of industrial processors, marking our entry into advanced robotics.
Together, this comprehensive portfolio is designed to enable us to scale edge intelligence without forcing teams to re-architect as they grow across every industrial vertical and tier, supporting AI processing from 1 TOPS for sensor-level intelligence to 350 dense TOPS for complex vision and decision-making tasks. For customers requiring even greater AI capability, our AI on-premises appliances deliver peta-flop-class performance and can run 200B-parameter models on a single system. This enterprise-grade performance keeps data and processing local, which is an important capability for industrial applications with strict security, privacy, reliability and latency requirements.
Dragonwing IQ Series Processors
Proof points: Showcasing edge AI industrial applications at Embedded World 2026
At Embedded World 2026 in Nuremberg, we’re bringing more than 20 demonstrations powered by our industrial processors and AI on-prem appliances. These demos reflect the momentum we’ve built turning prototypes into deployable systems to drive digital transformation across industries, in close collaboration with our partner ecosystem, to make AI real and scalable. This theme is explored across distinct focus areas including developer enablement and solutions that span from commercial and industrial to robotics. If you are at the show, be sure to drop by our booth in Hall 5, Stand #5-161. If not, let me spotlight a selection of these areas to illustrate how edge AI is delivering value across multiple verticals and use cases.
Developers: Introducing a new, more powerful Arduino platform
Powered by the Dragonwing IQ8-Series processor, the Arduino VENTUNO Q combines Arduino's developer-friendly ecosystem with industrial-grade edge AI performance of up to 40 dense TOPS. This new platform democratizes access to production-ready AI development, enabling engineers to rapidly build and deploy edge AI systems. To showcase its capabilities, we have multiple demos on display at the Qualcomm and Arduino booths, including an interactive smart mirror, an engaging chatbot, an AMR and more.
Industrial solutions: Boosting operational efficiency and safety
For the broader industrial use cases, we are bringing several demos in coordination with partners to highlight how connected intelligence can help enhance operational efficiency, safety and productivity. Below, let me spotlight four important use cases:
Production line automation
Collaborating with Qt Group and Edge Impulse, we are making great strides aimed at radically improving the development experience for AI-driven industrial software. Our demonstration exhibits distributed edge AI on multiple interconnected manufacturing sites. Powered by Dragonwing IQ9, the demo showcases four AI applications — visual defect detection, equipment fault detection, worker safety and AI factory assistant — with multiple AI models operating simultaneously. Additionally, we enabled Dragonwing IQ6-based Human Machine Interface (HMI) devices running on-device face detection for operator access and AI tethering with Dragonwing IQ9 to leverage AI factory assistant remotely. With AI tethering, operators using Dragonwing IQ6-based HMIs are not limited by the on-device AI and simple monitoring of the data, but they are able to leverage the power of Dragonwing IQ9 to help get prescriptive responses on the defects and manufacturing lines.
Real-time quality inspection
By analyzing visual data in real time, edge AI can be trained to detect defects, variations and anomalies early on the manufacturing line, improving production yield, reducing waste and helping to ensure consistent quality. In collaboration with CODESYS, we are demonstrating an industrial PC for PCB defect detection, running Windows on Dragonwing IQ-X that supports EtherCAT, motor control, image processing and AI chatbot. It also demonstrates Qt for user interface.
PLC and HMI consolidation
We demonstrate consolidation of PLC and HMI functions on a single Dragonwing IQ9 platform through virtualization. Here, Real-Time Linux is used to run CODESYS for PLC application enabling low-jitter motor control over EtherCAT, while virtualized Windows HMI on the same Dragonwing IQ9 platform shows the data for monitoring and control. This consolidation of various functions and devices over single platform through virtualization is designed to give customers flexibility to implement, scale, add and modify capabilities as the factory evolves. Additionally, consolidation can lead to reduced hardware and maintenance costs.
