Turns Out the Hardest Part of Building Robots Is Talking About Them
MRG Wire
Robotics Industry Insights
What’s driving robotics forward
in the lab, on the line, and in the market
Welcome to the October 2025 edition of Robotics Industry Insights. This month takes a look at how the most advanced machines in the world still rely on something deeply human: communication. From the engineers who can bridge the gap between code and conversation to the global race shaping where robotics goes next, Jeff Williams shares what he’s hearing from across the industry and what it means for the people building the future of automation.
Turns Out the Hardest Part of Building Robots Is Talking About Them
By Jeff Williams, Sr. Executive Recruiter – Industrial Automation & Robotics
I am not saying robots have better social skills than we do, but give them another update or two and I am not ruling it out.
Spend enough time in this industry and you quickly notice the irony. I talk every week with leaders who are building systems that can navigate warehouses, dodge forklifts, and process data faster than we can blink. Yet one of the biggest hiring challenges they face has nothing to do with motion control or AI. Instead, it is finding engineers who can actually talk about what they do.
That has become the rare skill. The autonomy stack has many layers such as perception, planning, navigation, simulation, hardware, and software integration. Candidates who can work across multiple areas are rising to the top. What makes them stand out even more is their ability to explain those connections clearly, especially to people outside of engineering.
When Technology Meets Communication
I see this play out constantly, from startups running their first live demo to established robotics companies introducing new autonomous systems to customers. With so many teams focused on proof of concept projects, communication is now as important as technical precision. The best candidates are the ones who can walk into a room of investors, customers, or operators and make the complex seem simple.
We are also seeing new kinds of companies enter the race. Defense and security are growing with more focus on loss prevention and surveillance. Then there are unexpected industries like golf automation, where robotics is changing how work gets done in new environments.
Compensation has leveled off in recent years, but the shift toward onsite work is growing fast. More companies want their teams together again, and I am hearing this across the board. Collaboration is harder to replicate through a screen, especially in engineering and integration work that depends on tight feedback loops.
It is an exciting moment in robotics. The technology is racing forward, but the real advantage still comes down to people who can bridge worlds. The human and the technical. The idea and the execution. Those are the conversations I hear every day between founders, hiring managers, and engineers who are turning big visions into reality.
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