# The Automation Mistake That Costs Millions (CEO Americas HAI Robotics, ex-Target, GXO, Adrian Stoch))

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768/the-automation-mistake-that-costs-millions-ceo-americas-hai-robotics-ex-target-gxo-adrian-stoch
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768/the-automation-mistake-that-costs-millions-ceo-americas-hai-robotics-ex-target-gxo-adrian-stoch.md
Podcast: [Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-the-team-top-2-of-podcasts-1064768)
Published: 2026-04-19T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.benfanning.com/theceosessions/adrian-stoch
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/4e20bee4-b7d8-436a-a20d-e4f44ee7ad5f.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2920

## Resource

Looks Like Progress. It’s Not. So I asked Adrian Stoch, CEO Americas at Hai Robotics: What’s the mistake that looks right… but costs millions? Why do “working” systems still fail? What breaks first when you scale? He’s led automation at massive scale. Inside Target. Inside GXO. Now leading robotics. He told me about one warehouse…Robots installed. Systems live. Dashboards green. It looked like progress. Until it didn’t. 30% of the products didn’t even fit the system. $3M a year… gone. Here’s what most leaders are missing: The failure didn’t start with the robots. It started earlier. Bad inputs. Broken processes. Assumptions no one challenged. Automation didn’t fix it. It exposed it. Fast. Expensive. Unavoidable. Amateurs scale chaos. Leaders fix the system first… then automate… then scale. If your systems look like they’re working—but outcomes aren’t— 👉 where do you actually look first? ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning Speaking and Training inquires Subscribe to my Youtube channel LinkedIn Instagram Twitter

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