Founders in Arms

The State of Robotics in 2026: Ryan Gariépy on Hype, Reality, and Long-Term Thinking

Mar 13, 2026
Guest
Ryan Gariépy
Ryan Gariépy, co-founder and former CTO of Clearpath Robotics and Otto Motors, with decades building mobile robotics and scaling hardware startups. He discusses bootstrapping robotics businesses, why robotics progress stacks across systems, manufacturing choices, the realities and economics of humanoid robots, and how long-term growth and experience differ in robotics versus software.
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ADVICE

Keep Final Assembly Close Until Outsourcing Makes Sense

  • Keep final assembly and critical calibration in-house until volume justifies outsourcing because contract manufacturers initially lack robot-specific know-how.
  • Clearpath outsourced material processing but kept final assembly and sensor calibration in Waterloo to preserve quality.
INSIGHT

AI Hype Won't Suddenly Solve Robotics

  • No single software breakthrough (e.g., transformers) will suddenly unlock general-purpose robots; many non-ML areas still drive uplift.
  • Ryan notes some deployed robotics gains don't even use neural nets, showing the cumulative systems effect.
INSIGHT

Expect Slow Sustained Growth Not Explosive Returns

  • Robotics growth compounds steadily over decades (20–50% sustained) instead of exploding then crashing like software booms.
  • Plan for multi‑year incremental growth rather than expecting 3x year-over-year hockey-stick returns.
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