Programming the future: Human-first automation

In this episode of People Before Machines, Amanda Cupido sits down with The Robot Queen, Vanessa Loiola, Founder and CEO of Valoy Automation, to explore human-first robotics. Vanessa debunks the myth that robots replace workers, arguing instead that they replace repetitive, grueling tasks to free up human potential. They discuss her journey as a leading woman in a male-dominated field, the reality behind "collaborative" applications, and the critical need for empowering operators through training. Learn why Vanessa believes programming robots is actually about programming a better future—one where technology gives us back our time to focus on life.

For more bold questions and sharp insights, visit www.peopleb4machines.com. Remember, the future isn’t fully automated—it’s people-powered.

Transcript

Vanessa Loiola: 0:00

What the robot is replacing is the task. So instead of the operator doing that task over and over and over again and get like tired or not doing properly by the end of the day because the product's too heavy to lift, the robot can still keep that same quality.

Amanda Cupido: 0:27

Conversations on the chaos of factory automation from Monday morning to the very near future. Welcome to People B4 Machines. Conversations on the chaos of factory automation from Monday morning to the very near future. I'm Amanda Cupido, a speaker, author, and entrepreneur with a passion for the intersection of technology and humanity. This episode, we're talking about human-first automation, and I'm excited to be joined by my guest, Vanessa Leola, aka the robot queen. She is the founder and CEO of Valoy Automation and was just named the most influential woman in robotics on LinkedIn for the second year in a row. Vanessa has hands-on experience in industrial robotics, working across programming, commissioning, and troubleshooting to bring automation to life. She supports robot manufacturers, integrators, and automation companies in enhanced brand visibility and telling technical stories that engage audiences. As a proud woman in robotics, Vanessa is committed to making the industry more inclusive and demonstrating that there is room for everyone in automation.

Vanessa Loiola: 1:37

Thank you for the invitation. It's great to be here and to tell a little more about my story.

Amanda Cupido: 1:42

Well, why don't we just start off with your name, The Robot Queen? Where does that come from?

Vanessa Loiola: 1:47

It happened in a podcast last year with Georgian. She interviewed me and when she posted the video, she commented create the caption and she added, Ah, the robot queen. And it started like as a joke, and I was like, Yeah, I love this. Can I use it? And she's like, Yeah, go forward. And I started making a few posts. Back then, I didn't have the logo. I just started promoting me as the robot queen. And I asked my marketing assistant back then, uh, do you think it's gonna be a good idea? And she's like, Well, why not? Let's try something new. And this was uh last year, and then by December, I decided it was like, wow, this is really catching up. People really enjoy the brand. Uh, not everyone, but still it got out there, and I connect with more people than before. So once I decide to go fully influencer, I decided it's like, okay, 2025, I'm gonna launch my own brand, The Robot Queen. So I create a logo, we create a logo, and then I start promoting now. And I have the logo, I have some robots with the crowd, and yeah.

Amanda Cupido: 3:04

It's amazing. So, for those of you who are just listening, I mean, the logo's really cute. It has a little crown on the R. And her background right now just has like rows and rows of different robots on display. So you're really leaning in. I love it.

Vanessa Loiola: 3:19

Yes, yes. I embrace it. Uh what start as a joke, like just to promote the video. I kind of like, yeah, that's me. I love robots, I love robotics, I talk a lot.

Amanda Cupido: 3:31

Uh, why not? Why not? Okay, so where did this love begin? How did you get into robotics in the first place? That's one is a long story, so I'm gonna make try to make it shorter.

Vanessa Loiola: 3:42

Well, since I was a kid, I always loved disassemble stuff, electronics, or you know, games and anything. I would disassemble and assemble back again. Most of it would not work. But like I always have that curiosity to to understand how things work. And back forward when I finished my engineering degree, I realized that I really love the idea of robotics. Because I watch a video, Iron Man. Uh, I told that story a couple of times. And I feel like, yeah, it's like to try something like this to work in the robotics. It seems so interesting. That was my, I would say, first contact, the movie, because back then I was working more in the office, not really in contact with industrial production or anything. And then I told my friend back then, and like as a joke, like, oh yeah, I would love to work with robotics. And because I did not even myself, I didn't not believe that would be possible. My friend, he's like, no, you should try and see what happened. So, because I I just had finished my degree and it was five years back in Brazil, I did not want to do another degree and because you know it's time and money that I didn't have. So I decided to look for something more affordable that I could do in my spare time. And I did find there something just I think four or five weekends. And I went there, did the training, it was like introduction to robotics. We did program a few robots back then, well, like small ones, not like industrial, but was my first really I would say second contact with uh the robots there, and I really fell in love and again, and I I was sure, like in the first day of the training, that's like, yes, that's something I would like to work with. But unfortunately, um life happened. I didn't find I couldn't get a job uh in automation. I tried there in Brazil for probably a year, and then I kind of put that dream aside and was like, okay, life needs to move on. And I moved to Ireland to try a better life, to learn English. And um, after I think a year in Ireland, I started to apply for jobs, and one of the options was robotics, even though I did not have experience. Tried, I was like, well, you know, what they can say no. So I tried, and because of my background uh in quality and all the experience I had before in um engineering, it helped me to land a job in automation. And then I got trained, of course, uh more in industrial robots. And since then, well, here I am today, seven years later.

