Humanoid Robots Are in Warehouses Now. What Still Needs to Work?
Four robotics experts take the stage at RoboBusiness in October to separate real progress from 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.
- Practical gaps in safety, operating costs, and reliability must close before these machines spread widely.
Humanoid robots, machines shaped like people that can walk alongside humans and carry out physical tasks, are already operating in some warehouses and factories. The question is whether the technology is anywhere near ready to scale.
That's 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 today. 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 |
Velagapudi, Agility's chief technology officer, previously helped deploy fleets of hundreds of robots in logistics at Berkshire Grey. Conroy, head of product at Apptronik, has spent more than a decade guiding teams that shipped thousands of autonomous machines. Perry leads commercial strategy at Persona AI, building programmes for demanding environments including shipbuilding and offshore operations. Akhtar, CEO of PSYONIC, brings a different angle: his company makes advanced prosthetic hands designed to serve both amputees and robots.
We covered Agility Robotics' push into working deployments on 17 July in "The Robot That Already Has a Job", and the panel's roster suggests that gap between demo and real work is exactly what organisers want attendees to leave having measured.
Why should ordinary people care?
If humanoid robots do scale up, the effects reach far beyond tech companies. Workers in factories and logistics centres will work alongside these machines or see their roles shift because of them.
The panel is designed to move past viral videos. Attendees should leave with a concrete picture of where robots create real value today and what gaps must still close.
Full conference passes bought before August 31 save $200 and cover 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 scale is small and conditions are carefully controlled.
What is stopping them from being everywhere?
The main barriers are cost and reliability. Robots must operate predictably alongside human workers without causing injury, and the economics must make sense before a business invests in them over existing equipment.
