CES – AI expected to drive scale in manufacturing robotics

A panel of robotics experts from across a range of business interests kicked off CES on Monday with an engaging look at the near-term and long-term impacts of AI in reducing barriers to the adoption of robotics.

Leading off the world’s largest tech event’s 2026 conference schedule was the Transforming Industries with Physical AI session presented by McKinsey & Company, with panelists Nakul Duggal, EVP and group GM at Qualcomm Technologies; Carolina Parada, senior director at Google DeepMind; Robert Playter, CEO at Boston Dynamics; and Mikell Taylor, director of robotics strategy at General Motors (GM).

Moderated by McKinsey consultant Ani Kelkar, the panel discussion explored the adoption of automation in both commercial and residential applications, with a focus on the manufacturing sector. The consensus of the panelists was that AI holds the key to not only reducing the cost of robot adoption, but can enable sufficient operational flexibility to justify increased technology investment from the smaller firms that make up the bulk of the global manufacturing sector.

“We live in a world facing significant challenges from a labour productivity and availability perspective,” said Kelkar. “Automation is no longer being treated as a capital purchase within an operations context, but something that becomes a transformational capability for organisations. In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that we will have 1.9 million manufacturing jobs unfulfilled by 2033. Yet we have only automated at scale in 6% of our manufacturing facilities. So the imperative is there, the excitement is there, and we’re seeing significant number of enterprises move in that direction. The volume of mentions about robotics and automations in public filings from industrial companies has more than doubled in the last 18 months.”

With a skilled labour pool forecast to continue shrinking in the years ahead, panelists agreed that manufacturers can anticipate facing greater competition for top-performing employees and inflated labour costs – as the costs of automation platforms continue to shrink.

GM’s Mikell Taylor said that a critical impact of AI development in manufacturing robotics will be an ability to improve robotic capabilities at scale, enabling simpler devices to perform more complex assembly work which today still relies on human employees.

“A lot of the kind of traditional robots that you see in any automotive assembly line are primarily involved with the body and paint side of things. What remains still very manual is final assembly, such as fitting the instrument panel, the seatbelts, the windows and such,” she said. “That’s what requires an advanced level of technology, which we’re seeing being developed today, enabling a robot to figure out that the door handle on this car that looks slightly different from the door handle on the other car that’s right behind it is still the same thing, and is put it on the same way. A lot of that ability to think on the fly is going to come out of these advanced technologies.

“I think what is probably underestimated is how quickly this will happen, because I do believe that physical AI is one AI problem statement that has such mass application that entire industries are going invest a huge amount of time on this. And the last 10-plus years of innovation that has happened in many other industries allows you to be able to create this convergence where a lot of energy is being spent. Things are going to accelerate massively.”

The rapid development of more sophisticated manufacturing robots that come at lower costs could be exactly what the leisure marine sector needs, particularly as existent competition for skilled employees is only expected to increase.

CES runs through Friday at the Las Vegas Convention Center and 11 additional venues across Las Vegas, with daily event coverage on IBI.