Jason Schenker - The Robot and Automation Almanac - 2022: The Futurist Institute

FROM THE FUTURIST INSTITUTE

This is the fifth edition of The Robot and Automation Almanac . What began as a project of future history has become an important guide and touchstone of futurist thought to help shape and frame the expectations, opportunities, challenges, and risks presented by emerging automation technologies in the year ahead and beyond.

Technology has become more important than ever in the wake of the COVID pandemic. With supply chain and labor market challenges abounding, automation, robotics, and AI present tremendous opportunities. It also means that there is a greater need than ever before to think strategically about the future of these technologies. It is my hope that The Robot and Automation Almanac - 2022 helps you consider the future of automation, robots, robotics, AI, and other related technologies.

On behalf of The Futurist Institute, I want to acknowledge and thank all of the contributors to The Robot and Automation Almanac - 2022 .

As in the past four years, we have an amazing cohort of contributors in the fields of robots, automation, and AI this year. Thank you to Michael Walton, Bruce Welty, Shannon McGurk, Djamila Amimer, Jason Gouw, Bruce Bleikamp, Steven LaFevers, Louie Kangeter, Anton Larsson, Thomas Evans, Kaleb Steinhauer, Nawfal Patel, Shane Istre, Robert Handfield, Kevin Paramore, Martin Buehler, Lorenzo Carver, Jim Rice, Daniel Stanton, Patrick Davison, Crystal Parrott, and Mark Manning.

I am humbled by this list of amazing authors! Without them, this book would never have happened. Their visions of the future are both exciting and valuable. Their expectations for the big thing in the year ahead and beyond are important for understanding a wide range of technological developments, initiatives, opportunities, and challenges in the year ahead.

It is my personal pleasure to have been involved in this undertaking. The robotics, automation, and AI industries are still very new, but they are becoming more important. And it is with great pleasure that The Futurist Institute is able to support the companies in these industries with this almanac. I founded The Futurist Institute to help strategists, analysts, and executives become futurists in October 2016; we recently began our sixth year of operations.

I also want to thank The Futurist Institute team for providing support and feedback about this project. And I wish to thank Kerry Ellis, who designed a wonderful cover for the almanac.

With the inaugural edition of The Robot and Automation Almanac for 2018, The Futurist Institute created an invaluable tool for professionals, individuals, and investors seeking to understand the implications of robots and automation for their personal, professional, and investing lives. Multiple past editions provided unique insights and have become bestsellers.

We have similarly high expectations for how The Robot and Automation Almanac - 2022 will presage changes in the year ahead, and that it will also help professionals think strategically about a variety of potential changes in the wake of the COVID-19 disruption that have loomed large over the economy, the supply chain, and the labor market.

The transition from the information age into the automation age is underway. Thank you for being a part of this dynamic shift.

The history of robots and automation is being written now in this book. When people look back a decade from now, they will want to know how robots and automation evolved. They will want to understand how robots and AI became more integrated. They will wish they read The Robot and Automation Almanac .

Welcome to the future! ~

Jason Schenker

Chairman of The Futurist Institute

Editor of The Robot and Automation Almanac