For years, humanoid robots have been more demo than deployment. That is why a quiet announcement on October 26, 2026 matters: GXO Logistics, the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, said it will expand its use of Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid to two more U.S. warehouses. A repeat order from a live customer is one of the clearest signals that a new technology is crossing from pilot to practice.
From one warehouse to three
According to the joint press release, Digit will support e-commerce fulfillment at GXO sites in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee, handling highly repetitive material-handling tasks. Deployments are expected to begin in early 2027 using Digit 4, then migrate to the next-generation Digit 5 when it becomes commercially available.
The expansion builds on a relationship that started with a proof-of-concept pilot in late 2023 at GXO’s Flowery Branch, Georgia facility. In June 2024 the companies signed a multi-year Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) agreement, which they describe as the industry’s first formal commercial deployment of humanoid robots in live operations. At Flowery Branch, Digit works alongside existing automation, moving totes and placing them onto conveyors. The companies say it has now moved more than 100,000 totes there.
Why a repeat order matters
“Customers are moving beyond asking whether humanoid robots can work to deciding where they can scale them,” said Agility CEO Peggy Johnson in the announcement. GXO CEO Patrick Kelleher framed it around value: the expansion “reflects our confidence in the technology’s ability to create measurable value for our customers and a better working environment for our teams.”
The industry has plenty of impressive videos. What it has lacked is evidence that robots can do paid work reliably, shift after shift, in a real operation. A second and third site from the same customer is that kind of evidence. As The Model Press noted in its weekly roundup, neither company disclosed robot counts, so the scale is still modest. But the direction is clear.
The Robots-as-a-Service model
RaaS means the customer pays for the robot’s work as a service rather than buying the machine outright, similar to how companies subscribe to cloud software. For logistics operators, that lowers the upfront risk of adopting unproven hardware and shifts maintenance and software updates to the vendor. Agility pairs the robots with Agility Arc, its cloud platform for managing fleets and integrating them into customer workflows.
Building for scale
Agility says Digit has accumulated more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation across its customer programs. That experience shaped Digit 5, unveiled in September 2026 and described as designed for “cooperatively safe” work close to people and for a broader range of industrial workflows.
Manufacturing capacity is part of the story too. The company points to RoboFab, its 70,000-square-foot factory in Salem, Oregon, designed for annual production capacity of up to 10,000 robots, as well as an expansion in Pittsburgh. Agility is also preparing to become a public company through a business combination with Churchill Capital Corp XI, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to the release.
Why humanoids, and why warehouses
Warehouses are full of conventional automation such as conveyors and sorters, but many tasks still sit in the gaps between machines: lifting a tote off a shelf, carrying it a few meters, placing it on a belt. Those spaces were designed for people. A robot with a human-like form can, in principle, step into those roles without the building being redesigned around it. Repetitive tote handling is also physically demanding work, which is why both companies emphasize a better working environment for employees.
Practical takeaways
- Start narrow. GXO’s path, from a single pilot task to a multi-year contract to more sites, is a template for adopting any new automation.
- Measure in operational units. Totes moved and hours run are more meaningful than demo videos when evaluating a vendor.
- Consider service models. RaaS contracts can reduce capital risk while the technology matures.
- Plan for people. The most successful deployments pair robots with redesigned roles for human staff rather than treating automation as a simple swap.
The bottom line
The GXO expansion will not put humanoids in every warehouse next year. But moving from “can it work?” to “where should we put more of them?” is a real milestone. If Digit 5 delivers on safe operation near people, 2027 could be the year humanoid robots become an ordinary line item in logistics budgets.