Robotics is moving beyond single-task automation toward intelligent physical systems that can adapt across tasks, environments and workflows. Enabled by advances in embodied AI, perception and system-level orchestration, general-purpose robotics is turning robots into flexible industrial agents, reshaping productivity, resilience and the nature of work across manufacturing, logistics and infrastructure.

• What separates general-purpose robotics from traditional automation, and where is true physical intelligence emerging today?

• How do layered robotics systems enable scalable deployment across complex, real-world environments?

• Why are integration, workforce design and human-robot collaboration now the critical barriers to adoption?