The guests will be greeted at the reception by the robot Jože

Goste bo na recepciji sprejel robot Jože Slovenian company Vandri Robotics is testing a humanoid robot named Jože as a hotel receptionist, exploring its potential use in retail and seeking space among Chinese manufacturers of industrial equipment and global competitors who have already logged thousands of hours of work in automotive manufacturing and logistics. The company has been discussing with Luka Slapnik, director of Vandri AI and one of the key figures within Vandri Robotics, how much such a robot costs, how much human labor it can actually replace, and when the investment will yield returns. While the cost of a worker who never sleeps is a compelling argument for robots, the equation is not so simple, according to Slapnik. The robot Jože is no longer just a demonstration model. Vandri Robotics is training him to serve as a receptionist at Hotel Bled Rose, and the project was presented at the MWC Shanghai conference in June 2026. The company plans to develop his use in retail and is collaborating with two Chinese manufacturers, Unitree and AgiBot, though they have not publicly disclosed the price of the solution, the number of paying customers, revenue projections, or the time it would take for investors to see a return. What do we see when we look at robot Jože? Are we looking at a future colleague or primarily at a very expensive technological trick? Technology is still in its early stages, although it is developing extremely quickly. Humanoid robots have become more visible in the wider public consciousness mainly over the past two years. In China, where we have many partners, practically every month a new company emerges that develops a new type of humanoid robot. We do not believe this is a fleeting trend. Indeed, robots today are interesting precisely because people are not yet used to them, but in the long run, they will survive only if they gain useful functionalities: speech, understanding of the interlocutor, navigation, environmental awareness, and the ability to perform specific tasks. Their purpose must be to help humans with their work and daily lives. The global robotics market is no longer a niche. According to the International Federation of Robotics, in 2024, 542,000 new industrial robots were installed worldwide, more than double the number from a decade earlier. Nearly 74 percent of all new robots were installed in Asia, while Europe accounted for 16 percent. Is our country falling behind in humanoid robotics? China and the United States have considerable advantages. It's not just about knowledge, but also production capabilities, supply chains, components, capital, and the size of domestic markets. In Europe, some powerful players are emerging, but producing a robot is difficult without large quantities and capital. Our initial goal was to assemble the robot in Slovenia, but the size of the company and current costs make this impossible. Therefore, the Slovenian opportunity may not necessarily lie in the serial production of all mechanical parts. It could lie in software development, artificial intelligence, personality, communication, and integration of the robot into a specific business environment. So what is Slovenian about Jože and what is Chinese? The hardware comes from China, while the software, communication methods, artificial intelligence, and his personality are developed by us. Human versus robot: “Robots will not fully replace humans, but will take over repetitive, physically demanding, or dangerous tasks. Humans will remain where judgment, empathy, creativity, and responsibility are needed.”