A strong majority see Physical AI as central to their strategy, with 89% expecting AI-enabled robots to play a key role in the next three to five years, while only 29% feel very confident in safely making real-world decisions.

Deployment trends show most systems are already working alongside humans, with 83% deployed with human teams and 67% expecting continued human collaboration within three to five years, elevating reliability and safety expectations.

Regulatory and certification pressures contribute to project delays for about two-thirds of respondents, rising to roughly 70% in the UK and Germany, with cybersecurity and functional safety standards named as major compliance challenges.

Developer sentiment points to a bigger software role ahead, as 85% expect software to drive progress in the next three to five years, with investments planned in AI-driven decision making (51%), cybersecurity (51%), and operating systems and real-time control software (37%).

Experts highlight four core challenges—integration complexity, certification delays, functional safety in human–machine interaction, and ensuring predictable behavior—that can be addressed through stronger software foundations and better architectural practices.

Industry commentary from QNX echoes these four challenges, framing them as solvable with stronger software foundations.

QNX frames its findings around high-performance foundational software, virtualization, and safety-enabled solutions to enable safer, more autonomous robotic systems.

The company positions its software as a key enabler for safe, reliable robotics across industries, emphasizing edge computing, virtualization, and cloud enablement.

For investors, the findings suggest QNX’s real-time, safety-certified software could gain traction as demand for deterministic platforms grows amid rising regulatory scrutiny.

A global study of 1,000 robotics developers shows software architecture as the top bottleneck (27%), ahead of hardware (16%), signaling a shift toward software foundations as the main driver of robotics innovation.

Developers identify software architecture and integration as the primary bottleneck, underscoring the need for secure, predictable software to enable future robotics progress.

There is potential for a replacement cycle in robotics OS as developers move from general-purpose systems toward specialized, safety-certified platforms.