Automate 2026 was the largest exhibition in the show’s history, but its biggest story wasn’t attendance. Across keynotes, interviews and the exhibition floor, one theme emerged repeatedly: industrial automation is moving beyond technological possibility towards operational maturity.
Event Insight • 7 min read
Key takeaways
- Automation conversations have shifted from capability to deployment.
- AI is becoming an expected capability rather than a differentiator.
- Integration and interoperability are becoming competitive advantages.
- Physical AI reflects convergence rather than a new product category.
- The industry’s greatest confidence lies in adoption, not experimentation.
Our Full Analysis
Some years are remembered for breakthrough technologies. Others for record attendance, changing market conditions or the arrival of new industries embracing automation. Looking back, Automate 2026 may ultimately be remembered for something less tangible but arguably more significant: the industry’s growing confidence in where it is heading.
The headline figures alone reflected that momentum. More than 50,000 people registered to attend the exhibition, making it the largest Automate in the show’s history. More than 1,150 exhibitors filled over 425,000 square feet of McCormick Place, bringing together robotics, machine vision, AI, motion control, industrial software and sensing technologies on a scale few manufacturing events can match.
Reflecting on the week, A3 President Jeff Bernstein admitted even the organisers had exceeded their own expectations. “We did have high aspirations to reach the largest footprint of a show we’ve ever had,” he said. “But the biggest goal was to reach 50,000 registrants and it looks like we’ve exceeded it.” Perhaps most telling was what he saw on the final morning of the exhibition. “You expect nothing much going on. There’s a line to get into the show today.” For him, it was evidence that “Automate is a show that people want to be at.
Yet statistics rarely explain why an exhibition matters.
“The systems we were working on then were complex. They were brittle and they were only as good as the day they were deployed.” – Matt Moschner, CEO, Cognex Corporation.
When Cognex CEO Matt Moschner used those words during Automate 2026’s opening keynote, he wasn’t simply reflecting on the past decade of machine vision. He was describing a broader shift taking place across industrial automation. Systems are becoming easier to deploy, more adaptable once installed and increasingly capable of improving over time through advances in artificial intelligence.
Walking the exhibition floor over the following four days, it became difficult to ignore that the same theme was emerging from almost every conversation. Whether discussing machine vision, robotics, industrial networking, optics or AI software, companies were no longer simply demonstrating what their technologies could do. Increasingly, they were explaining how those technologies could become easier to deploy, easier to integrate and easier for manufacturers to adopt.
What made this year’s event particularly interesting was not simply the number of companies exhibiting, but the maturity of the conversations taking place across the show floor.
A different conversation
Trade shows have always been places to launch products, demonstrate performance and compete for attention. Automate certainly delivered on all three.
Humanoid robots may have attracted the largest crowds, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of their presence was how restrained the conversation had become. Rather than promising immediate transformation, exhibitors and keynote speakers alike discussed reliability, safety and practical deployment. Jeff Bernstein himself noted that today’s pilots remain “maybe 50% effective”, while manufacturing typically expects technologies capable of operating at 99.99% reliability. The direction of travel is clear, but widespread industrial adoption will depend on proving reliability as much as capability.
That realism extended well beyond humanoids. After several days of interviews and demonstrations, it became difficult to ignore that many companies, despite exhibiting very different technologies, were trying to answer remarkably similar questions.
How do we make automation easier to deploy? How do we simplify integration? How do we reduce engineering effort without compromising performance?
Those questions surfaced repeatedly, whether discussing optics, lighting, AI software, industrial networking or robotic vision. The conversation was beginning to extend beyond capability alone.
That conclusion was reinforced beyond the keynote stage. During a panel discussion with leading system integrators, the emphasis repeatedly returned to solving manufacturing problems rather than adopting technology for its own sake. Artificial intelligence was recognised as a powerful enabler, but not a universal answer.
“Just because there’s AI doesn’t mean you need to use it everywhere.” – Scot Lindemann, CEO, Mission Design & Automation
The challenge was no longer demonstrating what AI could do, but understanding where it genuinely added value.
From Possibility to Practicality
If one theme also united the keynote discussions, it was that industrial automation has moved beyond proving its technical capability. Instead, the conversation centred on adoption. FANUC America President Mike Chico described the industry as being “poised for an explosion of growth,” driven not simply by better robots, but by lower barriers to entry, more affordable technologies and stronger support for automation across manufacturing.
Artificial intelligence remained the dominant talking point, but the discussion had noticeably evolved. A few years ago, exhibitors were still demonstrating that AI could solve industrial problems. This year, AI was increasingly treated as an expected capability. The more interesting conversation centred on how that intelligence could become easier to implement, easier to trust and easier to integrate into existing manufacturing environments.
Chris Stevens, President of US Automation at Siemens Digital Industries, reinforced that message by arguing that successful AI depends on robust digital foundations. Throughout the keynote, Siemens repeatedly returned to the idea of the digital thread, connecting engineering, automation and operations through shared data and integrated workflows. The emphasis was less on adding another layer of intelligence than on ensuring information could move consistently across the manufacturing lifecycle. Without that foundation, even the most advanced AI models struggle to deliver meaningful industrial value.
