On September 4th, the "Fun! Shine — 2026 Interesting Lifestyle Conference," hosted by China Newsweek, opened at the Longgang Robot Theatre in Shenzhen. Under the theme "Smart Living (or AI Life)," the event explored the future of daily life amid the AI boom by examining four pillars: new consumption, new wellness, new workplace dynamics, and new-age humans. On-site, autonomous street sweepers and coffee-serving robots impressed attendees, while academics and business leaders took the stage to discuss the varied ways AI is reshaping human existence. These consecutive thought-provoking sessions underscored that AI is transitioning from a once-advanced technology into the fabric of everyday living.

Against this backdrop of exploring how AI makes life more vibrant, Vatti, a premium kitchen appliance leader with over three decades in the industry, received the "2026 Brand of Interest" award. Driven by its unique perspective on artificial intelligence, Vatti has systematically executed a transformation strategy focused on premiumization, youth engagement, and smart features in recent years. This approach brings its "Fashionable Science Kitchen Appliances" philosophy to life, crafting products and experiences that speak directly to the preferences of younger consumers.

Harnessing AI for Smarter Kitchens

At the 2026 AWE High-Level Forum, Han Wei, Vice President and COO of Vatti, outlined a key product innovation principle: "Technology remains in the background; the experience takes center stage." In his view, technology should serve people, and every AI application ought to be developed around genuine user needs. Guided by this idea, Vatti leverages its VCOO Smart Home AIoT platform, employing a hybrid local-plus-cloud architecture. Integrating multi-dimensional sensors with proprietary algorithms, the company has introduced a suite of innovations, including AI-powered smart sensing for range hoods, AI-based intelligent washing for dishwashers, smart cooking recipes for steam ovens, intelligent heating for wall-hung boilers, and AI voice interaction. Each feature is meticulously designed to resolve frequent pain points encountered in Chinese home cooking. True "smart living" means not burdening users with complex machinery, but rather letting the technology step back so that products can proactively understand the user, effectively making the kitchen a worry-free, intelligent space.

Integrating Wellness at the Core

Conference reports noted that AI has comprehensively taken over health management for younger generations, making it a seamless, everyday practice rather than a conscious effort. Vatti has long embedded this wellness perspective into the fundamental design of its kitchen and bathroom appliances. In the bathing sphere, the Vatti Beauty Bath gas water heater features patented "high-permeability skin vitality technology," offering a distinct upgrade through "skincare and hair nourishment via water." Certified results show that after 28 consecutive days of use, facial moisture content rose by 29.89%, skin oil levels dropped by 55.82%, and wrinkle depth reduced by 19.99%. In 2026, the second-generation representative model, the TL5i, earned the AWE Appliance Innovation Award, securing authoritative recognition.

For cooking scenarios, Vatti pioneered its "Clean Kitchen" system, creating a health-focused kitchen solution built on three dimensions: cleanliness of the products, cleanliness of the space, and cleanliness of the senses. Its range hoods are equipped with fifth-generation steam-cleaning technology, which uses high-temperature steam at 110°C combined with 80°C hot water to achieve a 99.2% cleaning rate. Meanwhile, its cooktops feature the Polyenergy Combustion 5.0MAX system, offering a powerful 5.2kW flame paired with 78% thermal efficiency, cutting comprehensive hazardous gas emissions by 81.7%. This makes it the only gas cooktop in the industry meeting the top green emission standard at a 5.2kW heat load. This way, the "punk wellness" lifestyle sought by the younger generation is easily folded into everyday bathing and cooking rituals.

Expanding AI Across the Entire Value Chain

Vatti's approach to AI extends beyond just its products. Pan Yejiang, Chairman and President of Vatti, frames the company's AI strategy via two dimensions: "explicit" and "implicit." The explicit dimension focuses on consumers, using AI to enhance the products themselves, while the implicit dimension targets internal operations, establishing a company-wide AI capability platform to drive intelligent transformation across the entire business chain. On the manufacturing front, Vatti's digital and intelligent industrial park—built with an investment exceeding one billion RMB—is now fully operational. Modelled after world-class lighthouse factories, the park combines smart manufacturing, smart logistics, and intelligent campus management, realizing full digitalization and automation of the business chain. Stamping production capacity has grown by 150%, operational efficiency improved by 66.7%, and the first-pass quality yield stands at an impressive 99.6%. Notably, it supports up to 80% unmanned production, and since its launch in September 2025, it has spurred coordinated upgrades among more than 200 upstream and downstream enterprises.

In the research and development area, Vatti claimed the "Industrial Design Award" at the 2025 "Getting Better" International Design Competition for its project, "Design Innovation Fueled by AI Driving New Transformation in the Kitchen Appliance Sector," successfully implementing AI in several product categories. On the service side, the company has adopted digital measures such as AI-powered integration, AI consultation responses, and iterative improvements to its service mini-programs, establishing a service standard of "response within 1.5 hours, fast and precise installation within 48 hours, and repair completion within 72 hours." Earlier this year, Chairman Pan Yejiang also introduced the concept of "two transitions": shifting from "selling products" to "nurturing users," and evolving from a conventional manufacturer into a service-oriented manufacturing enterprise. The deep application of AI is steadily bringing what industry insiders call this "third mode of thinking" into reality.

From Simple Tools to Trusted Partners

Conference findings reveal that young people's attitudes toward robotics are shifting from sci-fi fantasies to everyday expectations—they want technology that boosts their standard of living and offers companionship. Vatti holds a similar view of the kitchen, seeing it not as an isolated workspace but as a versatile setting that blends a showcase, a playground, and a sanctuary for the soul. In 2025, the company clearly put forward its value proposition of a "New Chinese Style Fashionable Healthy Lifestyle," elevating kitchen appliances from mere functional tools into "healthy living companions" that embody users' lifestyles and aesthetic values.

Vatti also knows how to engage young people in an "interesting" way. In 2025, it premiered the industry's first AI-generated short drama, "Chronicles of the Stove: Echoes of Civilization in 2079," interweaving product functions into the plot and using striking AI visuals to turn once-cold kitchen appliances into warm, relatable characters. In 2026, Vatti partnered with Greater China's Effie Awards to launch an AIGC creation contest, becoming the first strategic partner for Effie's inaugural AIGC Effectiveness Grand Prize. That same year, the company announced young actor Zhang Linghe as its brand ambassador, demonstrating its commitment to conversing with younger audiences in their own language.

Transitioning from a legacy kitchen appliance manufacturer to a "trendy kitchen brand," Vatti excels not only at crafting top-tier products but also at communicating in ways that resonate with the younger generation, making "fashionable science kitchen appliances" an appealing lifestyle choice. Earning the "2026 Brand of Interest" title is a well-deserved recognition, for Vatti has done more than just making kitchens intelligent—it has enabled them to genuinely understand the "smart living" that young people desire.