Amanda Cupido: 6:43

Wow. What a journey! And good for you for continuing to go back to your roots. That's what it was all about. So it's nice to have you working in this industry now, and to see that you've become such an advocate, especially for inclusiveness. And so I'm curious with your time in applying, studying, and working in the industry, have there been things you've witnessed that really made you want to lean into this advocacy lane?

Vanessa Loiola: 7:12

Well, when I started there really working, I was the only woman in automation there working with the robots. Actually, on the main floor, as we say, was just me for two years and a half, three years. And then I changed companies, the same thing. I was the only woman working with the robots and was really hard. Like there was no female uniform or even safe shoes, anything for women was really hard to get. And the explanations, like, yeah, no, it's unisex, you can use the same uniform. And as a woman, we know that's not true. They're just trying to get us to wear the male uniform. But then when I start posting on LinkedIn and I see a few people commenting, because when I open my business, well, not well, when we have a business, you have to promote yourself. And uh, because I couldn't promote my clients because of NGA disclosure contracts, I start to record the videos of myself with some of the robots of the partners that I have. And then I realized that not many of us out there. Every event that I went and I still going to, sometimes it's just myself. And it's so unbelievable. You just get into the room and there is no woman decided or no one to talk about it. It's it's not really rare. Like I went to a few couple weeks ago, then probably was myself and more and three more women and plus 100, 200 men. And then when I start posting, uh, I my intention was never become an influencer that changed during last year. But then I noticed that, like, well, why not? Like a lot of people get inspired by someone, like I did by a movie. But like women, like when you watch things and when you go online, that is not many, or actually, for women, I haven't seen anyone doing what I'm doing now with the robots. I explain how to use it. And I was like, I would like to people feel comfortable, and other women, other girls seeing that that they can do it. They don't need to uh dress like a man to work with robots because that's the concept I have when I started. And then I was like, no, I still can have my nails done, my hair nice, and uh work with it, just need properly safe uh clothes. And then that started growing a lot because, again, that is not many of us talking. Of course, I met a lot of women along the way, but half of them don't like to talk about it. So they don't post online, some of them don't even have social media like LinkedIn, they don't share their work, and sometimes they're amazing and what they do, but they just don't share. And I believe that we need to share like what we do great or our failures, everything, because the young girls they need to see, like, is that something they would like to do? It be comfortable. So I would like to see more women in the events and everywhere I go, and I also work with more women. Uh, and that's I actually what kind of inspired me right now, because I really want to see more women in this field. Like, I believe we work great together. Like, men and women in automation is amazing. Because when I was working in teams, and right now, uh, well, I have my own business. I don't really work with teams, bigger teams like that before. But like, was great to sit down in a room and we brainstorm a problem. Like, I have a view, a point of view, because I could see the overall. Meanwhile, the men, they could see quicker solutions, sometimes that I couldn't see. But then I was like, yeah, but if you do this, you you you need to think ahead, things that they couldn't. And then in the end of the day, we could get together in really great solutions because we think differently. We talk differently. Right now, if you just put some like just men in a room or just women in a room, you cannot have that mix of thoughts because they always think in the same way. In automation, we can't. Like we always fixing things, we always thinking outside outside the box. And really, I really dream to see more women to share, more women to work together and see things getting better.

Amanda Cupido: 11:58

Yeah, that diversity of thought is so valuable. So I'm glad that you're able to bring that to the table and that you're encouraging others to do so as well. Let's talk about the industry itself and some of the things you're looking ahead to. I know you've said before, quote, it's not about programming robots, it's about programming the future. So I'd love for you to elaborate on that.

