Humanoid Robots Are in Warehouses Now. What Still Needs to Work?
Four robotics experts will take the stage in October to separate the real progress from the hype, covering safety, costs, and what it will actually take before humanoid robots show up at scale on factory floors.
Key points
- A panel of four humanoid robotics experts will speak at RoboBusiness on October 20 and 21, 2025, in Santa Clara, California.
- Panellists represent Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Persona AI, and PSYONIC, covering robots used in warehouses, heavy industry, and prosthetics.
- The discussion will focus on real deployments already under way, not future promises.
- Early industrial use is revealing practical gaps in safety, operating costs, and reliability that must close before these machines spread widely.
Humanoid robots, machines shaped like people that can walk, carry, and work alongside humans, are no longer just science fiction demos. They are already operating in some warehouses and factories. The question is whether the technology is anywhere near ready to scale.
That is the exact question a panel at RoboBusiness will try to answer this October.
What will the panel actually cover?
The "State of Humanoids" keynote on October 20 and 21 in Santa Clara will ask experts to be blunt about where the technology stands, not where it is headed in ten years.
Four panellists will discuss what humanoid robots can do right now, where they keep failing, and what economic and safety benchmarks must be hit before a company would realistically buy a fleet of them. Mike Oitzman, senior editor at The Robot Report, will moderate.
| Panellist | Organisation | Focus area |
|---|---|---|
| Pras Velagapudi | Agility Robotics | Bipedal robots, logistics deployments |
| Parker Conroy | Apptronik | Product management, autonomous mobile robots |
| Michael Patrick Perry | Persona AI | Heavy industry: shipbuilding, steel, offshore |
| Aadeel Akhtar | PSYONIC | Bionic limbs for people and robots |
Verlagapudi, Agility's chief technology officer, previously helped put fleets of hundreds of robots to work in logistics at Berkshire Grey, a robotics company. Conroy, head of product at Apptronik, has spent more than a decade managing teams that shipped thousands of autonomous machines. Perry, at Persona AI, is building commercial programmes for some of the world's most demanding industrial environments. Akhtar, CEO of PSYONIC, brings a different angle: his company makes advanced prosthetic hands designed to work for both amputees and robots.
Why should ordinary people care?
If humanoid robots do scale up, the effects reach far beyond tech companies. Workers in warehouses, manufacturing plants, and logistics centres will work alongside these machines or see their roles change because of them.
The panel is specifically designed to move past viral videos. Organisers say attendees will leave with a concrete picture of where robots create real value today and what gaps still need closing before adoption gets broad.
Registration for RoboBusiness 2026 is open. Full conference passes purchased before August 31 include a $200 discount and cover all keynotes, technical sessions, and networking events.
Common questions
Are humanoid robots already working in real warehouses?
Yes, in limited numbers. Companies like Agility Robotics have active deployments in logistics settings, but the scale is small and the conditions are carefully controlled.
What is stopping them from being everywhere?
Cost, reliability, and safety standards are the main barriers. Robots must operate predictably alongside human workers without causing injury, and the economics must make sense for a business to invest in them over existing equipment.
