Formant F3 Brings Generative AI and Agentic Reasoning to Robot Ops
'We're entering an era where machines don't just execute commands—they collaborate. Where AI becomes a trusted partner, not just a tool. The revolution isn't coming. It's here.'
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AI adoption is accelerating across the enterprise. According to McKinsey, 72% of organizations now use AI, and 71% deploy generative AI in at least one business function. But while robots are getting smarter, the software used to manage them hasn't kept up.
'Something's wrong here,' said Jeff Linnell, Founder and CEO of Formant. 'AI is supposed to make work easier. But while the robots have evolved, the management layer is stuck in the past. The real bottleneck isn't the machines—it's the lack of intuitive, purpose-built software to run them. With F3 it's not just about managing robots anymore. It's about orchestrating intelligence.'
With F3, Formant introduces the first robotics platform built from the ground up to harness the full power of AI—predicting problems before they occur, surfacing insights from complex data, and making robotics operations accessible to anyone through natural language.
Key F3 AI Features and Functionality
Voice Command
A generative AI interface for the entire platform. Just ask—F3 responds instantly with answers, visualizations, or direct robot control.
Accepts voice and text commands
Translates natural language into real-time actions
Generates live data visualizations
Executes robot tasks, movements, and fleet-wide operations
Enables hands-free control in the field
AI Insights
A 24/7 agentic intelligence layer that monitors, analyzes, and proactively recommends.
Detects anomalies and predicts failures
Delivers unprompted, goal-aligned insights
Generates incident summaries with root causes and recommended actions
Evolves with real-time feedback from users
Aligns with org-specific KPIs and metrics
Smart Knowledge Base
An AI-powered system that turns scattered documentation into actionable answers—instantly.
Understands PDFs, diagrams, SOPs, and technical docs
Connects concepts across documents via deep indexing
Answers questions with cited sources
Knows robotics terms, context, and operational intent
Deep Research
Autonomous AI agents that conduct multi-step investigations across data, systems, and fleet behavior.
Identifies root causes, recurring patterns, and shifts in robot performance
Generates detailed reports with guidance
Compares similar devices to detect anomalies
Powers predictive maintenance through intelligent insight
These AI-native features are in addition to Formant's proven capabilities in fleet management, teleoperation, mission control, tasking, incident resolution, and performance analytics—trusted by enterprises like Softbank and BP.
From Smart Machines to Intelligent Ecosystems: Formant's Physical AI Strategy
F3 isn't just a product launch—it's the first major step in Formant's broader vision for Physical AI: a world where machines sense, decide, and act autonomously—intelligently, and in full alignment with humans.
Yet most solutions focus narrowly on connecting robots to AI models, ignoring business context—ERPs, data warehouses, ticketing systems. The result: smart machines that are disconnected from enterprise reality. Formant believes intelligence means more than perception—it means relevance.
The Three Pillars of Intelligent Physical AI––Collective Intelligence
Format's plan is to bring the data from machines, AI models, and enterprise systems together onto a single software platform. With this approach, AI models can be trained on very large, company-specific and relevant data sets, creating an extremely intelligent, effective, and transformational ecosystem. In essence, what ChatGPT did for the digital world, Formant will do for the physical world.
Formant's approach unifies three essential elements into one platform:
The Brain – Any advanced AI model (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini), combined with reasoning algorithms that plan, decide, and act.
The Body – Robots and machines that sense, adapt, and execute tasks autonomously.
The Context – Seamless integration with enterprise systems like Google Drive, Jira, and others—ensuring alignment with business priorities and institutional knowledge.
'We're entering an era where machines don't just execute commands—they collaborate,' said Linnell. 'Where every machine action improves the entire system. Where AI becomes a trusted partner, not just a tool. The revolution isn't coming. It's here.'
About Formant
Formant is charting the course toward Physical AI. With F3, our AI-native platform, we're bringing Generative AI and Agentic Reasoning to the orchestration layer of robotics—empowering operations teams to manage complex fleets with greater speed, insight, and autonomy. F3 helps enterprises eliminate fragmentation, simplify orchestration, and elevate robotics management from manual oversight to intelligent coordination. Founded by former Google Robotics head Jeff Linnell, Formant bridges the digital-physical divide to unlock AI's real-world potential. Formant is based in San Francisco, and has accelerated robotics initiatives for major enterprises including Google, Softbank, BP, John Deere, Shell, and Westinghouse.
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