Vanessa Loiola: 12:22

Well, I'm in here is not just a program because people sometimes is just thinking, are we doing a pick and place application? No, like you're changing the whole future of that industry, especially the small ones, because instead of having an employee doing a repetitive task, now he can do so much more using the brain to do some odd tasks while the robot is doing them repetitive tasks. So when people thinking, oh, it's just a program, like no, like you're changing the way uh sometimes the production line. And I heard this a lot in my life, the robots are replacing humans. I was like, well, I haven't seen that many. What the robot is replacing is the task. So instead of the operator doing that task over and over and over again and get like tired or not doing properly by the end of the day because the product's too heavy to lift, the robot can still keep that same quality. So the operator can focus and get that energy to improve and grow everything, like everyone and the company to grow and the company itself. So you can produce more with less. So when I say it's not about programming the robot, it's the future because every time you program the robot there, you're changing something small, like could be small, could be bigger. Now even more with AI coming in. It's so much that involved on that application. Like the operator can learn with that robot, you can use that to others applications, or even though now you have a space to grow, because before, if you don't have time to think, you don't have time to grow. Because once the operator has that time there to focus on a quality work, you now have a space maybe to introduce a new product because now you have time to think about it, or even to optimize other parts of the process that you haven't seen before, because you're so busy just working to make work or just try to, you know, fix problems every single day that you don't really have time to stop and see like what we can do better.

Amanda Cupido: 14:46

Wow. Okay, so walk me through some of the steps you think that need to happen before we have this truly collaborative environment where humans and robots are working hand in hand. Are there certain things you think have to happen before we reach that ideal state? Yes.

Vanessa Loiola: 15:05

Uh first of all, it's really understand if that process, because depends off the the process, you don't need a robot at all. Yeah, I do love robots, but I know sometimes you just need to understand the process. Sometimes it's not the robot that would save your line or your company. So you need to understand. And sometimes it's not the robot you thought was great. For example, that happened before. Someone bought a really nice collaborative robot or cobot. Now I I think we cannot say collaborative anymore, and place that robot inside a cage. And just because it looked nice, and it was like, well, you just spend the money in the wrong robot. Like if you need that robot to be inside the cage, should not be a cobalt, should be an industrial robot with other types of configurations. I believe the first step is to understand if you really need or not the automation to choose and the right robot for the applications, because again, everything depends. You cannot compare your application with any other anyone else. Like every application is unique. And they're the collaborative, the part to work with humans. Now it's great that the new ISO is there to clarify because was a lot of misunderstanding. Because the COBOT or collaborative robot, it is made to work with people, that is correct, but it depends. So now you cannot say collaborative robot, you have to say collaborative application. Because if you get that cobot, add a welding torch, put that in the middle of your floor without any covers for the welding torch. That's not collaborative anymore. Collaborative means that the human can work side by side with the robot. So again, they need to understand what that means. Because if you buy a cobalt, oh, it looks great, it's safe. Yes. But once you attach something to it, it's not safe anymore. Because the safety is just in the arm itself. You need a cover for that. So if you had a saw or a laser that could not hit anyone's eye, or if the operator cannot be beside it because of some reason, because of dust, because of the light, because of the steam, that means that robot's not longer collaborative. The only thing that they need to understand, the cobalt, I would say now, is great because it's easy to program and reprogram a lot of times comparing to an industrial robot. But it's still the safety around it. And I this is one of these really important steps, and I hope the people really read the new ISO for what that really means for the operator, because they cannot just buy the robot and thinking, this is safe, you can work beside it. The programming behind it and the application will affect that. And there are a lot of accidents around that in the past few years. Because just the thing is safe to work beside it, but they don't consider the application. So that's the risk assessments comes along. So to really work beside the robot, I believe we are already there. Like there are a lot of uh companies working beside it, especially now with the humanoids is gonna be uh our next step, I would say, in the evolution chain. But like we need, and when I say we, like all of us together to understand like there is which robot you need for that application, for that part of the process, and really it's gonna be collaborative, so it's gonna work with the person beside it to understand the application. Because uh, I seen that before, that the client just buy any cobalt because he found that nice, looked great, he loved the color, it's easy to program, and he wants that make work on their company. And then they don't realize that their application is not collaborative. It doesn't matter which robot you place inside, the human cannot be there. Like let's say it's a painting, but the paint is toxic. So, how collaborative can be that? You you can still cannot be beside the robot because the paint is toxic. So I think the understanding here, we need to focus on more and more. And that's one of the things I do a lot. Share the information because what people think they know is just like 5%. That's what really is automation and what it really is the risk and the safety around it.

Amanda Cupido: 20:06

All right. Speaking of cobots, how have they worked well with someone? These were a lot of good warnings of how it wasn't working and it wasn't a true cobot. But have you seen some on the positive side, companies that are using cobots really effectively?

