Physical AI Moves Past the Demo: RoboBusiness 2026 Panel Tackles Robots in Real Customer Environments

Everyone in manufacturing is talking about AI — but the question that matters on the plant floor and in the warehouse is what it's actually doing today. While physical AI efforts pull in tens of millions of dollars in funding, proof of production value is harder to find. RoboBusiness 2026, taking place October 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, Calif., will put that question front and center.

A keynote built around production, not prototypes

The keynote panel "Beyond the Demo: AI in Production Robots" is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT on the first day of the show. Leaders from Amazon Robotics, Teradyne Robotics, and Cobot will discuss how they're applying AI to robots operating in real customer environments — a meaningful shift from the polished demonstrations that dominate much of the AI conversation.

The speakers and what they ship

Bhavana Chandrashekhar: , senior manager of applied science at Amazon Robotics, manages a team of applied scientists, engineers, and managers building autonomous manipulators for Amazon warehouses. Her stated mission:

"build AI-powered robots that augment the workforce performing physically demanding tasks autonomously"

The results are concrete. Robin, one of the flagship robots her team has built, has picked several billion packages. Vulcan Stow has stowed over a million items.

James Davidson: , chief AI officer at Teradyne Robotics, leads the integration of AI across collaborative robots and autonomous mobile robots, including Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots. He brings more than two decades of experience spanning AI research, robotics, and applied engineering — a background that pairs technical depth with commercial execution.

Michael Vogelsong: leads the Foundation Models AI team at Cobot, focused on robotic manipulation. He previously started the Deep Learning Technologies team at Amazon and served as chief ML engineer at Groundlight. He also led ML development for a personalized cancer treatment now in a Phase I clinical trial.

Beyond the keynote

RoboBusiness 2026 is the leading event for commercial robotics developers. Attendees will gain insights on cutting-edge research, industry trends, and applications in sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and logistics. The show also offers networking opportunities, including a Mix and Mingle reception on the first day. Discounts are available for academia, associations, and corporate groups.

For engineers weighing where AI delivers real returns, this panel — anchored by systems that have moved billions of packages — is a rare look at production-grade physical AI.