Why this matters now

Humanoid robots are moving from demos to measured commercial deployment. Agility Robotics’ bipedal robot Digit has passed an OSHA-recognised field safety inspection at a live e-commerce site and recently crossed 100,000 totes moved in production—evidence that “human-robot teaming” is becoming real on the warehouse floor.

Former Microsoft/Qualcomm executive Peggy Johnson became Agility’s CEO in March 2024 and has emphasised safety and utility as the north star—most recently in a McKinsey “Rapid Response” episode, and in late-2025 interviews focused on regulation and scale manufacturing.

Key points / benefits

• Works with people, in people spaces: Digit is designed for facilities built for humans—picking up repetitive, ergonomic-risk tasks while co-existing with colleagues.

• Safety first: real-world safety inspection at an active fulfilment site; growing body of deployment evidence versus lab-only demos.

• Utility and ROI signals: six-figure tote moves and expanding pilots (e.g., Mercado Libre in San Antonio; GXO trials) show tangible progress, even as industry leaders caution that broad, multi-task autonomy will take time.

What’s new or how it works

Agility’s approach is human-centric design + fleet software. The Digit platform focuses first on high-value, repetitive workflows (e.g., tote recycling / material handling) and is orchestrated via Agility Arc, a cloud platform for deploying and managing robot fleets. This narrows scope, improves safety, and helps demonstrate ROI before expanding to other tasks.

Practical steps (for workplace leaders)

1. Start with repetitive, low-variance tasks (e.g., tote transfer), keeping humans on exception handling and supervision.

2. Plan safety gates: define shared-space rules, visual cues, and escalation paths; align with your H&S team before pilots.

3. Integrate with ops systems: connect WMS/EMS for job dispatch; use fleet software (e.g., Agility Arc) for monitoring and updates.

4. Measure what matters: throughput per shift, ergonomic risk reduction, incident-free hours, and pick/put cycle time deltas. Industry experience suggests adoption should be staged and evidence-based.

FAQs

Q1: How do humanoid robots benefit workplaces?
They offload repetitive, ergonomically risky tasks (e.g., tote moves), improving throughput and safety while humans focus on exception handling and supervision. Early deployments report six-figure tote transfers and OSHA-recognised safety checks. agilityrobotics.com

Q2: What makes Agility Robotics’ approach unique?
A consistent emphasis on safety + utility, building in human spaces first, and pairing hardware with a fleet platform (Agility Arc) for operations at scale. agilityrobotics.com

Q3: Are these robots safe to work with?
Agility reports field safety inspection success at a live site and designs Digit for shared spaces. As with any automation, employers must implement site-specific safety protocols and training. agilityrobotics.com

Q4: Where are we seeing adoption?
Live production sites and pilots across e-commerce and 3PLs (e.g., Mercado Libre in Texas; GXO trials) with near-term focus on single, well-defined tasks before multi-skill expansion. Logistics Manager