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Session details to come.

The robotics industry is entering a new era where success depends not just on innovation but on the ability to scale and deploy systems in real-world environments. While the “breakthrough” happens in the lab, the “business” happens post-design across an increasingly unpredictable public infrastructure. This panel assembles robotics industry leaders to bridge the gap between cutting-edge innovation and commercial viability, discussing challenges and opportunities.

Attendees can expect a deep dive into the operational “valley of death” and the strategies used to cross it. Key insights include:

The Physical AI Frontier: How the convergence of generative models and robotics is shortening development cycles—and where it still hits a wall

The Scaling Playbook: Hard-won lessons on transitioning from custom-built prototypes to high-volume manufacturing without sacrificing reliability

Infrastructure & Supply Chain Readiness: Navigating the global hardware squeeze and ensuring your tech stack is compatible with legacy systems

Winning the Trust of the End-User: Strategies for overcoming “automation anxiety” and demonstrating clear ROI to skeptical customers

The Regulatory Landscape: Preparing for the shifting safety standards and compliance requirements that come with large-scale deployment

Most U.S. factories were built long before automation was feasible, yet they produce the majority of American manufacturing output — creating both a challenge and an opportunity for Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). These legacy facilities rely heavily on manual material transport, fragmented control systems, and labor-intensive routing, resulting in inefficiencies that limit throughput, safety, and operational flexibility.

This session presents a practical, data-driven roadmap for deploying AMRs in legacy manufacturing environments, grounded in pilot programs and scaled deployments at Tesla’s high-volume electric vehicle operations. Rather than treating AMRs as standalone tools, the talk reframes them as infrastructure — a connective layer linking production, logistics, and workforce execution.

Attendees will learn how Tesla engineers identified high-friction material flows, defined measurable performance indicators, and integrated robots with existing factory systems such as fleet management software, warehouse systems, PLC-controlled equipment, and real-time analytics dashboards. Thoughtful system integration and human-robot collaboration enabled reliable material delivery with minimal manual intervention — even in environments never designed for autonomy.

Beyond technical implementation, the session emphasizes why this matters for U.S. manufacturing: scalable AMR adoption improves productivity, workforce safety, and operational resilience, strengthening American factories’ competitiveness in a global market. Common pitfalls that stall pilots are highlighted, along with strategies for operational ROI modeling, interoperability, workforce adoption, and scaling across multiple production areas. These lessons extend beyond Tesla, providing a replicable framework for any U.S. factory seeking to modernize operations and maintain global competitiveness.

For more than a decade, Ghost Robotics has operated legged robots in mission-critical applications across defense, security, and industrial environments. Join Gavin Kenneally, CEO and co-founder of Ghost Robotics, as he shares lessons from 10 years of deploying quadruped robots in the field. The talk will cover real-world case studies, how advances in software are unlocking new capabilities, and what the next five years may hold for legged robotics in both the public and private sectors.

In a world where software dominates the headlines, robotics remains one of the few industries where hardware still truly matters. Drawing on over two decades of experience helping companies from startups to Fortune 500s bring their ideas to life, Ted will share what makes a great robotics company and what separates successful robots from those that never make it past the prototype stage.

This session explores how the best robotics companies think about design, collaboration, and manufacturability from day one. Attendees will learn why hardware and software must evolve together, how to avoid common design mistakes that can derail even the most promising projects, and what qualities to look for in a reliable robotics development partner.

Packed with real-world examples and practical lessons, this talk offers a clear roadmap for building robots that don’t just work in the lab, but thrive in the real world.