By Tim Kubista, RC Mowers
When robotic mowing first appeared in the late 1990s, the mowers were primarily focused on the residential market and were commonly referred to as “lawn Roombas”. These mowers were small and innovative, but weren’t all that reliable or productive.
As the technology expanded, demand shifted to the commercial market, where expectations are significantly higher. Reliability, productivity and integration into existing operations are non-negotiable for most commercial lawn care and landscaping businesses.
Today, we’ve moved from simple robotic mowers to autonomous mowing, an industry that is in the critical early-adoption phase and is comparable to where robotic vacuums were in the early 2010s. Autonomous mowers are seen as having real utility but are often met with skepticism and infrastructure challenges.
Additionally, adoption of autonomous mowers is bifurcated between:
- Installed/autonomous mowers: These mowers are driven by in-ground wiring or are dependent on Real Time Kinematic (RTK) base stations to receive accurate GPS signals.
- Integrated/commercial autonomous solutions: These mowers work on open terrain without an infrastructure and can be used anywhere because of the advancements in navigation technology.
Currently, forward-thinking municipalities, contractors, airports, and schools or businesses with large campuses are now experimenting with autonomy, but market penetration is still significantly low due to a mix of perception, complexity and lack of internal champions.
However, there are external issues that may see the adoption of the technology take off sooner rather than later.
What’s driving adoption?
Despite an industry-wide lack of internal champions, labor shortages and the costs associated with labor, an improved return on investment (ROI), workforce redeployment opportunities, safety and technological maturity are all factors that are forcing the hand of many municipalities and commercial landscaping contractors.
The landscaping and groundskeeping industries have long faced labor challenges, but with Baby Boomers retiring in record numbers and labor-related expenses like wages, benefits, training, turnover and workman’s compensation surging, companies have had to scramble to meet demand and still stabilize expenses.
Being able to turn a profit is essential. Early adopters of autonomous technology are already seeing measurable gains in operational consistency, labor reallocation, and efficiency. As more autonomous mowers come online, more data is available to measure quantifiable returns.
These labor challenges also mean that contractors want to find ways to keep their existing talent. Despite what you hear in the news, most companies don’t want to eliminate jobs – they want to reassign valuable labor to detail work, trimming and other higher-skilled roles in order to keep the personnel they already have.
While compensation is always a factor, contractors are also taking other issues into consideration in their quest to keep their valued employees. This includes reducing workers’ exposure to heat, noise, vibration and repetitive strain – all safety issues autonomous mowers solve.
Finally, advancements in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology, vision-based AI and obstacle detection have made autonomy viable in dynamic, real-world environments.
What’s stalling adoption?
Even with all these motivating factors, however, there is still skepticism.
For example, there is a perception that robots will take jobs away from the very working-class crew members they help. Companies whose internal leadership reframes autonomy as a tool for scaling – and not replacing – the existing workforce have successfully overcome objections.
Other factors that have stalled adoption of autonomous mowers on a wider scale include:
- A perceived complexity: Many buyers think autonomous systems require intense setup, constant oversight, or technical expertise, especially if they’ve only experienced consumer-grade automation.
- Regulatory and insurance uncertainty: There’s no uniform guidance around autonomous mowing, and some operators hesitate without clear safety, liability, and operational frameworks.
- Lack of standardization and integration: Many systems do not yet integrate seamlessly with fleet management software or jobsite workflows, creating a perceived operational disconnect.
- ROI skepticism: Without a broad base of success stories or proven financial outcomes, many businesses remain cautious. However, the tide is beginning to turn as more autonomous mowers come online.
Ultimately, however, it will be the industry itself that comes to its own rescue. Autonomous mower manufacturers will need to identify a person within a landscaping business who can serve as their cheerleader and advocate.
Not only will this person be crucial in championing the purchase of this technology, they can also be responsible for training others and ensuring accountability.
What the near future will bring
At RC Mowers, we expect that the autonomous solutions industry will grow at a steady pace but won’t necessarily dominate the market, even as over-the-air software updates, continuous machine learning and enhanced environmental recognition that improves performance grow rapidly.
But autonomous mowers that don’t require boundary wires or base stations and those that are purpose-built will be popular with landscaping contractors. Not only do customers want flexibility, mobility and simplicity without being tied to a single site or setup process, they also want machines purposefully built for autonomy.
Purpose-built machines allow the hardware and software to work seamlessly, resulting in better integration, reliability and performance.
We also believe that the industry will see more original equipment manufacturers partner with tech companies so they can enter the autonomous space quicker.
Autonomy-as-a-service will grow as some providers begin offering monthly subscription-based mowing or autonomy platforms, but ownership-based autonomy will still be more popular since it offers the contractor more control, flexibility and a higher ROI.
But the most exciting thing on the horizon may be the multi-modal and semi-automated jobsite. We envision a future where autonomous mowers work alongside humane operators, robotic trimmers, and maybe even drones to present fully integrated grounds management systems.
We haven’t seen such a change in worksites since the personal computer started appearing on office desks in every business during the late 1990s.
What’s in store
As a United States manufacturer integrating mowers with autonomy, RC Mowers has learned that commercial landscaping contractors aren’t simply going to adopt this technology without support.
In that vein, we established the RC Mowers Success System to help develop and educate internal advocates for autonomous mowers.
This system provides support and training, but most importantly, we help a landscaping company’s internal advocate create a culture of change so that the mowers are more readily accepted and seen as a force multiplier and not a worker replacement tool.
Today’s autonomous mowers are just the beginning. Eventually, you’ll see systems that will handle the routine, repetitive tasks, allowing human crews to shift toward quality control, customer interaction, and site-specific problem-solving.
The result is a more efficient, data-driven operation with reduced labor dependency and improved consistency across every jobsite.
About the author: As vice president of sales and marketing for RC Mowers, Tim Kubista specializes in revenue growth, acquisition, sales training and building dealer networks – helping transform small businesses into powerhouse enterprises. He has led three companies to inclusion on the Inc 5000 list, including RC Mowers, and came to the company with vast knowledge of the commercial mowing and allied equipment industry. For more information about RC Mowers, visit www.rcmowersusa.com.