Vanessa Loiola: 20:21

Yes, I've seen um not in person, I think uh two or three. Because the thing is they place the robots to do the repeated task, for example, palletizing, so they can concentrate in the other parts of the production line. But then, as is a cobalt, they could just uh sometimes they're on AGV. So if that line, let's say, stop working for some reason, they can move that cobalt to do something else. So it is improving, especially for palletizing. I think that's the ones I see in person. But I know, for example, um for the painting or toxic painting and for welding, I know the welding is not collaborative because you still have to have the protection, but it is save time for the client because the welder could just stitch the positions really quick and uh last play, leave the area. The robot will do all the welding while they can just do, for example, the spot weld that just fix the parts, and then the robot will do the rest. Because sometimes that's what would take longer on the welding, weld all the parts. So sometimes the weld just does some spot weldings to fix the parts together, the robot would do the rest. So they it will increase the outputs, and because it's easy to program and reprogram, the proper welders can do the job. So it is, I would say that I've seen not for the collaborative part, like working together, but for the part of the easy programming. Because once they have that confidence, they can program and reprogram that robot as it goes, because especially the small uh companies that have small batches, they change production, even product a lot. They need that flexibility. So that's what I'm like I saw a lot that flexibility of reprogramming. But working together, really together, is just the few that I've seen person.

Amanda Cupido: 23:02

All right, I'm gonna shift gears a little bit and talk about inputs. So I think we as humans are really used to providing the inputs to robots. But do you see a future where robots might be providing input or instruction to humans? Oh, like giving us order what to do? Or instruction, yeah, exactly. Or something from what they've learned to teach us?

Vanessa Loiola: 23:31

Well, uh I I think yes, because now we are in the phase, especially the research, I've seen that before, that they're using AI to adapt, to analy uh analyze the situation and make decisions, change the code if necessary. For example, if you're picking in place for a basket and that product change, the AI now it's able to identify, adapt, make decisions, and reprogram. So there are already a lot of research on that. So to move from that to give, I would say, their opinion to say, oh yeah, you remove the basket and other table would be, you would increase by, I don't know, 20% in outputs. I don't think we are far away. It is possible, you know, because we are in that point that the robot can make decisions using AI. So once we have enough data, enough information, it would be able to give us some inputs and say, like, well, maybe if you change the robot for something, you know, with a longer arm or a shorter arm, you'll be able to increase the outputs. Because uh, for example, in robot studio in ABB, uh there is an option already in the software that it would tell you where to place the robot to the better output. So when you move the robot around, the system will tell you, well, by calculation, those are the best options. So I would say it's not far away to them to start giving us uh, but I cannot say that they would give us the right choice, because you know, ChatGBT sometimes doesn't give us uh the right answer. So I think that what they need is data. Once they have enough data, they would give more precise inputs.

Amanda Cupido: 25:26

Yeah, yeah. So funny to imagine that world, right?

Vanessa Loiola: 25:30

We're not far away.

Amanda Cupido: 25:32

But I agree. I think it's coming too. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Okay, so so many people fear robots, and even maybe this whole conversation is making them feel uncomfortable. They're like, ah, I can't even wrap my head around that. What would you say to folks who are who are resisting this? How can we change the narrative from being fear-based?

