ESSAYS BY GABRIEL PASTRANA
Insights
Ideas on where to invest in automation, how to make it perform, and what robotics and AI could change in logistics.
Get new essays by email →Browse by topic
Insights
63 insightsModular Beats Moonshots
🤖 Measure what matters: energy, touch, and time-to-deployABB Robotics is pushing for a standardized method to measure robot energy consumption.
The Great Robotics Realignment
When robotics companies start buying each other, it’s not just growth, it’s convergence.
The Robotics Boom Gets Practical
The age of shiny prototypes is over.The International Federation of Robotics (IFR)’s 2026 report signals a shift: robotics growth is moving from experimentation to integration.
Physical AI Takes the Floor at CES 2026
CES 2026 marked a turning point: the moment physical AI, the fusion of embodied robotics, synthetic training, and neural architectures, stepped out of the lab and onto the factory floor.
Five Bets for 2026: The Year of Convergence
2025 was the year automation got real.
2025 Year in Review: 10 Shifts That Redefined Automation
2025 was the year automation got real.
The Fragmentation Point
The race toward warehouse automation is accelerating — but not in a straight line. As global operators rethink their digital strategies, a clear split is emerging between integration-focused ecosystems (unified…
The U.S. Automation Reset: When Robots Come Home
After two decades of outsourcing automation know-how, America is bringing the robots back home.
Kroger Pulls Back on CFC Expansion
Kroger has officially stopped the rollout of new Customer Fulfillment Centers (CFCs) and will pay $350 million to Ocado to unwind part of their original expansion plan.
When AI Stops Thinking and Starts Doing
AI is no longer a spectator sport. From humanoids learning through teleoperation to warehouse systems wiring themselves for agility, we’re crossing the threshold from intelligence to agency. Machines aren’t just…
The Next Wave of Autonomous Expansion
Automation is crossing another frontier — one where autonomy scales, data precision deepens, and intralogistics flexibility becomes the new intralogistics baseline.
Warehouse Robotics Is at a Crossroads
Warehousing and supply‑chain automation isn’t just about dropping robots into the building anymore — the levers of value are shifting fast, and many operations are finding the gap between promise…
Smart Automation
Where automation creates value in logistics, and what robotics and AI could change next. A free weekly newsletter.