Peggy Johnson took humanoid robots to Wall Street. Now she has to make them profitable.

In 1985, Peggy Johnson embarked on her engineering career when personal computers were just starting to appear in homes and the World Wide Web was yet to be invented. Four decades later, Johnson, now 65, has led Oregon-based Agility Robotics to become the first US humanoid robotics company to go public. Through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, Johnson raised approximately $465 million, which will aid in scaling up production and deployment of Digit, a two-legged robot intended for warehouse and factory tasks.

Despite the market volatility following the midterm elections, Agility shares (AGLT) saw a decline of nearly 14% on Friday, closing at $9.90. Johnson, who previously worked for Qualcomm, Microsoft, and augmented reality startup Magic Leap, now faces the challenge of turning humanoid robots into a profitable business. Despite billions invested in humanoid robotics, experts and investors remain divided over the technology's potential at scale.

Agility has generated only $1.8 million in revenue and a $138.1 million net loss in the past year. However, the company has secured significant orders, with over $300 million in contracts for 1,000 robots from a single customer. Rivals such as Figure AI and Apptronik have attracted substantial investment and are testing their robots with customers.

Elon Musk's Tesla is also investing in humanoid robotics through its Optimus project. Johnson believes Agility's experience in deploying robots will give it an edge in the market.