Period covered 28 September – 4 October 2026Written by Tomo Miyata
This week I focused less on robots themselves and more on how work is divided between robots and people.
On September 30, U.S. start-up Destro AI announced an $8 million funding round. Destro does not build robots. It builds software that tells both robots and workers what to do next. Its first customer is Yusen Logistics, part of Japan's NYK Group, which uses it for cross-docking at a U.S. site.
On the floor, workers unload a truck and place each item in a cart for its destination. When a cart is full, a mobile robot finds it and takes it to the right outbound truck. Destro's software directs what the workers and the robots do, and decides which cart goes to which truck. Yusen also looked at two start-ups working on robots. One offered a robot that could move carts but could not manage loading and unloading. The other could manage a robot fleet, but still needed a person to decide which task went to whom. Destro won because it could direct the whole process, and the robot count at the site is set to rise from three to 26.
The numbers from THG Fulfil, a U.K. e-commerce fulfilment provider, show what software that directs machines can do. It runs 796 AutoStore robots across its own network and controls them with its in-house WCS. More than 11,000 bins now reach its ports every hour, and the average time workers wait for a bin has fallen by 78%.
The reach of this kind of direction is extending beyond a single building. From 2027, Barrett Distribution Centers, a U.S. third-party logistics provider, will use software from U.S. start-up UNIT AI to manage inventory, fulfilment and returns across several facilities at once. The software decides which products to hold in which facility and where to process returns, for the whole network rather than one site at a time.
The number of robots is also rising fast. According to IDC, the U.S. research firm, about 25,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in the first half of 2026, more than five times the figure a year earlier. As the number of robots, mobile robots included, grows, so does the question of what the companies using them are responsible for. On October 2, A3, the U.S. automation industry association, published Part 3 of its safety standard for industrial mobile robots. It requires the companies that use the robots to manage changes to procedures and equipment, train employees and carry out regular inspections.
Robots and components will keep getting cheaper. What separates operators is two things. The first is whether a single piece of software can tell people and machines from different makers what to do, in what order and where. The second is whether the operator has drawn a clear line between what AI is allowed to decide and what a person must decide. Add machines without software that directs both machines and people, and freight sits waiting between machines until someone assigns the next task. The two products Yusen turned down both needed people to fill in part of the process. GROUND's GWES places the software that directs machines and people, and this line between AI and human decisions, at the centre of the product, rather than bolting other vendors' software together after the fact. Japan's logistics facilities face a severe labour shortage and routinely handle a wide mix of products flowing together. That is why I believe whether a facility has this capability will determine the gap in productivity.
GROUND Inc. — Founder & CEOTomo Miyata
This Week's News
Five stories
01Lead storyA vehicle moving freight in a logistics facility (illustrative). Photo: Unsplash
Logistics OSOrchestrationUnited States
Destro AI — One piece of software directs both workers and robots to cut labour in cross-docking
U.S. start-up Destro AI announced an $8 million seed round on September 30. The company does not manufacture robots; it develops software that assigns work to both robots and workers. "One of the biggest reasons we are winning against robotics companies is because we are not a robotics company," said founder Manthan Pawar. Its first customer is Yusen Logistics, part of Japan's NYK Group, at a site in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
The software is used for cross-docking. As workers unload a truck into carts sorted by destination, three mobile robots made by U.S.-based Miva Robotics find the full carts and take them to the outbound trucks. Destro's software, called Mothership, directs what the workers and robots do and decides which cart goes to which truck. Yusen also looked at two start-ups working on robots: one could move carts but could not manage loading and unloading, and the other required a person to assign the work.
The site will expand to 26 robots, and a 17-robot pilot will start at a Yusen facility in Southern California. "We make that operation less labor intensive, and we get away from the paper. Everything is now systematic," said Richard Brunelle, who leads automation for Yusen's U.S. business.
THG Fulfil — Controls 796 AutoStore robots with its own WCS and cuts bin wait time by 78%
U.K. e-commerce fulfilment provider THG Fulfil said on October 2 that it had expanded its distribution partnership with AutoStore. THG Fulfil is the fulfilment service run by THG Ingenuity, the technology division of British e-commerce group THG. Until now it offered AutoStore systems only through RaaS. Customers can now buy the systems outright, or combine the two models.
THG Fulfil operates 796 AutoStore robots across its own network and controls them with its in-house WCS. According to the company, more than 11,000 bins reach its ports per hour, and average pick wait times have fallen by 78%. For Footasylum, a U.K. sportswear retailer, it built a system with 85 robots holding more than 96,000 bins. "Automation should never force brands to choose between control and cash flow," said Tom Killeen, chief operating officer of THG Ingenuity.
Barrett Distribution Centers — Will manage inventory, fulfilment and returns across multiple facilities with one platform from 2027
Barrett Distribution Centers, a U.S. third-party logistics provider, announced on October 1 that it was expanding its partnership with U.S. start-up UNIT AI. It will deploy UNIT AI's software across its national operations from 2027. Barrett handles storage and fulfilment for apparel, footwear and other brands.
According to the announcement, warehouse automation systems have traditionally been designed to operate within a single facility. UNIT AI's software links multiple facilities and handles inventory placement across sites, fulfilment orchestration, network-wide inventory visibility and decentralised returns processing. UNIT AI offers it on a usage-based model that keeps upfront investment low. "The first wave of warehouse automation focused on making individual facilities more efficient," said Avihou Barkay, co-founder of UNIT AI.
A3 — Publishes Part 3 of its mobile robot safety standard, setting out what user companies are responsible for in daily operation
A3 (the Association for Advancing Automation), the U.S. automation industry body, published Part 3 of ANSI/A3 R15.08, the American National Standard for industrial mobile robots, on October 2. Part 1 sets safety requirements for the robots themselves and Part 2 for the systems that incorporate them; Part 3 completes the series.
Part 3 is aimed at the companies that deploy and use the robots. It requires them to keep risk at an acceptable level both in day-to-day operation and over the life of the equipment. Specifically, it calls for risk assessment, management of changes to procedures and equipment, employee training, and periodic inspections and reviews. It was developed alongside Part 3 of R15.06, the standard for fixed industrial robots, so users can apply the same approach to both fixed and mobile robots.
IDC — Global humanoid shipments reach about 25,000 in the first half of 2026, more than five times a year earlier
According to IDC, global humanoid robot shipments approached 25,000 units in the first half of 2026, up 432.1% year on year. Chinese humanoid maker Agibot ranked first, shipping more than 8,600 units, about 35% of the global total. Agibot's cumulative production reached 20,000 robots in September 2026.
IDC says applications are spreading across manufacturing, retail, logistics, tourism and the home. Competition, it says, now turns not only on hardware specifications but also on the ability to understand surroundings and plan tasks. The firm expects global shipments to exceed 750,000 units by 2030.
