Jonas Cleveland

Jonas Cleveland thinks shopping robots will not only be picking goods off the shelves at massive warehouses but roaming the aisles at local businesses, grabbing products for online orders in stores that are also full of human shoppers.

Cleveland’s company, COSY (for Cognitive Operational Systems), is creating the sensor perception system for those robots. Cameras, AI, and mapping technology help make them smart enough to do their job without interfering with the people around them. So if you’re shopping in a pharmacy or home improvement store, Cleveland’s robots won’t bump into you, and if you’ve ordered online for delivery, the robot that prepares your order will know a six-pack of Diet Coke from a six-pack of Coke Zero.

—Dan Solomon