Is the “connected worker” setting up the foundation for widespread robotic adoption? (part I)

In my last piece, I mapped how manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERPc) might evolve, arguing that narrow, vertical tools could spark the broader digitization wave. Many of the forces that make that ERP shift timely - skills shortages, aging workforce, and information siloes - also make the human capital question impossible to ignore.

Today’s hair-on-fire labor gap (roughly 500k unfilled shop-floor roles and similar shortages in shipyards, construction sites, and logistics hubs) will ultimately be softened by widespread robotics, but the adoption curve is still measured in years. As a pre-seed investor thinking in 10-15 year horizons, I am acutely aware of the yawning execution gap at the core of this issue: we need to fund technologies that accelerate the march toward autonomy, yet those same startups must create immediate, defensible value inside plants that still run on clipboards. The mandate is therefore two-fold: deliver ROI on day one by augmenting human workflows, while also laying the digital and cultural groundwork so robots can drop in smoothly once the technology and the market are ready. How do we build solutions that both relieve today’s pain and quietly wire the factory for the autonomous future?

This two part series is dedicated to mapping the “bridge stack” that can meet the labour crisis now, leveraging the “connected worker” - a frontline employee who uses digital tools, while laying track for autonomy tomorrow. 

Interim challenge + why augmentation must come first

• Demographics bite first: By 2033 U.S. manufacturing could need 3.8 million new workers; 1.9 million roles may go unfilled without intervention.
• Robotics still needs scaffolding: Robots thrive on structured data, deterministic processes, and tech-savvy supervisors - three things still missing in most mid-market plants. Gartner projects only half of large industrial enterprises will have sizable robot fleets by 2028, meaning the other half (and almost all SMEs) must mostly rely on people in the interim. 
• The hidden cost of waiting: Research warns that the skills gap could put up to $1 trillion in U.S. manufacturing GDP at risk by 2030 if unfilled shop-floor roles persist. Further, it is estimated that each unfilled skilled role drags ~$50k in unrealized revenue per year, compounding pressure across already thin margin sectors like metals and food. 
• Why augmentation must come first: Plants that deploy connected-worker apps, vision QA, and AR guidance today report 10-30% productivity lifts within a single budget cycle. These are savings they can reinvest in the sensors, Manufacturing Execution System (MES) connectors/ APIs, and change-management muscle memory that robots will eventually demand. In other words, augmenting humans now isn’t a detour; it’s the onramp that makes autonomy affordable later.

The Bridge Stack

These are just a few examples of how solutions can act as a digital flywheel: every augmented shift captures richer data, accelerating both today’s productivity gains and eventual robot deployment. Rabot Co-Founder, Channa Ranatunga, summarized the core of the thesis well: “The most scalable robotics strategy starts with people, not machines. Connected workers are the architects of autonomy, not a stop-gap.”

My next piece will explore a few opportunities I see for builders interested in addressing the current and future state of labor in manufacturing.

If you're building or operating at the edge of manufacturing, data, and intelligent systems, I would love to connect.

A special thank you to -

Sean Simons - whose deep domain insights provided color and depth to this exploration 

Channa Ranatunga, Isura Ranatunga and Sandeep Suresh - whose work and ongoing proof points demonstrate how organizations can climb the autonomy ladder

‍

References (Bridge Stack)

1. “Key Trends & Takeaways: Industrial & Collaborative Robots”
   Interact Analysis. 
2. “Connected Worker Market Size Analysis”
   Global Newswire
3. “AI Quality Inspection Market Report 2024”
   Global Newswire
4. Rabot
   Rabot.us
5. “Connected Worker Market Size Analysis”
   Global Newswire
6. “March of the cobots: the technology lowering the barrier to automation”
   Financial Times