Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Oprah Winfrey speaks at the DNC, WNBA star Angel Reese signs a deal with Reese’s, and Magic Leap’s ex-CEO tackles robotics as her next career. Have a terrific Thursday.
– On the job. Before taking a job as the CEO of Agility Robotics, Peggy Johnson had never worked in the robotics field—and definitely not with Agility’s particular brand of robot, a humanoid named Digit that walks on two legs and moves boxes in warehouses.
But Johnson, the former CEO of Magic Leap and an ex-executive vice president of business development for Microsoft, had kept her eye on the emerging industry over her career in tech. And she was familiar with what it took to manufacture hardware, from Magic Leap’s VR headsets to mobile phones during her decades at Qualcomm. “People say hardware is hard,” she says. “And it is—it’s very complex. It’s not like cloud software; it’s something altogether different.”
Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson speaks at Fortune Brainstorm Tech in July 2024. Stuart Isett/Fortune Since starting her new job this year, Johnson has dove headfirst into the robotics space. Her Zoom background is a looped video of Digit moving boxes in a factory—which the humanoid really does for Amazon and the logistics provider GXO, which manufactures Spanx. Built to resemble a human, the robot accesses narrow aisles, shelves, and other small spaces that other kinds of robots—like stationary arms or wheeled robots—can’t. At the same time, it’s built for structured spaces like warehouses, not other human activity. “It’s not trying to fold clothes or cook dinner inside of a house,” Johnson says.
Say hello to Digit, the Humanoid robot made by Agility Robotics.Stuart Isett/Fortune In an emerging technology field, Johnson’s mission is to stay focused on what the actual business opportunity is. She’s not building cool new technology for the fun of it but staying focused on the actual use for it, which right now is warehouse logistics—where there are 1 million unfilled jobs, she says. That’s part of what attracted her to the CEO role, she says. “They not only have very transformative technology, but they’ve also got product-market fit,” she says.
It’s similar to what she did at Magic Leap, where she pivoted the VR company from consumer to B2B. At Qualcomm, she was part of the company as it scaled from a few hundred employees to 30,000.
“Much like other technical innovations, [robotics] takes time,” she says. “But it’s definitely hit its stride now.”
After working at Magic Leap and Agility, Johnson has immersed herself in the startup world following multiple decades at Qualcomm and Microsoft. But she says she’d consider returning to big business for the right job. “Can never say no to that,” she says of a hypothetical Fortune 500 CEO gig. “But it would have to be something very appealing.”
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
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- Everybody gets a vote. Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance at the DNC—a rare venture into politics for the media mogul—to back Kamala Harris as “the best of America” and call on fellow independents to vote for the VP. Guardian
- Publishing problems. Lisa Lucas, the former publisher of Pantheon and Schocken (Penguin Random House imprints), is one of several senior Black women hired in 2020 by publishing companies who lost their jobs or quit the industry—leading some to question whether the industry will ever diversify. New York Times
- Way more rides. Tekedra Mawakana, co-chief executive officer of Waymo, says the self-driving rideshare service is providing more than 100,000 paid trips per week, up from 50,000 in May. Waymo's main markets are San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. TechCrunch
- A piece of Reese's. WNBA star rookie Angel Reese has signed a long-sought sponsorship deal with the candy brand that shares her name: Reese’s. The deal will include apparel in the brand’s orange, brown, and yellow colors. Sports Illustrated
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Ameritas, an insurance company, has promoted Jennifer Wooster to senior vice president, chief actuary and underwriting from vice president, actuarial.
Lone Star Analysis, a decision intelligence and engineering solutions provider, appointed Katherine Simmonds as U.K. chief of staff. Previously, she was operations manager for Gas and Air Solutions.
Apromore, a process mining platform, appointed Brandee Sanders as chief marketing officer. Previously, Sanders was CMO at Revenue.io.
TPH Entertainment, actor Taraji P. Henson’s production company, hired Jamila Jordan-Theus as head of development and production. Most recently, she was head of motion picture at Genius Entertainment.
Sage Growth Partners, a health care growth strategy and marketing firm, hired Lara Sassounian as manager, PR and media relations. She had been CEO of Artfully Curated.
Verb, a brand experience agency, hired Kelle Coleman as head of marketing and growth and Kindra Meyer as executive creative director. Most recently, Coleman was senior vice president, strategic partnership and experience at Nielsen. Meyer worked in consulting at Verb.
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