AGCO to pilot Agility's Digit humanoid at its Kansas plant in 2027

AGCO to pilot Agility's Digit humanoid at its Kansas plant in 2027

20 October 2026: AGCO, the maker of Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra farm machinery, has signed a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics to pilot Agility's Digit humanoid robot at its Hesston, Kansas, production plant, with the US pilot expected to begin in 2027.

Not yet independently verified. No contract value, number of robots or AGCO-side release was found; the pilot is "expected" to start in 2027 and Agility's order and customer figures are its own. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What Digit will do at Hesston

Digit will first work in assembly and production, sorting and stacking parts and placing totes for storage, tasks the companies describe as repetitive and physically demanding. Agility pairs it with Agility Arc, its cloud platform for deploying and managing robot fleets, which it says lets companies automate "without requiring extensive infrastructure changes or costly facility upgrades."

"This strategic relationship views humanoid robotics and AI as essential 'teammates' in building flexible, intelligent factories," said Thomas Enghof, AGCO's director of manufacturing technology. Daniel Diez, Agility's chief business officer, said the pilot is a chance to "demonstrate how advanced robotics can create measurable impact" in production. AGCO joins Toyota, GXO and Schaeffler on Agility's customer list, and Agility says earlier Digit generations have logged more than 65,000 hours in real operation.

Agility's move to the stock market

Agility, headquartered in Salem, Oregon, is going public by merging with the blank-cheque company Churchill Capital Corp XI. The SEC declared the merger registration effective on 13 October, Churchill XI shareholders vote on 2 November, and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, with trading on Nasdaq under the ticker AGLT. Agility expects more than $620 million in gross proceeds: about $424 million from Churchill XI's trust if no shareholders redeem, and about $200 million from a share placement led by Foxconn.

The company also gives its own milestones. Its next robot, Digit 5, is backed by more than $300 million in committed orders, subject to contractual milestones, with early-access availability in early 2027; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada signed a robot-as-a-service agreement after a pilot; and committed customer facilities stand at nine, with a goal of up to 25 by the end of 2027. Its RoboFab plant in Salem is designed to build up to 10,000 robots a year.

What a pilot like this tests

Humanoids are being sold on the promise that they fit existing lines without rebuilding them. A pilot at a heavy-equipment plant will test that on mixed parts and totes, and the measures to watch are uptime, the share of tasks Digit completes without help, and safety alongside people. Our robotics integrator category lists 25 companies.

Company profile on TrustList: Agility Robotics

Company profile on TrustList: AGCO

Sources

• Agility Robotics: AGCO and Agility Robotics advance smart manufacturing with humanoid robot pilot in Hesston, Kansas, 20 October 2026
• Agility Robotics: S-4 registration statement with Churchill Capital Corp XI declared effective, 13 October 2026