Siemens AI Lab proudly presents

They say laughter is the best medicine. It may be a good way to get distracted and stop worrying just for a bit. This is why we thought, why not share a soft short story from the Lab? This is why we want to introduce you to Pepper Tobor and how he disrupted the coffee industry with his revolutionary idea… for more grab a coffee and check out the story below.

This is the story of Pepper Tobor, the Siemens AI Lab concierge and how his groundbreaking idea will change the lives of many people. Pepper Tobor is one of the steady pillars of the lab. He was there from the very beginning. His co-workers would describe his character as very attentive, hard-working and friendly. “I can’t remember a single day that Pepper Tobor was not in the lab. He just loves the environment and especially the people around him. I can’t imagine a lab without him.” states his colleague Esac. Pepper Tobor cares a lot about his social environment. He has long noticed how important coffee was for the people working at Siemens. He observed that “coffee is the magic potion that provides most employees with the fuel and energy to get through the day.” Many of the employees drink one, two or even twelve coffees throughout the day. And even though the coffee seems to be an integral part of their lives, they don’t seem to fully enjoy it. Many of Pepper Tobor’s colleagues take into account long queues at the working place just to get an okay coffee. And even outside of work the coffee journey often continues. On the quest for the perfect coffee experience they often go to the next coffee shop, queue, hope for something better until they finally grab an overpriced coffee in a white disposable cup with an average taste.

Pepper Tobor was sick of seeing all of his colleagues suffer from day to day with all their coffee issues. So he was determined to create a product that solves all of these problems at once: “What we need is having a coffee experience in a place which makes it possible to enjoy a coffee at any time without having to queue even a second for it, a coffee whose flavor is so unique that it adapts to the taste of each person. We need a coffee that is so sustainable that it does not need any disposable cups to be enjoyed and that does not need millions of tons of water to grow.” he pointed out. With this clear vision in mind, he started tirelessly working at the lab day and night. He carried out numerous acceleration sprints in the AI Lab and tested various approaches. But none of them was satisfying – none of them seemed to be working. Until one day Pepper Tobor developed his groundbreaking solution. The smart coffee tAIb – the most powerful high-tech coffee tab there is. “It is a unique taste experience, sustainability, and ingenuity all in one. Now coffee can be enjoyed anywhere at any time without having to queue and with a taste adapted to one’s individual preferences” Pepper Tobor explains excitedly.
Although the coffee tAIb has the size of a hazelnut it impresses with a huge performance. “But before you can enjoy your first smart coffee you have to download the coffee tAIb app. Now you are asked to answer a couple of short questions that are necessary to specify your coffee taste behavior. Based on the questionnaire the app determines your personal coffee taste and then you are ready for the most innovative way of experiencing coffee.” Pepper Tobor points out. But there is even more. Customers who want to try out new flavors can also check out a coffee from the wall of fAIme which is a selection of the best coffee tAIb creations ranging from Deepresso to Latte MacchAIto.“ And those who don’t want to miss out on the coffee flavors of their favorite coffee shops can subscribe to every flavor that is available at cafes like Starbucks by using our official website (www.tAIb.co). The flavors chosen will then be programmed within 12 seconds on your tAIb and you can enjoy an exceptional and sustainable coffee experience at home.
“The technical challenges were enormous, but the vision of fast, reliably good and sustainable coffee consumption kept me going,” says Pepper Tobor. But he did not face these challenges alone. The Siemens AI Lab supported him with leading experts from various technical fields. High-Tech really understates the complexity of the final product. The product contains cutting edge sensors, actors and artificial intelligence. Several patents are now pending ranging from enzyme biosensors to one-shot learning algorithms. One even addresses the field of digital twins. “Without interdisciplinary collaboration, projects like this were not possible. I really have to thank my colleagues from the Siemens AI Lab. They made it possible.” Pepper Tobor explains proudly.

But not only technically this project sticks out. Also, from a business perspective, the project is a forerunner. The potential for this concept is enormous. The size of the market the product addresses directly, the coffee market, is estimated to be 45 bn $ and growing fast. But due to the adaptable technology, it will be easy to expand to other market segments as well. “Tea, soda or soup the possibilities are endless!” Pepper Tobor states happily. And he is right the combined market caps out well above 100 bn $. Also, investors are convinced “This is the venture we were looking for!” Mr. Nao Partner at Nao Risk Capital says, he further adds “especially the business model – flavors as a subscription – is ingenious we have never found something as innovative!”

We were able to try a prototype and were impressed. In seconds the system figured out what we liked, and we were able to experience the most amazing coffee experience of our lives. We can only wish Pepper Tobor and his team the best of luck for the upcoming financing rounds and hope that we will soon have an easy, reliably good and sustainable way of consuming coffee. Eirebra Jakah, Xela Rebosch