AI in business is moving from the cloud to the real world: With humanoid robots entering the market at enterprise-software price points, robotics is no longer just for factories. Magnus Oxenwaldt explores what that means for 2027 budget planning: from SAP’s integration of robots into enterprise systems to the rise of remote robot operators in retail.  

This week's top stories for AI in business:  

• 1X Technologies opens pre-orders for NEO, a $20,000 humanoid robot. A price that makes robotics accessible beyond manufacturing.  
• SAP integrates humanoid robots directly into its warehouse management system, signalling physical automation’s entry into enterprise software.  
• Figure AI robots now run full shifts at BMW plants, while Amazon hits one million deployed robots across 300 sites.  
• Microsoft warns of GPU power shortages as physical AI multiplies cloud demand, and Google plans orbital AI data centres by 2027.  
• The strategic takeaway: digital transformation now has two tracks, software automation and physical automation. It’s time to plan for both.  

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