Peggy Johnson, the CEO of Agility Robotics, spoke with journalist Bob Safian on the Rapid Response podcast about the future of humanoid robots. She talked about Digit, a human-like robot made to help in warehouses and other places where it’s hard to find people to do boring or repetitive work. These robots don’t replace jobs—they help people do more and move into better, more digital roles, like managing robot systems.
Peggy said robots like Digit are designed to work well with people. For example, it has a friendly face with eyes to make it feel more like a teammate. Agility also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to teach Digit how to learn tasks more easily, like picking up trash or moving boxes without needing to be programmed step by step.
Before Agility, Peggy led Magic Leap and worked at Microsoft. She said she enjoys working in startups more because decisions are made faster and there’s more freedom. Agility is focusing first on factories and warehouses, but plans to expand into stores and other areas. Peggy believes partnerships will help the company grow faster. She loves what she’s doing and doesn’t plan to go back to big companies anytime soon.
