Author
Paige Iven
Paige Iven is a member of NXP’s Corporate Communications team, where she helps drive communications programs that highlight NXP innovation, technology leadership and milestones.
20 Years of NXP: Why the Future Will Be Defined at the Edge
A conversation with NXP Chief Technology Officer Lars Reger
Few leaders have had a front-row seat to the transformation of the semiconductor industry quite like Lars Reger, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Since joining NXP in 2008, Lars has helped drive breakthrough technologies spanning automotive, industrial, IoT, connectivity and edge intelligence. As NXP celebrates its 20th anniversary, we reflect on the innovations that have shaped our journey and look ahead to what comes next.
In this Q&A, Lars shares his perspective on NXP’s evolution over the past two decades, the technologies that have defined our success and why he believes the next chapter of innovation will unfold at the intelligent edge.
FEATURING
Lars Reger
Lars, as NXP marks its 20th anniversary, what stands out most to you about the company’s journey?
Lars: Many things stand out, but most of all, it’s our ability to evolve and innovate with a constantly changing world while remaining grounded in our purpose. Over the last 20 years, we’ve helped shape major technology transitions, from secure connectivity, mobile transactions and smart access into automotive networking, electrification, radar, radio over to industrial automation and intelligent edge computing.
What has always impressed me about NXP is that we don't innovate for technology's sake. We focus on solving real-world problems. Whether it’s helping to make our world more convenient, cars safer, factories smarter or digital interactions more secure, our success has always come from understanding where technology can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Most importantly, those achievements are the result of thousands of talented people around the world who bring curiosity, expertise and determination to work every day. Again and again, I've seen teams find solutions to problems that at first seemed impossible. That's what this milestone means to me personally. It's a reminder that great technology is ultimately created by great people—and I've been fortunate to spend most of NXP's 20-year history working alongside them.
You joined NXP in 2008. What are some of the most significant industry shifts you’ve witnessed during your tenure?
Lars: When I joined NXP, we were helping build the connected world. Today, we're helping build the autonomous one. The focus was largely on making devices digital and connected. Smartphones were transforming how we accessed information, and the cloud was enabling entirely new services.
Today, we are seeing intelligence move out of the cloud and into the physical world. Cars are evolving into software-defined systems. Factories are becoming increasingly autonomous, while buildings and infrastructure are gaining the ability to sense their environment, make decisions and respond in real time. I often describe this as the transition from systems that simply process information to systems that sense, think, connect and act.
That shift is creating what I call the rise of responsible robots. Not necessarily humanoid robots, but intelligent systems that help us move people and goods, manage energy, improve safety and make better use of scarce resources. I call them responsible because they need to earn our trust. If they aren't safe, secure and reliable, they simply won't be adopted.
They must process data securely, make decisions in real time and operate safely reliably, and efficiently at the edge.
Looking back, I think the most remarkable change is that technology is no longer just helping humans make decisions. Increasingly, it is helping systems make the right decisions themselves.
Inspired by our history and driven by what's next, we're continuing to pioneer the intelligent systems of the future. Discover our 20-year journey to learn more.
Earlier this year, CEO Rafael Sotomayor spoke at COMPUTEX on the topic of bringing AI into the real world. How does that connect to NXP's 20-year journey?
Lars: I think it connects perfectly. In many ways, it is the natural next chapter of NXP's journey.
For the past 20 years, we've been building technology for the places where the digital and physical worlds meet—cars, factories, buildings, critical infrastructure and countless everyday devices. Long before the term became fashionable, we were building at the edge.
Today, AI is moving beyond the cloud and into those real-world systems. That's where decades of NXP expertise become highly relevant, in these Physical AI systems. Bringing intelligence into the physical world requires much more than compute. It requires complete system-level expertise spanning processing, connectivity, security, safety and power management. That's why we say the edge is our home.
So, short answer: The first 20 years were about connecting the physical world. The next 20 will be about making it increasingly intelligent and autonomous.
Why do you believe the edge will be so important over the next decade?
Lars: Because the real world happens at the edge.
Over the next decade, we'll see tens of billions of intelligent, connected and purpose-built systems operating in vehicles, factories, buildings and infrastructure. If every decision required constant connectivity and massive cloud compute, they would consume more energy than the world can realistically provide. This simply doesn't scale. The future won't be built around centralized intelligence alone. It will be built around distributed intelligence.
I often compare it to the human nervous system. Your brain doesn't make every decision. Many decisions are made locally and only the most complex ones are escalated. Physical AI will work in a very similar way.
That's why I often say that low power is the new superpower. The winners will be those that deliver the right intelligence in the right place and at the right time, using the least possible energy.
As you look ahead, what excites you most about the next 20 years?
Lars: What excites me most is that we're still at the beginning. Every major technology wave I have witnessed over the last 20 years—connectivity, electrification, automation and AI—has ultimately been about making technology more useful in the real world.
The next step is Physical AI. We are moving from systems that provide information to systems that can sense and understand their environment, think about it and act. I believe we'll look back at this decade as the moment intelligent systems became part of everyday life—helping manage energy, improving mobility, increasing productivity and making our world safer and more sustainable.
And what excites me even more is that NXP is right at the center of that transformation. The capabilities that will define the next generation of intelligent systems are areas where we have spent decades building deep expertise.
The next 20 years won't simply be an extension of the last 20. They will be even more transformative. We are only at the beginning of what intelligent systems can do for society.