Robotics is moving from pilot projects into medium-term corporate plans, but organizations don’t seem to be preparing internally at the same pace. A study commissioned by Intel finds that six in ten managers expect their organizations to run fleets of robots within five years, while only 40% currently have a formal strategy to manage workers and robots together.
Enterprise robot adoption in 30 seconds
- 60% of surveyed managers expect to run fleets of robots within five years.
- Only 40% currently have a formal strategy for a workforce of humans and robots.
- 67% believe their organization will be ready to manage it by 2030.
- Safety concerns are delaying robotics projects for 55% of respondents.
- The most demanding applications will need local AI and responses under 100 milliseconds.
The data come from The Robotics Readiness Gap, a study Intel commissioned with Man Bites Dog and Coleman Parkes Research. The survey covered 800 business and IT leaders, robotics specialists, and representatives from public administrations and healthcare organizations across the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China, and South Korea. The organizations represented generate over $500 million in annual revenue.
The report also reflects a change in market size. Per the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), 542,000 industrial robots were installed worldwide in 2024, more than double the figure ten years earlier. The global installed base is roughly 4.66 million units.
The problem is no longer installing a robot, but managing hundreds
Intel points to the gap between deploying a few robots and making them a routine part of operations as one of the main challenges.
67% of participants trust their organization will be ready to manage a mixed human-and-robot workforce by 2030. But right now only four in ten have a formal strategy for it.
On top of that, 74% think workforce planning and robotics strategy will be closely linked by 2030.
The issue reaches past buying machines. An organization adding robots at scale has to decide who supervises them, how they fit with applications, what happens when they fail, which tasks stay manual, and what training employees need.
It also changes the kind of technology infrastructure required.
Advanced robots carry cameras, sensors, and AI systems that can perceive their surroundings and make decisions. That generates a huge amount of data that can’t always be sent to a remote data center to process.
The study stresses latency: more than three-quarters of managers say critical robotics applications need decision times under 100 milliseconds, and nearly a quarter set the limit below 10 milliseconds.
That favors on-device or edge processing over relying only on distant cloud services.
Right now, 42% of organizations say they have a defined and funded strategy for AI at the device or edge level. Another 39% are developing one.
Safety and skill shortages slow deployment
Technology readiness isn’t the only obstacle.
Forty percent of managers cite the lack of skilled professionals as a barrier to expanding robotics deployments.
At the same time, two-thirds believe adding robots will require human workers to build more skills, not fewer.
That’s notable, because automation is often linked directly to job loss. Instead, Intel’s study asks about the skills needed to run organizations where humans and autonomous machines work together in the same processes.
Programming, maintenance, system integration, supervision, cybersecurity, and data analysis all become part of the equation.
Physical safety also comes up as a major contradiction.
31% of participants see safety as the area where robotics has added the most value. Robots can do dangerous tasks or work in environments where human presence carries risk.
But 55% also admit safety concerns have delayed robot deployments.
68% think clearer international safety standards would help speed up adoption.
The challenge grows sharper as robots leave industrial spaces isolated from people. Autonomous mobile robots, cobots, and future general-purpose machines may share work areas with employees, customers, or patients.
AI is starting to move beyond screens
Intel uses the term Physical AI for the mix of artificial intelligence and physical systems that can perceive their surroundings, reason, and act on them.
It’s one of the trends bridging two markets that used to evolve separately: AI and robotics.
Vision models can recognize objects and people; other systems can interpret instructions, plan actions, or adapt movement. Put those into a physical machine, and AI stops being limited to producing text, images, or on-screen responses.
The report adds an interesting nuance on the growing interest in humanoid robots, though.
For 77% of respondents, a robot’s performance matters more than its appearance. And 65% think the current shape of robots is mainly limited by technology, not necessarily by the real needs of each task.
So the growth of industrial robotics doesn’t have to mean factories and warehouses full of humanoid-looking machines.
A robot built to move goods, inspect facilities, or handle certain parts can be more practical with wheels, specialized arms, or a completely different design far from human form.
Global figures back this broader view of automation. The latest consolidated IFR data show Asia accounted for 74% of new industrial robot installations in 2024, against 16% in Europe and 9% in the Americas. China alone made up 54% of global installations.
Spain installed about 5,100 industrial robots in 2024, third in Europe after Germany and Italy. The automotive industry stayed a primary demand driver.
Intel’s study doesn’t guarantee its participants’ forecasts will come true. They’re expectations from leaders of large organizations, not an exact projection of how many robots will be operational in five years.
But it does show where the challenges start as robotics scales. Buying a machine is only part of the project. Integrating it with people, applications, networks, and AI systems, and keeping response times very low and safe, can be far more complex than the robot itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many companies expect to use robot fleets in five years?
60% of respondents in the Intel-commissioned study expect their organization to run a fleet of robots over the next five years.
Are companies ready to work with robots?
Only 40% of surveyed organizations currently have a formal strategy for managing both human workers and robots, though 67% believe they’ll be ready by 2030.
Why do robots need AI at the edge?
Some applications need responses within milliseconds. More than three-quarters of respondents say critical robotics applications need responses under 100 milliseconds, so processing data near the robot cuts reliance on remote data centers.
How many industrial robots are installed worldwide?
Per the IFR, about 542,000 industrial robots were installed in 2024, the second-highest annual figure in the World Robotics 2025 report series.
Source: The Robotics Readiness Gap