Industrial AI gateway
A core challenge in industrial networking is connecting a diverse set of sensors and devices that support different connectivity standards. Our Dragonwing IQ9 based industrial gateway is purpose-built to address this, supporting 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, Ethernet and other communication standards, while designed to deliver powerful edge AI for sensor fusion and other edge AI workloads. Our demo aims to show how on-device vision processing can support worker safety, integrate with industrial SCADA systems to enable real-time production monitoring, and support simplified device management.
Commercial solutions: Transforming customer experiences
Edge AI redefines enterprise productivity and operations when it’s designed to deploy consistently at scale. With cutting-edge VLMs and LLMs, organizations can personalize interactions, improve efficiency and strengthen security, all while keeping data closer to where it’s generated. Here are a few demos that highlight edge AI in the commercial environment:
Intelligent video security
VLMs combine computer vision with natural‑language reasoning to unlock richer video insights, from scene understanding to intelligent action triggering. Running these models at the edge enables faster decisions and stronger data privacy. Our demo showcases multiple Dragonwing IQ9‑based solutions, including a video surveillance demo based on the Qualcomm Insight Platform, a performance comparison against a competitor’s solution and an example of multiple VLM instances running simultaneously on a single device.
Digital retail signage
Our Dragonwing processor platforms also enable a wide range of AI‑driven retail experiences designed to elevate customer engagement. In collaboration with BRICKS, we’re demonstrating an Dragonwing IQ9-based interactive digital signage solution that powers more intelligent, dynamic storefront interactions.
AI-enabled fast-food kiosk
In collaboration with Consult Red, we’re also demonstrating a voice‑enabled fast‑food ordering kiosk that runs Android on Linux with the Dragonwing IQ9 industrial processor, featuring on‑device voice control powered by multiple AI models. Using Android on Linux, we can now run modern Android apps on a highly powerful edge AI industrial platforms that are also ruggedized and come with long-life support.
Enterprise on-prem AI
Announced at CES 2026, the Edge Impulse On-Prem AI can enable secure local AI inference and MLOps for a wide range of use cases. Customers can run inference for models up to 120B parameters, like GPT-OSS 120B, at just 150W on one Qualcomm Cloud AI 100 Ultra card. This architecture offers enterprise-grade precision, secure operation, private networks and full offline support.
The appliance also powers on‑premise generative AI enterprise workloads, as demonstrated through collaborations with context.ai for content creation. In telecom, we have supported Lanner and Ecrio to enable telecom and generative AI applications. We also collaborate with partners like Aramco for oil & gas and Siemens for industrial projects. To scale, we work with hardware vendors such as Aetina, Advantech, XSLAB and AUK Computing.
Advanced robotics: Leading the physical AI revolution
Our Dragonwing processors are helping to power the future of physical AI, where prototype-to-production gaps are most visible, to deliver end‑to‑end robotics solutions that scale intelligence from household robots to full‑size humanoids. Our demos showcase our work with partners and customers across a broad range of robotics use cases. We are also highlighting how we scale robotics development and deployment, from rapid prototyping on Dragonwing IQ8 with VENTUNO Q to an Advantech and Autocore AMR prototype, and more. Learn more about our latest robotics progress.
We are also launching Dragonwing Robotics Hub, built on the Arduino Project Hub, to accelerate this journey with ready‑to‑run samples and end‑to‑end workflows spanning sensors, Dragonwing compute, edge AI and robotics control, complete with schematics, documentation, tutorials and reusable sample code. Learn more about our latest robotics progress.
What’s next: Scaling deployable edge AI beyond the show floor
At Qualcomm Technologies, we're not just talking about transforming industries, we're leading it. Through our integrated portfolio of purpose-built edge AI solutions, we're working closely with industry leaders to solve real-world challenges across industrial, commercial, robotics and beyond to help teams move from evaluation to deployment with confidence.
The momentum is accelerating and 2026 promises to be a pivotal year for scaling AI to the edge. Follow us for upcoming announcements as we continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
