Forget ‘Dancing Robots.’ Here’s How to Actually Benefit from Autonomy.

I’ve been writing about personal finance since the early ’90s and investing in stocks since the early ’80s.

One thing I’ve learned: You can’t stop the future, but you can prepare and benefit from it.

A perfect example: These days, we see headlines about the recession and warehouse automation replacing human workers. I recently read a report predicting that the global robotics market could jump from $65 billion today to over $375 billion by 2035.

That’s scary if you’re a factory worker. But if you’re an investor, it’s the kind of trend that can make you a ton of money.

In short, if you can beat the robots, buy them.

Of course, Wall Street knows this too. The hype machine is in full swing, and if you’re not careful, you could end up buying the 2026 equivalent of Pets.com.

Here’s my take on the robotics revolution, and how you can get a piece of the action without losing your shirt. But before we start, remember that this is not investment advice. I’m just saying what I think, I’m not telling you what to do.

It’s the difference between a cool demo and a great business

Every time I turn on the news, I see a video of a humanoid robot doing a backflip or folding laundry. It looks amazing. It also distracts you from the boring reality about making money.

A report from Morgan Stanley just hit the nail on the head about “embedded AI”: There is a huge gap between a robot that can dance and a robot that can do useful work at scale in the real world.

When researching investments, you need to ignore the sci-fi stuff and look for “boring” robots. I’m talking about unsightly machines already working in Amazon warehouses, painting cars in Detroit, or assisting surgeons in the operating room.

These companies have real value, not just cool YouTube videos.

Don’t try to pick a winner

In the late 1990s, everyone knew the Internet was going to be big. But for every Amazon, there were a hundred companies that went to zero.

The robotics industry is currently feeling the same way. In China alone, there are now more than 200 companies developing humanoid robots. Most of them won’t be around in five years.

This is why I rarely buy individual stocks in the speculative industry. I prefer to buy the whole basket.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allow you to own a piece of dozens of robotics companies at once. If someone gets distracted, it doesn’t wipe out your portfolio. If someone becomes the next Tesla, you’re still capturing some of that growth.

Funds I’m looking at

There are several big players in this space who are giving you a hard time.

1. Aggressive play:
You may have heard of ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ). This fund is actively managed, which means there are people picking stocks rather than following a computer algorithm. By 2025, the fund has returned nearly 49%, beating the market average.

However, remember that with great reward comes great risk. Active funds charge high interest rates—this one is around 0.75%—and can easily get scary in the long run.

2. Wide betting:
If you’re looking for something a little different, look no further Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ). It owns companies involved in industrial robotics and automation, and the AI ​​software that enables them. Including big, established names like NVIDIA and Intuitive Surgical.

3. Benchmark:
I ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO) is one of the oldest currencies in the space. It tends to spread its money evenly across small and large companies, rather than betting the farm on a few tech giants.

What about individual stocks?

As I said above, I rarely buy individual stocks in a speculative industry, especially one that is in its early stages. But if you feel like getting into individual companies, here’s a little trick you can use in any investment sector: Find ETFs that specialize in that sector, go to the ETF home pages and see what stocks are in the ETFs.

That way, you’ll see what specific stocks the experts who cover these ETFs invest in.

For example, if you search for “Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ)” you will quickly find this page for the ETF sponsor. Along with information such as performance and fees (always important), you will find a list of all the companies in this ETF.

In this case, you’ll see the top holding is Nvidia (which I’ve had for a few years now), followed by Fanuc Corp., ABB LTD, Intuitive Surgical, and many more.

Does that mean you should blindly buy what ETF managers are buying? No. But if you’re a stock picker, their holdings list is a good place to start more research on these names.

The “picks and shovels” strategy

During the Gold Rush, the people who made the most fixed income were not the gold diggers. They were people selling shovels.

In robots, “shovels” are parts that all robots need, regardless of which type wins.

• Senses and vision: Robots need to “see.” Companies that make lidar and machine vision cameras are important.
• Semiconductors: You cannot have AI or automation without advanced chips.
• Motors and actuators: These are the muscles of the robot.

Most of the ETFs I mentioned above hold these types of companies. It’s a way to bet on the growth of the industry without guessing which model of a particular robot will sell best.

A warning before you buy

I want to be clear: This is a dynamic industry and the profitability of most of these companies is years away.

If you are close to retirement, or need your money in the next three years, you have no business putting most of your money in robotics stocks. They will swing wildly.

But if you have a long-term investment horizon and want to fend off automation that may one day threaten your career, putting 5% of your portfolio in this sector makes sense.

Just don’t get distracted by the dancing robots. Focus on those who do the work.