Beyond the Demo: Building Robotics That Actually Work with Jennifer Kwiatkowski

From aerospace engineering to tactile sensing and physical AI, Jennifer Kwiatkowski’s path into robotics was driven by a simple but powerful motivation: taking math and physics off the whiteboard and making them work in the real world.

Now an AI Specialist at Robotiq, Jennifer works at the intersection of hardware, software, and customer reality. In this conversation, she joins Greg to unpack what it actually takes to deploy robots that deliver ROI, why integration is often harder than the robot itself, and how the industry can avoid getting lost in hype cycles.

Jennifer brings a research background in robotic manipulation and tactile sensing, along with firsthand experience navigating the fragile complexity of physical systems. Her perspective cuts through buzzwords and focuses on what matters: reliability, safety, usability, and long term value for customers.

In this conversation, Greg and Jennifer explore:

• Jennifer’s journey from mechanical engineering at McGill to a decade deep in robotics and AI
• Why engineers, not just scientists, are the ones who bring theory into the physical world
• The hidden challenge in robotics: integration can account for 50 to 80 percent of total automation cost
• Lessons from building automated pick and place systems for data collection and the real data barriers in physical AI
• What separates shiny robotics demos from systems that actually deploy and scale
• Why vertical focus and application specific reliability win over general purpose promises
• The hard truth about automation: if a human still has to supervise it, you have not automated anything
• How AI meaningfully adds value in unstructured environments, and when it simply adds unnecessary complexity
• The importance of setting the right expectations with customers and practicing real customer empathy
• Why supply chain and support operations become major bottlenecks when robotics companies scale
• Using OKRs to align teams without creating decision making bottlenecks
• Safety and privacy concerns as robots move into unconstrained human environments
• The current hype cycle around humanoids and where Jennifer sees sustainable growth in robotics adoption
• Why she is excited about “weird robots” and unconventional form factors that move beyond human imitation

For founders, engineers, and operators building physical AI systems, this episode offers a grounded look at what it takes to move from prototype to production, and from hype to durable impact.

Learn more about Robotiq: https://robotiq.com/

Connect with Jennifer Kwiatkowski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferkwiatkowski/

Connect with Greg Toroosian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtoroosian/