The epitome of automation, robotics are a making headlines today from production lines and food service to warehouses and DCs. Automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robotic picking systems, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are among the types of robotics that help automate the supply chain, warehousing and logistics. These advanced machines help streamline material flow, speed throughput and reduce labor costs, among other efficiencies.
Humanoid robots are in the early stages of taking automation to the next level. Typically equipped with arms, legs, and hands, humanoid robots have brains powered by artificial intelligence. A 2025 report by Morgan Stanley found initial adoption of humanoid robotics may be gradual (expected to accelerate in the late 2030s) – initial uses are expected in warehouse and logistics applications. The report suggests a shift towards more widespread adoption across various industries as the technology matures and prices decline. These sectors include manufacturing, defense as well as repair, maintenance, service and support applications.
High costs, regulations and safety standards, limited dexterity and questions over whether humanoids are the right shape for the job are among the barriers to higher adoption of humanoid robots, according to a 2025 report from Interact Analysis. The firm’s research found that while the market will grow quickly for market penetration will be very low by 2032 with an estimated 40,000 units shipped. Within the warehousing and logistics sector, the “suitability of workflows” are driving higher adoption rates than other industries.
Morgan Stanley’s 2025 report projects the market for humanoid robots will reach $5 trillion by 2050, driven by its potential to disrupt various industries and address labor shortages. Companies such as Agility Robotic’s Digit and Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots are among the developers of human-like robotics with two legs. Others, such as those by Boston Dynamics, resemble animals with four-legs.
Humanoids are starting in logistics
As early adopters, the logistics, warehousing and materials handling sectors are leading the charge toward these smart and skilled robotics. The real-world applications and deployment of humanoid roots are focused on specific tasks and functions in logistics and warehousing. Here’s a couple of examples:
E-commerce and logistics giant Amazon is developing and testing humanoid robots for home deliveries: the company is finishing the development of an obstacle park in San Francisco to work on this technology. Amazon is also creating warehouse robots at its R&D lab that will perform multiple tasks such as unloading trailers and retrieving parts for repairs when prompted — a big advance over today’s robots which are typically designed for a singular job. No projections yet on timing for when Amazon will put humanoids to work.
Contract logistics provider GXO has a multi-year agreement for use of humanoid robots with Agility Robotics, and already has some at work at one of its DCs in Georgia. The robots transport totes between conveyors, storage equipment and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).
Building use cases for robots
Looking at many types of robotics used in logistics, such as AGVs, robotic picking systems, AS/RS, and humanoid forms, robotics have gained greater use in just a few years. In Peerless Research Group’s fourth annual Intralogistics Robotics survey conducted in 2025, in connection with the Material Handling Institute and the Robotics Group, more than 200 survey respondents across a range of sectors were polled on their use of robotics and 48 percent of companies said they were already using one or more types of robots in their operations.
Remarkably, the vast majority (96%) of respondents said they were either planning to deploy robots or in the pre-deployment phases. Only small numbers of companies said they were currently piloting programs (6%) or finalizing their plans (6%) to do so.
In the survey, respondents were asked to name their top 3 priorities for using robots (all kinds). Here are a dozen top use cases for robots with the most popular mentions listed first:
Robotic picking
Truck load/unload
Packing
Collaborative picking with people
Sorting
Put-away to storage
Order case picking
Unit load/heavy transport
Case/tote transport
Cycle counting
Order consolidation
Palletizing/depalletizing
Why robotics for logistics, warehousing and DC operations?
The Peerless robotics survey also found that warehouse and DC operators were pursuing robotics to address labor challenges first, followed by the need to improve labor productivity, boost throughput and improve safety.
For now, humanoid robots are being used for specific tasks or groups of tasks but in the future, they will have the ability, like humans, to switch between multiple tasks and learn on the fly. This progress in the ability to perform a wider range of tasks and dexterity comes with the accelerated pace of technological advances seen today generally and specifically with “embodied AI” — the integration of artificial intelligence into physical systems, enabling them to interact with the physical world. (Autonomous or collaborative robots, self-driving cars and humanoid robots are all examples of those with embodied AI.)
A look into the future
The 2025 Morgan Stanley report fond the integration of generative AI into robotics is expected to accelerate the development of more intelligent, adaptable and autonomous humanoid robots. Advances in large language models (LLMs) and the ability of humanoid robots to understand information from multiple types of input, such as text, images, audio, and video (known as multimodal AI) enabling humanoid robots with the ability to understand and respond to complex instructions, interact naturally with humans, and learn from their environments in real time.
Humanoid robots will also be able to learn from each other. According to Morgan Stanley’s February 2025 humanoid robotics report, the integration of advanced AI models, simulation and cloud-based data sharing will enable this collective learning — both through direct data exchange and by leveraging shared experiences in digital twin environments. Their AI-powered “brains” will give these advanced robotics the capability to process information from multiple sources and to continuously improve their performance collectively. Collaborative learning capabilities are expected to accelerate progress and efficiency, deploying humanoid robots in larger numbers.
All these advancements suggest a future where humanoid robots will become part of the workforce, working alongside humans. In summary, these advanced forms of robots will have a larger place in the mix of robotics and automation in logistics and warehousing.