Warehouse automation startup Nomagic raids Google DeepMind to hire Markus Wulfmeier as Chief Scientist

Nomagic, a provider of robotics systems for order fulfilment, reports that Markus Wulfmeier has joined the company as its new Chief Scientist.

In a LinkedIn post, it said: "Coming to us from Google DeepMind, Markus will spearhead our research into Visual Language Action (VLA) models. His leadership will be instrumental in accelerating the development of our Robotics Foundation Model (RFM), which represents the next generation of AI designed to help robots learn, adapt, and operate within real-world environments."

"This appointment marks a significant milestone in our commitment to creating physical AI solutions that go beyond simple perception to act with complete autonomy and reliability. We look forward to pushing the limits of embodied intelligence and transforming the future of warehouse automation."

Kacper Nowicki, Co-founder at Nomagic, said:  "AI is already changing the physical world and our production picking robots are one of the proofs of that. But there is much more of it yet to happen. Progress will come from research, data from production systems and the ability to apply the scientific method to achieve progress: iterating quickly while measuring results. Markus will enable us to accelerate this journey."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Supply chain automation will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.