The imminent arrival in Australia of about 2000 robots following Coles Group’s deal with British online food firm Ocado is a neat demonstration of how the long but curiously slow rise of the robot is finally gathering pace, powered not by artificial intelligence (AI) but by relatively simple technology.

Angus Muirhead is a director of Credit Suisse’s thematic equities team and runs its dedicated robotics fund, which invests in 49 pure-play robotics companies around the world.