Bjoern Krasemann, Vice President Sales & Business Development at Macnica ATD Europe has led the company’s EMEA operations since 2024. With two decades of experience in broadcasting, imaging and machine vision, he now drives Macnica ATD Europe’s evolution from a component distributor to a full solution provider. This year, Macnica ATD Europe has continued to take its imaging solutions portfolio from strength to strength through strategic partnerships.
Our MVPro team recently caught up with Bjoern Krasemann. See the interview below.
Q. Bjoern, congratulations on your one-year anniversary heading up Macnica ATD Europe. What are you celebrating from the past 12 months?
A. Thank you, it’s been a transformational year for us, and there is a lot to celebrate. We restructured the organization to better serve our customers and partners. Our focus has evolved from component sales to complete vision solutions that anticipate and fulfil real-world requirements.
What I’m most proud of is the team itself. They are passionate, customer-focused engineers who bring deep domain expertise to every project. Together, we’re building a culture that doesn’t just talk about excellence; it delivers it daily.
Q. How would you characterize the current state of imaging and machine-vision across Europe?
A. Europe’s imaging ecosystem is cautiously optimistic. While some industries remain conservative, others are accelerating fast, especially those integrating AI at the edge.
Hardware sales remain solid, but real momentum now lies in software, system integration, and data-driven intelligence. Imaging is no longer about capturing pixels; it’s about enabling autonomous decision-making at the edge.
Q: Where is the strongest growth coming from?
A: Traditionally, automotive and industrial inspection have been dominant and still represent ~30% of the European market, but the real momentum now comes from non-manufacturing use cases like logistics automation, smart cities, precision farming, and medical diagnostics.
Industry data shows those sectors are growing twice as fast as manufacturing. For example, we’re helping integrators deploy short-wave infrared cameras for food and pharma inspection and integrate compact ToF sensors for warehouse automation.
Q: Which technologies are you seeing most demand for right now?
A: There are a few front-runners. First, the time-of-flight (ToF) technology which is excellent for low-latency, power-sensitive use cases like robotics and ADAS. Second, specialist sensors (high dynamic range, SWIR) for niche industrial and medical uses. Third, hardware-accelerated AI: tiny neural accelerators and edge GPUs that allow complex CNNs to run on the factory floor. And as I said, the differentiator now is the software stack and the data pipeline, not only the pixel count.
Q: Edge AI has become a buzzword, what’s the reality out in the field?
A: It’s moving from hype to deployment. The growth in vision-processing units across Europe shows that companies are serious about inference at the edge. Integrators want latency-free analytics that respect data-sovereignty rules.
Customers still care about precision and reliability, but now they also ask, “Can it learn on-site?” That’s the new dimension; systems can adapt locally and evolve over time.
Q: Are there examples where this kind of smart vision could make a real-world difference?
A: Absolutely. Security and public safety are great examples. Take the recent Louvre Museum heist in Paris, a $100 million theft in broad daylight. With today’s AI-enabled vision technologies, it’s amazing that such a scenario could still happen.
Modern self-learning video systems can monitor hundreds of streams simultaneously and highlight anomalies in real time. In a case like the Louvre, AI-powered systems would have instantly detected unusual activity like workers in non-construction areas, a truck-mounted lift approaching a restricted facade, even the act of cutting glass, which could have triggered alerts long before the thieves reached the balcony.
These are exactly the kind of intelligent vision capabilities Macnica ATD Europe helps deploy across critical infrastructure and public safety projects. The lesson is clear: investing in smart vision systems isn’t just about surveillance, it’s about operational foresight.
Q: With so many suppliers and startups, how can system integrators, OEMs, and solution developers choose the right partners?
A: Choose partners who think and operate at the system level, not just at the component level. Look for those who provide validated reference designs, certified logistics, and local engineering expertise. All of these are essential to reducing integration risk.
At Macnica ATD Europe, we combine these capabilities with sensor-to-solution know-how and regional support, helping OEMs and integrators accelerate time-to-market from prototype to production.
Q: What excites you most about the road ahead?
A: The pace of innovation. Every year brings new possibilities, from smarter sensors to more powerful processors. What I love most is being part of that journey and seeing how our customers turn these advances into real-world impact.
2026 will bring even more breakthroughs, and Macnica ATD Europe will continue to be the partner that enables them.
Q: Finally, what role does Macnica ATD Europe see for itself in this ecosystem?
A: Our mission is to enable end-to-end innovation and reduce friction for our customers. We provide expert consultation, validated reference designs, local engineering support, and secure logistics.
Europe thrives on collaboration, and we see ourselves as the bridge between technology and application. Our goal is simple: to make innovation fast, reliable, and scalable for every customer.
About Macnica ATD Europe
Macnica is a trusted technology solutions partner, empowering the world’s leading businesses to succeed in the future. Its products, services, and innovations are crafted to future-proof organizations by continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Through bold collaboration with partners and customers, Macnica drives advancements in semiconductors, imaging, secure networks, and artificial intelligence, accelerating digital transformation and sustainable growth.
Macnica ATD Europe, a subsidiary of Macnica Inc., operates across Europe with offices in France (Chatou), Germany (Munich, Ingolstadt, Regensburg), and the UK (Milton Keynes), providing local expertise and innovative solutions to this dynamic region.
www.macnica.com/eu
