AGCO to Pilot Agility Digit at Kansas Plant from 2027

Agricultural machinery and precision ag technology company AGCO, whose brands include Fendt, Massey Ferguson, PTx and Valtra, announced a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics on October 20, 2026, to pilot the Digit humanoid at its Hesston, Kansas production facility, with work expected to begin in 2027.

What the Hesston pilot will test

During the initial phase, the robots will focus on sorting and stacking parts and positioning containers used for material storage. Initial testing will concentrate on internal logistics and material-handling operations. AGCO has not disclosed how many Digit robots will participate, the investment involved, or the expected duration of the pilot. The company has also not announced applications involving assembly of complex agricultural machinery components.

What Agility says Digit brings

Digit uses sensors, perception systems and artificial intelligence to navigate its surroundings and perform material-handling tasks. The robot can be integrated with Agility Arc, a cloud-based platform for deploying, monitoring and managing robot fleets. Agility says pairing Digit with Agility Arc avoids major infrastructure changes or facility upgrades, and that combining mobility and manipulation lets manufacturers automate tasks without redesigning a production line.

Agility’s commercial footprint

Agility’s existing deployment list includes Toyota, GXO and Schaeffler, according to the company. In October 2026, GXO expanded the partnership to sites in North Carolina and Tennessee, following a pilot at a Spanx facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia, where Digit has moved more than 100,000 totes. Schaeffler’s COO said the company could deploy a significant number of humanoids across its global network of 100 plants by 2030. Agility is engaged with more than 30 prospective customers through active commercial discussions or participation in its Customer Acceleration Program. For broader context on similar deployments, see industrial humanoid robots.

Agility has previously disclosed more than $300 million in committed multi-year orders for Digit 5, its next-generation robot unveiled on September 15, 2026. Early customer access is expected to begin in the first half of 2027, with general availability targeted for the end of 2027. RoboFab, the 70,000-square-foot Salem, Oregon facility, is designed for annual production capacity of up to 10,000 robots, and Agility says Digit has accumulated more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation.

Market context

The pilot arrives as full-size humanoid sales remain limited. The International Federation of Robotics reports nearly 7,000 full-size humanoids were sold worldwide in 2025, and the IFR says the technology is still ‘on the verge of making the leap from laboratories to pilots.’ Across US private industry, overexertion, repetitive motion and bodily conditions caused 946,290 cases involving days away from work, job restriction or transfer in 2023 and 2024, while the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte estimated US manufacturing could need as many as 3.8 million additional workers between 2024 and 2033. For how Digit compares with other tracked humanoids, see Digit alternatives, or compare Digit with a robot like Figure 02 in the Digit vs Figure 02 comparison.

Safety, ROI and expansion

AGCO aims to integrate robots alongside employees, with particular attention to operational safety. One objective is to reduce workers’ exposure to repetitive movements and physically demanding activities, while allowing employees to focus on higher-skilled tasks requiring greater technical expertise. Agility’s chief business officer says Digit must make both a safety case and a business case before it goes beyond Hesston, with safety, accuracy, uptime, throughput and ROI among the measures it will be judged on.

What we still do not know

AGCO has not disclosed how many Digit robots will participate, the investment involved or the expected duration of the pilot, and it has not announced applications involving assembly of complex agricultural machinery components. The company says the pilot is expected to begin in 2027, without giving a more precise timeline. None of the reports gives a unit price or commercial terms for the pilot; the Digit price page tracks what Agility has published.