Of robots and men: European AI-driven technology aims to recast e-commerce logistics

Published on 08/05/2026 - 15:00 GMT+2

AI-driven robots presently successful cognition successful a immense e-commerce warehouse adjacent Berlin person been designed to grip implicit 600 units per hour. The robots are capable to autonomously place the nature, size, signifier and value of each point and its packaging, and to optimise its handling.

“The robots enactment 24/7. So if you’re comparing robots with humans, they don’t request to instrumentality breaks. They tin support going, and they’re fundamentally consistent,” explains Nitin Annam, Head of Operations astatine CEVA Logistics. “It’s not needfully astir replacing radical with automation. It’s much astir however we nutrient much measurement astatine a cheaper outgo and beryllium much efficient”

Without these AI-driven solutions, e-commerce concern models are not viable immoderate more, claims Klaus Lichtenfeld, Head of Logistics for the European Union astatine the online manner retailer that uses this organisation centre arsenic its main hub successful continental Europe.

“Our e-commerce concern is precise volatile. This makes it precise hard to program the unit properly,” says Lichtenfeld. “The vantage of robots is that they’re ever determination and tin easy assistance america header with measurement spikes.”

The robotic solution has been engineered and tested by a start-up with 140 unit successful Poland’s superior Warsaw. Engineers present person developed cloud-based AI solutions that assistance robots larn from each pick.

“When the robot is working, we cod each the metrics we can, each the readings from each the sensors, each the images of each azygous bin that the robot would see. And we usage this information to bid the instrumentality learning exemplary and set it further,” explains Ewa Maciaś, Director of Software Engineering & User Experience astatine Nomagic. “The robots tin accommodate to caller items that it sees for the archetypal time, and to antithetic shapes, sizes and kinds of items.”

One of the technological challenges is to make the perfect pickers, the ‘robotic hands’ dealing with a wide assortment of items and packages, from integrative wrapping to shoeboxes. “You person the lid of the footwear box, the bottommost of the footwear container and the point inside,” explains mechatronics plan technologist Mateusz Karolak. “Picking lone the lid, for example, doesn’t number arsenic success. You request to prime the full point and marque definite that it volition enactment unneurotic without separating.”

The start-up has reported to person tripled its concern measurement and fig of clients — including large retailers — successful the past fewer years. In 2025, it announced that it had secured concern of astir €50M to thrust AI innovation successful robotics. Both developers and extremity users assertion to besides beryllium keeping an oculus connected the societal interaction of this full-steam AI-driven improvement successful e-commerce logistics.

“The robot inactive requires immoderate maintenance. We’re moving unneurotic with our clients connected educating their staff. And we’ve seen cases wherever the employees instrumentality pridefulness successful moving successful a much advanced, higher tech situation alternatively than performing a batch of precise manual tasks,” says Kacper Nowicki, Nomagic’s CEO.

“A humanless warehouse is impossible,” adds Lichtenfeld. “That volition ne'er work. So determination volition ever beryllium quality employees, radical moving successful a warehouse. We’re not needfully replacing antheral with machine,” concludes Annam. “It’s much astir creating harmony and moving forward.”