“Artificial intelligence can only deliver meaningful value if you have the right foundation.”
Chris Stevens, President of US Automation, Siemens Digital Industries
The same message surfaced repeatedly throughout the exhibition. Companies were no longer explaining why AI or machine vision mattered. They were demonstrating how these technologies could be deployed faster, integrated more easily and made accessible to a much broader range of manufacturers.
Kathy Rinne, Co-founder and President of Flex-Line Automation, argued that AI could prove particularly significant for smaller manufacturers. Rather than replacing engineering expertise, she suggested the technology could reduce the level of specialist knowledge required to deploy and maintain automation, opening opportunities for companies that have previously lacked the resources to invest
Taken together, these conversations suggested that industrial automation is beginning to move from proof of concept towards operational maturity.
A common direction
The conversations we had throughout Automate 2026 all pointed in the same direction. Some explored how AI is becoming easier to deploy. Others examined advances in sensing, optics and lighting that remove long-standing engineering constraints. Several focused on interoperability and protecting existing investments. Individually they address different technologies. Collectively they describe the same direction of travel.
That common thread is reflected throughout our Automate 2026 coverage. Each interview approached the industry’s evolution from a different perspective, yet many arrived at remarkably similar conclusions: Pleora Technologies explored how manufacturers are modernising existing infrastructure rather than replacing it outright. MVTec explained why artificial intelligence and classical machine vision are becoming complementary rather than competing technologies. Smart Vision Lights demonstrated how advances in illumination continue to improve inspection performance while simplifying deployment, while poLight showed how tunable optics are making autofocus practical for industrial applications.
On the surface, these companies operate in very different parts of the automation ecosystem. Collectively, however, they reveal an industry moving in the same direction.
The emphasis is shifting away from isolated technologies and towards complete systems that manufacturers can deploy with greater confidence, flexibility and speed.
The same conclusion emerged from our opinion pieces.
In Physical AI Isn’t a Product. It’s a Milestone., we argue that machine vision, robotics, AI and sensing are no longer evolving independently but increasingly as interconnected parts of intelligent systems. In The End of Trade-Offs?, we explore whether innovation is beginning to be judged less by the capabilities it introduces and more by the compromises it removes.
Although those articles examine different themes, both arrive at a similar conclusion: industrial automation is becoming more integrated, more accessible and, perhaps most importantly, more practical.
Physical AI, without the hype
One phrase heard throughout Automate was Physical AI, although its meaning varied depending on who was using it. Jeff Bernstein acknowledged that the term is often misunderstood before offering a practical definition of what Physical AI means in an industrial context.
“The physical world is taking advantage of the increasing abilities of artificial intelligence.” Jeff Bernstein, President, A3
As machines become smarter, he believes they will increasingly adapt to changing situations rather than simply following pre-programmed instructions.
Walking the exhibition floor, Physical AI appeared less like a product category and more like an outcome. It was visible whenever robotics, perception, software and intelligent decision-making came together to solve a manufacturing task that previously required significant human intervention. Seen in that context, Physical AI is not replacing machine vision, robotics or automation. It represents the next stage in their evolution.
Looking ahead
Every major exhibition provides a snapshot of where an industry stands at a particular moment in time. Automate 2026 suggested that industrial automation is entering a more mature phase.
Manufacturers remain excited by artificial intelligence, but increasingly expect it to deliver measurable value rather than impressive demonstrations. Machine vision continues to advance, yet greater attention is being paid to simplifying deployment rather than chasing specifications alone. Interoperability, software flexibility and engineering productivity are becoming just as important as processing speed or imaging performance.
Perhaps that is the clearest message to emerge from the week: automation is no longer trying to prove what it can achieve. It is demonstrating how naturally those capabilities can fit into real manufacturing environments.
The technologies showcased across Automate 2026 were undoubtedly impressive. The industry’s growing confidence in deploying them may prove to be even more important.
Jeff Bernstein also challenged one of automation’s longest-running misconceptions. “I’ve been hearing about robots replacing people since the day I started four decades ago,” he said. Instead, he argued, the greater risk is failing to automate. Companies that do not remain globally competitive ultimately put every job at risk, while manufacturers continue to face a severe shortage of skilled labour. With around half a million manufacturing vacancies already unfilled in the United States, automation is increasingly being viewed not as a replacement for people, but as an essential response to a growing workforce challenge. And as Giorgious Marinou, Robotics Control Engineer at Mantics Robotics put it, automation is about “helping robots help people”.
Looking back, Automate 2026 may ultimately be remembered less for any individual product launch than for the confidence the industry displayed in its own direction. Artificial intelligence is no longer a novelty. Machine vision is no longer an isolated discipline. Robotics, sensing, software and computing are increasingly being developed as interconnected systems designed to solve practical manufacturing problems. The industry’s challenge is no longer deciding whether automation belongs in manufacturing. It is determining how quickly, confidently and effectively it can be deployed.
If that observation proves correct, Automate 2026 will represent more than a record-breaking exhibition. It will mark the moment industrial automation began to move from technological possibility towards industrial maturity.
