GXO Expands Agility Digit Deployments to NC and TN Warehouses

GXO Scales Proven Humanoid Operations Across Multiple Sites

GXO Logistics and Agility Robotics announced on October 26, 2026 an expansion of their multi-year Robots-as-a-Service agreement. Digit humanoids will begin operating at two new U.S. facilities in Statesville, North Carolina and Lebanon, Tennessee in early 2027. The move follows sustained performance at the original Flowery Branch, Georgia site where the robots have handled more than 100,000 totes since commercial deployment began.

The new sites will initially receive Digit 4 units configured for repetitive e-commerce tote handling and conveyor loading tasks. GXO plans a later transition to Digit 5 once that model reaches commercial availability. This phased approach allows the logistics provider to maintain operational continuity while incorporating hardware upgrades that include improved legs, a higher payload capacity of 50 pounds, and a 10-to-1 run-to-charge ratio.

Timeline and Operational Context

The partnership originated with a late-2023 proof-of-concept pilot at Flowery Branch. A formal multi-year RaaS contract followed in June 2024, marking the first commercial humanoid deployment under such terms in live warehouse conditions. Digit 4 units at that Georgia location work alongside existing automation to move totes onto conveyors with reported 98 percent on-task accuracy.

Deployments at the two additional sites will focus on the same class of repetitive material-handling work that supports e-commerce fulfillment. GXO operates more than 1,000 facilities globally and has conducted dozens of humanoid pilots, yet the Agility relationship represents its first multi-site scaling of the technology. The October 26 announcement provides the clearest public signal yet that an existing customer views the robots as delivering measurable value beyond the initial pilot phase.

Digit 4 to Digit 5 Migration Path

Digit 5, unveiled by Agility on September 15, 2026, incorporates design changes drawn directly from three years of Digit 4 field data. Key upgrades include new legs for better mobility, a 50-pound repeatable payload (40 percent higher than Digit 4), and a safety architecture that supports cooperative operation near people without fixed barriers. Early customer access to Digit 5 is scheduled for the first half of 2027, with broader availability targeted for the end of that year.

GXO’s decision to begin the North Carolina and Tennessee rollouts with Digit 4 rather than waiting for Digit 5 indicates confidence in the current platform’s reliability. The existing Flowery Branch dataset will also accelerate training and integration of the newer model once it arrives. Agility CEO Peggy Johnson stated that expanding to additional sites represents the clearest signal that the value is real after years of live operations.

Fleet Economics and Service Implications

The RaaS structure shifts capital expenditure to operating expense for GXO, a model that aligns with the company’s preference for flexible automation scaling. Specific per-robot pricing and fleet counts remain undisclosed, but the 100,000-tote milestone at a single site supplies the longest public throughput dataset available for any commercial humanoid deployment to date. This data set offers concrete benchmarks for uptime, accuracy, and integration complexity that other logistics operators can reference when evaluating similar programs.

Serviceability considerations also factor into the expansion decision. Agility maintains the robots and the Arc cloud platform that manages fleet coordination and customer-system integration. The multi-site rollout will test whether the support model scales efficiently across geographically separated facilities in different states. GXO executives have previously noted that humanoids have not yet reached full ROI, estimating a couple of years remain before that threshold is crossed across broader pilots.

Competitive Positioning in Warehouse Automation

Agility’s relationship with GXO stands out because it originates from an existing commercial customer rather than new pilots. Other humanoid developers, including Figure AI and Tesla, continue to emphasize development timelines and prospective partnerships without comparable disclosed multi-site repeat deployments. Unitree and Boston Dynamics maintain active warehouse and logistics programs, yet none have published equivalent cumulative throughput figures from a single long-running customer site.

The expansion also positions Agility ahead in the race for real-world validation data. While many competitors focus on new hardware announcements or large order-backlog figures subject to milestones, GXO’s continued commitment supplies ongoing operational evidence. This dataset becomes particularly valuable as Digit 5 moves toward general availability and as Agility prepares for a Nasdaq listing through a proposed SPAC merger.

Broader Industry Signals

The October 26 announcement coincides with Agility securing additional customers, including a pilot with AGCO for parts handling and stacking. The company reports more than $300 million in multi-year orders for Digit 5, contingent on milestones, alongside a pipeline spanning manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics. GXO’s multi-site commitment adds weight to the claim that customers are shifting from evaluation to scaled deployment decisions.

For warehouse operators, the GXO expansion demonstrates a practical path from single-site proof-of-concept to regional coverage without requiring immediate replacement of all existing automation. The focus on highly repetitive tasks leaves higher-skill roles for human workers while the robots handle tote movement that previously required manual intervention or dedicated conveyors. Continued performance data from the North Carolina and Tennessee sites will determine whether this model extends further across GXO’s network or influences adoption at competing logistics providers.