The future of robotics: intelligent, adaptable and working as a team

By McKinsey & Company · July 2, 2026.

This email, signed by Dorothee Herring and Steffen Fuchs, global leaders of McKinsey's Industrials practice, introduces a new edition of their 'The Next Normal' series devoted to the future of robotics.

The central message is that robots are beginning to move beyond factories and warehouses into a variety of everyday settings. As more companies start adopting general-purpose robots, the challenge is no longer so much what the technology can do, but how people and machines can work together effectively.

In this edition, McKinsey explores where robots are already gaining ground and how the broader robotics landscape could evolve in the coming years.

The email also highlights a related piece titled 'The age of thinking machines: Perspectives on the future of robotics', which argues that AI's next frontier is physical: embodied intelligence, in the form of robots, could change the way we live and work between now and 2040.

The email is primarily promotional and directs readers to the full articles on McKinsey's site, without elaborating in the body of the message itself on additional details about specific use cases, figures or concrete examples.