Meet BotsAndUs - Q/A with GENIUS NY 2020 Finalist

A Q/A with BotsAndUs

Company HQ: London, United Kingdom
Team Size: 10 full-time
Focus: Service robotics
Website: https://www.botsandus.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bots-and-us/

Tell us a little about BotsAndUs?
We are a startup company from London that develops state of the art robotics and AI products by combining social science with human-centered design and cutting edge engineering. Our products are designed to serve dynamic, crowded public spaces such as airports, large retail stores and shopping centers. Our modules for customer service and operations are fully-autonomous and liberate people and businesses from dull, repetitive and now dangerous work so they can focus on what truly matters to them.

Can you expand on what problem you're solving?
We are currently focusing on the retail industry. Physical retailers are losing billions of dollars every year from not serving the right customer, the right product at the right time in the same way their online competitors are doing. We offer them real-time access to store data that can inform their business decisions across the entire organisation; from supply chain and category management to operations, customer service and marketing.

Who are your customers?
We currently work with some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics retail in Europe as well as British Airways and Heathrow in the travel industry.

How would you describe your team?
We are robotics enthusiasts, innovative makers and diligent executioners. Our team is fully-dedicated to our mission to deliver easy to use and truly helpful robotics and AI solutions that support people and businesses across a variety of markets, locations and applications. The team is equipped with all the necessary skills to bring a full-stack solution to market; from making the hardware and developing the software to selling and providing maintenance and support. ​

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What phase is your company at right now?
We have already deployed our robots with paying customers in 3 different industries (retail, travel and hospitality) and we are now pursuing the industrialization and commercialization of our solutions at scale.

What excites you about GENIUS NY?
What excites us most about Genius NY is the supportive ecosystem and great community around it that allows us to learn from each other and thrive. The team of experts and the resources that are made available to us can truly make a difference to our strategy planning and execution.

Have things changed or pivoted with COVID-19?
Some of our target industries have significantly been impacted by the pandemic but in a way that has made the need for automation more acute than ever. Although our robots are not specifically designed to do so, they can be used to address the challenge of creating and enforcing efficient policies for staff and customers’ safety. We are definitely seeing a spike in the demand for our solution motivated by the urgency of accessing data in real-time to forecast customer demand and behavioral changes.

How are you keeping your team motivated during COVID-19?
We are an agile team so we have daily virtual meetings and sprint reviews bi-weekly to make sure we keep working efficiently. To ensure everyone is still having personal interactions outside work-related tasks, we organize weekly team e-lunches and virtual coffee breaks every other day.

How can Central New York benefit from BotsAndUs?
We are working on establishing strong partnerships with local manufacturers,
technology service providers and academia to bring our full-stack solution to the United States. Syracuse and Central New York are definitely a great base to start our journey serving the US market.

How would you use the $1M grand prize if you won it?
We would dedicate the funds to the remaining product development needed to
industrialize and commercialize our solution at scale. This would prepare our solution for full deployment in the United States market with the support of our local Syracuse and CNY partners.

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*Due to COVID-19 GENIUS NY Finals Night has been postponed to September 17. On Finals Night the 2020 finalists will pitch live for a shot at the $1M grand prize. More information coming soon!
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