"The demand is off the charts... The biggest signal we're getting is shortage of labor and the cases we're going after is warehouses and logistics facilities and automotive suppliers." Structural labor shortages and wage inflation in blue-collar sectors are making the ROI for humanoid robots and advanced automation highly attractive. As the technology crosses the threshold of commercial viability this year, capex will flood into robotics companies. LONG. The robotics and automation sector is at an inflection point, transitioning from R&D to mass commercial deployment. High interest rates constraining corporate capex budgets, or technological setbacks that delay the deployment of fully autonomous systems.