Are We Experiencing a Convergence or ‘The’ Convergence? 2025 Version

By Greg Walters

In 2013 I wrote about convergence as a meeting of formerly distinct domains. Now, in 2025, that framing feels quaint. The question has shifted: we no longer approach convergence. 

We live it.

CricketsUS - Bringing Robots to the Channel and the Channel to Robots.

Robots in the Office: We’ve Seen This Before

Back in the 1980s, Xerox built an empire on a simple formula. Sell the machine at thin margins, but lock in every cartridge, drum, and service call for years. Dealers thrived because they didn’t just sell boxes. They serviced them. They showed up when the machine broke. They built relationships that outlasted product cycles.

Now look at what just landed. Figure, the humanoid robotics startup, has cut a deal with Brookfield, one of the largest property managers in the world. More than 500 million square feet of office space, plus 160 million of logistics facilities, are being turned into a training ground for humanoids. Forget showroom floors or TED stages. These robots are heading into lobbies, cafeterias, and mailrooms, everywhere copier dealers dominate.