The Robot That Takes Tasks, Not Jobs

Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson sees opportunity in an American labor shortage. The company's humanoid robots have already been put to work commercially. Johnson doesn't think they'll displace human workers, she tells Forbes, but rather make them more productive. Peggy Johnson has forged a unique “over 50” career: She was Satya Nadella’s first hire when he took over Microsoft in 2014 and, from 2020 until last year, she ran augmented reality company Magic Leap. Today, Johnson helms Agility Robotics (total funding: $180 million to-date), which makes human-like robots to work in America’s warehouses. “In the logistics area alone, there are over a million jobs that are going unfilled,” she says. “It makes sense to put a humanoid robot into these spots.”