On July 8, 2026, Beijing hosted the National Science and Technology Awards Conference. Otto Heinrich Herzog, a member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering and a foreign academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, received the 2025 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China. In an exclusive interview, Herzog shared his insight that the next significant breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) will likely arise from the coordinated efforts of many small, specialized intelligent agents, rather than from a single, large-scale system. He highlighted that this type of structure is more adaptable and flexible, enabling real-time modifications to its setup in response to actual demands, thus showcasing better performance in real-world scenarios. Since 2015, Herzog has been the Chief Scientist at the Collaborative Innovation Center for Intelligent Planning in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration at Tongji University. Working alongside Academician Wu Zhiqiang, he has laid down a theoretical and methodological foundation for intelligent planning in China, pushing forward the nation's strategy for intelligent urban planning.