The droids you are looking for
While the steady growth of industrial robotics produces an unexciting chart, behind the scenes innovations tell another story. Over the last five years, the global installed base of industrial robots has expanded at an 11.3% CAGR reaching nearly 4.7 million in 2024. Robots are not only getting more plentiful, they are getting smarter too. For instance Google DeepMind, leveraging AI, has enabled robots to learn on the job rather than follow pre-programmed instructions. Further, advancements in mechanical engineering are enabling more dexterous and more mobile robotics. CB Insights reports that the venture investment into industrial humanoid robotics tripled in 2024 to USD 1.2 billion. With these trends in mind, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show this month, declared robotics the next ‘multi-trillion-dollar’ opportunity. As our Digital Innovations strategy team notes in their 2025 Outlook, we are in a new golden age for invention.
Source: International Federation of Robotics, October 2024