We’ve spent decades teaching humans how to program robots.

What if that’s the wrong approach?

In episode 2 of Robot Builders Club, Ali Afzal sits down with Lone Bekkeheien, founder of Marsilia Robotics, who’s building a new abstraction layer for robotics: one where humans talk to robots the same way we talk to other people.

Lone breaks down why today’s “collaborative” robots still aren’t truly collaborative, how natural language interfaces can unlock high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, and why software not hardware is the real bottleneck holding robotics back. Drawing from her background in cybernetics and robotics and her journey from Norway’s robotics ecosystem to San Francisco, she cuts through the hype around embodied AI, humanoids, and LLMs to explain what actually works in production.

If you care about making robots usable, scalable, and accessible beyond elite experts, this conversation will change how you think about human–robot collaboration.

What building a construction robot reveals about the future of work, robotics startups, and founder mindset.

In this conversation, Shamoon Siddiqui discusses his journey from software engineering to founding Human Friendly Robotics, focusing on the development of Tyler, a tiling robot. He shares insights on the challenges of robotics, the importance of customer feedback, and the dynamics of building a startup team. The discussion also covers the fundraising process and the future of automation in the construction industry, emphasizing the need for innovation and adaptation in a rapidly changing technological landscape.