Cardoso, Rafael C.; orcid: 0000-0001-6666-6954; email: rafael.cardoso@manchester.ac.ukFerrando, Angelo; orcid: 0000-0002-8711-4670; email: angelo.ferrando@dibris.unige.itBriola, Daniela; orcid: 0000-0003-1994-8929; email: daniela.briola@unimib.itMenghi, Claudio; orcid: 0000-0001-5303-8481; email: claudio.menghi@uni.luAhlbrecht, Tobias; orcid: 0000-0002-4652-901X; email: tobias.ahlbrecht@tu-clausthal.de2021-05-202021-05-202021-05-14Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks, volume 10, issue 2, page e33http://hdl.handle.net/10034/624595From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-05-13, pub-electronic 2021-05-14Publication status: PublishedFunder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Grant(s): EP/R026092, EP/R026173, EP/R026084, 694277Multi-agent systems, robotics and software engineering are large and active research areas with many applications in academia and industry. The First Workshop on Agents and Robots for reliable Engineered Autonomy (AREA), organised the first time in 2020, aims at encouraging cross-disciplinary collaborations and exchange of ideas among researchers working in these research areas. This paper presents a perspective of the organisers that aims at highlighting the latest research trends, future directions, challenges, and open problems. It also includes feedback from the discussions held during the AREA workshop. The goal of this perspective is to provide a high-level view of current research trends for researchers that aim at working in the intersection of these research areas.Licence for this article: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/multi-agent systemsroboticssoftware engineeringverification and validationhuman–agent interactionother2021-05-20