The cannabis industry has a high affinity for disruptive trends. Consequently, pairing robotics with cannabis should be a no-brainer, even if it's just for mere hype. That said, some forward-thinking companies have taken the plunge and tapped into the opportunity presented by “robotizing” mundane and repetitive tasks in the industry.

In our series called “The Future Of Robotics Over The Next Few Years” we are talking to leaders of Robotics companies, AI companies, and Hi-Tech Manufacturing companies who can address these questions and share insights from their experience. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nohtal Partansky.

A 2021 survey by the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) and consulting firm Whitney Economics revealed that about 37% of cannabis businesses are operating without a profit. The survey also showed that only 42% of cannabis businesses are turning in a profit, with women and minorities having the poorest performance.

In every industry, there’s an underlying threat and worry that as AI advances, jobs will be at risk. This programming is deeply instilled in labor workers who have grown accustomed to income security to maintain their expenses or quality of life. But what if we’re looking at robots all wrong?

Sorting Robotics, an industrial cannabis-focused AI and computer vision technologies company, launched Jiko. Jiko is the cannabis industry’s first automated pre-roll infusion robot.

Approximately 70% of all cannabis manufacturing is still being done by hand, and will result in about $2B manufacturing labor spend in 2022–significantly eating into operators’ bottom-lines.