RoboBusiness Plans a 20-Year Robotics Look Ahead

Single-source brief: RoboBusiness will host a keynote on robotics markets, risks, and opportunities.

What Changed

RoboBusiness 2026 will mark its 20th anniversary in Santa Clara, California.

The opening keynote will examine the next 20 years of robotics. The Robot Report said the talk will cover technology, markets, opportunities, and challenges.

The session starts at 9:15 a.m. PT on Oct. 20. RoboBusiness runs Oct. 20 and 21.

Steve Crowe, executive editor of The Robot Report, will moderate. The speakers are Rodney Brooks, Jonathan Hurst, and Ken Goldberg.

Why Humanoids Are Part of the Discussion

The Robot Report described Hurst’s work as focused on physical AI. It includes complex movement and object-handling tasks.

It also called Agility Robotics’ Digit the first commercially deployed humanoid robot in logistics.

That is a deployment claim from the event organizer’s reporting. The supplied evidence gives no fleet size, work task, runtime, payload, or uptime data.

Those missing details matter for operators. A humanoid’s value depends on steady work output, safe operation, and service needs.

Deployment Reality

This is a planned conference session, not a product launch or field test.

The speakers bring experience across AI, mobility, logistics, factories, and human-robot interaction. Brooks’ company, Robust AI, is deploying powered carts in fulfillment centers and factories, according to The Robot Report.

The supplied evidence does not confirm what new humanoid products, customer deployments, or performance results may be discussed.