Humanoid and SAP Partner to Integrate Cognitive Robots into Industrial Operations
- MM24 Multimedia Desk
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
UK-based robotics firm Humanoid is collaborating with enterprise software giant SAP to develop cognitive humanoid robots for industrial use, targeting a market valued at $15–20 billion by 2030. The partnership will combine Humanoid’s HMND 01 platform with SAP’s embodied AI agents to create robots that understand business context, with an initial pilot focused on complex automotive seat assembly for manufacturer Martur Fompak International.
The collaboration, reported by Humanoid, aims to move robotics beyond simple, repetitive tasks and into intelligent, context-aware operations. The first proof-of-concept will tackle the intricate process of intelligent kitting for automotive seats. Here, Humanoid’s modular humanoid platforms will be tasked with selecting diverse components from organized bins and precisely placing them into containers destined for the production line, integrating directly with SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) for real-time data.
This is not about replacing human workers but about augmenting them in complex environments. “This partnership is an important step toward bringing humanoid robotics into enterprise operations at scale,” said Artem Sokolov, founder of Humanoid.
“Together with SAP, we’re exploring how cognitive robots can extend automation beyond the factory floor, into every environment where people work.” The humanoid form factor is key, as it allows the robots to operate in spaces designed for humans without requiring massive infrastructure changes.
The real breakthrough lies in the "brain" of the operation. SAP’s embodied AI agents provide the business-context awareness that elevates these robots from mere automatons to intelligent partners. These agents enable the robots to understand production schedules, specific customer specifications, and quality requirements on the fly. This means a robot can adjust its actions based on a last-minute order change or a specific quality check, all while maintaining seamless integration with the company’s existing digital backbone.
Philipp Herzig, Chief Technology Officer at SAP SE, emphasized the transformative potential, stating, "Embodied AI represents a fundamental shift in how robots understand and respond to business needs. We look forward to exploring the potential of our embodied AI agents together with Humanoid. The first proof of concept allows us to demonstrate how humanoid robots can act as extensions of an organization’s operations."
The initial pilot with Martur Fompak International addresses a critical manufacturing challenge. Automotive seat production involves a vast number of configuration variants, making precise component selection and kitting a complex, error-prone process. By deploying cognitive robots, the companies aim to increase accuracy, reduce waste, and free up human workers for higher-value tasks. Successful in-house results for this use case were already demonstrated at SAP’s TechEd event in Berlin in November 2025.
Looking beyond this first application, the partnership has immense scope. The longer-term market projection for such solutions is a staggering $38 billion by 2035. Humanoid and SAP plan to explore further collaboration, including building solutions on each other's platforms and enabling seamless data exchange.
This could eventually see cognitive robots managing warehouse inventory, performing quality assurance checks, and assisting in logistics, all while being guided by the enterprise's central nervous system—SAP software. This fusion of physical dexterity and digital intelligence may well define the next era of smart manufacturing.