Hannover Messe 2026 ran from April 20 to 24 in Hannover, Germany, and it delivered. Under the theme “Think Tech Forward”, the show brought together over 130,000 visitors from more than 150 countries, 4,000 exhibitors, and 300+ start-ups across industrial automation, software, and hardware.

Brazil was this year’s partner country, and the event itself got a makeover: a new hall layout, a revamped thematic structure, and a brand-new Defense Production Park zone, reflecting just how much the scope of industrial technology has shifted.

Here are the Top 10 things I’m taking home, and yes, I’m happy to be challenged on any of them.

The user attention battle is quietly beginning

My deepest feeling coming out from the #HMI26 floor was to be the witness of the first deployments of the armies fighting for who controls the factory of the next decade. Most demos at Hannover Messe 2026 I was exposed to started with a chat box prompting the users. The question is how many of them can co-exist in a factory setup. My answer is as little as possible. The battle for the factory UI has hence started. It can turn out this way: one system as the front-end workers actually use, the others as solid back-end.

Context is the new competitive asset. Whoever owns it, then owns the process. And physics-aware data fabrics are the competitive moat

The differentiating capability in industrial AI is not model quality, but it is contextual depth. A physics-aware industrial data fabric that connects real-life physics, process history, sensor telemetry, operational and operator knowledge provides more competitive advantage than any algorithm running on top of it. Hopefully, manufacturers will define a technology journey built around data first, then context, then impact, but I fear the need to rush the deployment of industrial AI apps may result in missed opportunities in building the critical industrial model foundation.

MES stands for “Must Evolve Soon”

This application is the spine of the plant (because it acts as both the system of engagement and the system of record). But process flexibility is now its hardest test… Why? First, top-down. Advanced Planning and Scheduling applications are seeing accelerated adoption, driven by a new generation of algorithms capable of delivering real-time, context-rich, executable plans. As APS systems push dynamic re-sequencing into execution, MES must evolve fast enough to receive and act on what APS produces, or risk being seen as the weakest link. To this, it directly follows… the bottom-up pressure. Unstructured production cells (i.e. multifunctional robots, wireless machines, AMR-driven object routing) are going to be gradually replacing fixed lines. Customer requests are shifting toward rapid configuration, faster changeovers, and multifunctional automation. MES must evolve to accommodate less deterministic workflows, or lighter tools will fill the gap.

Forget upskilling. The connected worker is all about context generation and retention

The ability to bring anybody “to speed” has been so far one of the typical selling points for connected frontline worker platforms so far. But this is barely scratching the surface. The combination of AI-first vision systems, IIoT, RFID, RTLS, and mobile or wearable devices creates an ultra-visible data substrate that makes the factory transparent. On top of it, the layer of human-process interaction managed through connected worker platforms enables unprecedented levels of visibility on how people interact with process execution steps. This is truly the best material for AI-driven process improvement. This data gold mine is not just in the machine data. It is the analysis of what happens between the worker and the process.

The industrial metaverse is developing as a hyper-contextual decision-making environment

The exponential growth in data availability, combined with falling costs of modelling and representation, is unlocking use cases that were economically impossible two years ago. Hence, we can say that the “VCR” moment has arrived. Now we have the full capability to “zoom in and zoom out” and as well as “fast forwarding” the process for continous multi-scenario process planning and simulation, as well as “rewind” or playback the process for traceability and analysis.

Right-size AI now or face the potential consequences

The differentiating capability will be the agentic continuum, i.e. the unbroken intelligent chain across production execution. But building that chain responsibly requires confronting infrastructure and cost realities that vendor marketing may be now underplaying. Right-sizing AI and matching model scale and infrastructure to actual operational demand is a business continuity decision. The question is not “what is the most powerful model?” but “ do we need AI at all for this, and if the answer is “yes”, then “what is the appropriate model for this decision/process automation, in this operating environment?”

Manufacturing runs on deterministic sequences. Agentic AI is inherently non-deterministic. Reconciling these two realities is the governance challenge

Two distinct scenarios define the governance challenge. In the first, the desired output is well understood, and users can accept or reject an AI result without a care in the world about inspecting the internal process. In the second, the correct answer is uncertain, and full transparency into how the model generated its output is required before the result can be trusted. The challenge is how to gradually hand over large bits of process control to an agentic software layer that is stochastic in nature. Most manufacturing companies today are only comfortable approving small, incremental AI-driven changes, not because AI is incapable of more, but because the accountability and auditability frameworks for automating larger decisions do not yet exist.

So what?

What does this mean in practice? Three implications stand out.

Survive to Scale: Link the technology curve to the organisation curve

Technology is advancing faster than most organisations can absorb. The strategic risk for many manufacturers is not deploying too slowly, but it is scaling before the organisational substrate is ready.

Bring in the Naysayers: Organisational buy-in requires involving sceptics early, not convincing them late

There is a very nice saying that goes more or less as “Don’t let people saying that it can’t be done disturb the people who are already doing it.” But in this new venture, bringing the contrarians will be important. Creatin forums where sceptics stress-test plans with the utmost ferocity (before the market does it!) will be key.

Complexity demands simplicity: Focus on fundamental problems, not exhaustive use-case catalogues

Technology is evolving faster than any list can stay current. Vendors and manufacturers alike should resist chasing every new capability appearing on the horizon, and rather concentrate on first principle-based, core solutions that foster data integration for autonomy and decision-making improvement.

For a deeper look into Lorenzo’s research, visit our website. If any of these perspectives challenge your thinking or connect to your priorities, we would be glad to continue the discussion via our contact form.

Lorenzo Veronesi - Associate Research Director, IDC Manufacturing Insights - IDC

Lorenzo Veronesi is an associate research director for IDC Manufacturing Insights EMEA. In this role, Veronesi leads the Worldwide Smart Manufacturing research program and supports all the IDC MI research services for EMEA, by looking at Digital Transformation drivers in multiple manufacturing industry sub-verticals. He is also often involved in consulting projects across the world for end-users, IT vendors and public authorities. During the last decade his research has focused across key processes such as manufacturing operations management, supply chain management, and product lifecycle management in multiple manufacturing verticals, including - among others - automotive, aerospace, machinery, high-tech, chemicals, CPG, and fashion. Before joining IDC, Veronesi worked as analyst in multiple projects including research in the industrial logistics sector and as advisor for public authorities in Italy. Veronesi holds an MSc Degree in Regional Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science and has graduated cum laude at the Bocconi University in Milan.