Vanessa Loiola: 25:52

Well, the thing now, I believe, is they need to be comfortable. Because the main concern when I go on site or when I talk with the operator is like the robot will replace me. That's what they think, and that's unfortunately what the media shows 60-70% of the time. And that's not true. Of course, some jobs when the robot comes along, uh really heavy tasks will re-replace that task, but not the whole job. Because again, the robot, and I haven't seen a robot doing everything in a main floor. Of course, you there are a few automated, 100% automated industries, but that's is another case. That's different. The small companies, the medium-sized company would not replace 100% because it's still you need the human factor there to feed the machines, to clear, to see if that is uh needs to be replaced or not. Of course, AI is coming along that they say they're gonna replace everything. But still, some applications, some productions you cannot replace with a robot, as I said. Sometimes you don't need a robot at all. Maybe you just need a better conveyor or a better cylinder, or maybe you just need a sensor, or maybe a machine that will open and close a box. You don't might not need a robot. But I believe what people fear is because lack of information. They don't understand the robot, so they just fear the robots. And now we can see that with humanoids, because people like you now. You see everywhere, every week we have a new humanoid company launching something that's amazing. But it's like people are not even getting used to the industrial robots that's here for more than 50 years. Yeah. So, like a humanoid at home, like, okay, that's I even asked one of the one founder, like, do you imagine people having your robot at home? And he said, Well, that's not our goal right now, is to industries for other types of tasks not to have the robot at home, because that's not, I would say that's another level of convincing people to have the robot at home. But by my knowledge and the people I met in automation, working with them in seven years, it's just lack of information. Because first one, they they think they're gonna replace them. Second thing, they think it's too complicated, too complex. So they would not touch the robot. So let's say something went wrong, the robot stopped. They wouldn't even read the message on the teach pendant. They would just call the technician and figure it out. And sometimes it's like, guys, it was just because the air was off. Someone turned on the hair, you could just turn on back. Or someone opened the door and didn't lock properly. It's not a big deal. But because they're so afraid that they would break something so expensive, they would not get close to it. And third one is lack of training. And I've seen that unfortunately a lot. Because when the company buys that Robot Excel, majority of the time they don't train everyone. They trained, if they trained like one or two employees, and that's it. If those employees leave the company and don't share that information, it's just gone. And then anyone else would not touch the robot because they think it's too complicated. And again, uh, in my opinion, it's just lack of information. Because, for example, my clients, I have some clients that would not get a backup from the robot. Because in their mind, it's too complicated and they would break something. So I record one video, and this was for an Epsom robot. It's like, yeah, you see, you have the USB stick here, you stick here on the port, see that button there, you press. When you see the numbers, these numbers, that means it's done. Yes, I record that video and I said my client was like, Is that it? I was like, Yes, that's it. Yeah. So he got that file and send that to me. That's how we do it. But he wants me to go on site. Travel like an hour and a half to go and I don't want to come back just to get a backup because in their mind he would break something, and that's uh like I start I made a lot of those videos how to get a backup, how to get a backup because I didn't have one client for now for three years of business that would be comfortable doing the first time. I need to send him a video, like this is how to do it step by step, and you can do it, it is okay, and right, and then it's like why guys you buy something that you are not comfortable to work around. It's like you're buying a car, and every time you need to check the tires, you go to the mechanic because you're not comfortable to check yourself. Yeah, you know, of course, I'm not saying that you can open the robot and build again, that that's not it, right? But there are simple steps like our car that we can check ourselves and even change sometimes ourselves. We can do it this in the robot. You just need the right training or the right understanding what you bought at. And for example, about the service, when I asked my clients what the last time they got the robot service, they look at me as I'm speaking Portuguese. Like, what are you talking about? It's like, guys, you have a car for 15 years working every single day and you don't change the oil or check the batteries. What do you think is gonna happen with that car?

Amanda Cupido: 32:02

Wow. Well, people are lucky to have you on their side, and I really appreciate the empowerment that you are trying to share with them and with our listeners today. So thank you for this. Before I let you go, I'm gonna ask you one last question. We like to end our interviews with a bit of a curveball. So the one I've got for you is if you could program a robot to teach humanity one thing about life, what would it be and why? Wow.

Vanessa Loiola: 32:31

I would say enjoy more of your time, your free time. Because right now, I don't think, and I will include myself on that, that we're enjoying our time, like most of it is spent on the internet.

Amanda Cupido: 32:47

Yeah.

Vanessa Loiola: 32:47

And why? Because that's what automation here is for, to do our hard work so we can focus our life in our family, outside the internet, you know, enjoy more life outside the world. Like for people who have family, you have a dog, you have a pet, enjoy more life. That's and I I'm gonna include myself because I improve a lot in the past uh six months, uh, because um that's my goal in life to reduce the workload, spend the time on the internet and enjoy more life, like go for walks, yeah, you know, fresh air, you know, even for 10 minutes a day. Uh, but of course, not everyone has that opportunity. But yeah, if you can use AI now or automation to reduce your workload, and it is possible that's what's happening, you can use that time now.

Amanda Cupido: 33:49

Better. Beautifully said. Well, thank you so much, Vanessa, and thank you all for tuning in to People B4 Machines Conversations on the Chaos of Factory Automation Powered by Eclipse. We're here to challenge the status quo in factory automation because machines don't build factories, people do. The technical producer for this podcast is Ryan Dentinger. I'm Amanda Cupido. If you got something out of today's episode, do us a big favor, share it with a teammate, a plant leader, or someone who's tired of the automation echo chamber. Be sure to follow for real talk, bold questions, and sharp insights. And remember, the future isn't fully automated, it's people powered. Talk to you later.

Vanessa Loiola: 34:32

Thanks for listening to People B4 Machines.

Amanda Cupido: 34:35

Dialogues on the chaos of factory automation. For past podcast episodes, search People B4 Machines on Spotify, YouTube, or visit www.eclipsautomation.com.