Hannover Messe 2026 is set to take place 20 to 24 April this year in Hannover, Germany. As the leading international trade fair for automation technologies and intelligent factories, Hannover Messe this year is focused on artificial intelligence and how AI is driving the smart factories of the future, making them more efficient, sustainable and autonomous. It aims to demonstrate AI in a practical and application-oriented way and show how manufacturing companies can use it profitably.
Hannover Messe, the world's leading trade fair for the manufacturing industry, focuses this year on AI in practical industrial applications.
© 2026 Deutsche Messe AG
With well-known and new companies exhibiting, a new thematic structure, clear visitor guidance, new networking formats, and a consistent AI focus, the fair will show how today’s challenges can be transformed into concrete competitive advantages.
Global competition, increasing cost pressure, and the rapid pace of technological innovation are confronting the manufacturing industry with the greatest transformation challenge in its history. In this phase of change, companies need a platform that presents technological innovation and translates it into real-world applications. Hannover Messe 2026 meets this need by showing how AI, automation, digitalisation, energy systems, and research interact to enable sustainable competitiveness.
Industrial AI is becoming a central driver of innovation and growth. It is used to analyse production data in real time, optimise processes, and enable intelligent, adaptive control of production workflows. This results in measurable efficiency gains, higher productivity, and more conscious use of resources – opening up new data-driven business models and additional value-creation potential at the same time.
“Now is the time to invest consistently in new technologies. Those who invest in AI, automation, and digital systems today create the foundation for efficiency leaps, resilience, and sustainable competitiveness,” says Dr Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG. “Hannover Messe is the platform where visitors can experience concrete AI applications and learn through direct exchange with exhibitors how they can increase productivity using AI.”
Physical AI will also be a central focus. This refers to AI systems that interact directly with the physical world – for example in machines, plants, or robots. AI thus becomes a productive force in the factory – especially in industrial and humanoid robots.
Around 3 500 companies from mechanical engineering, the electrical and digital industries, and the energy sector will present solutions for the production and energy supply of today and tomorrow, with AI playing a central role.
Exhibitors include global tech companies such as AWS, Microsoft, SAP, Schneider Electric, and Siemens, as well as technology leaders including Beckhoff, Festo, HARTING, ifm, LAPP, Phoenix Contact, Rittal, Schaeffler, and SEW. Renowned research institutes such as Fraunhofer and KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) will outline industrial solutions for tomorrow, and more than 200 start-ups from various technology fields will present their innovations. The main exhibition areas are Automation & Digitalisation, Energy & Industrial Infrastructure, and Research & Technology Transfer. Artificial intelligence is a common thread through all exhibition areas. A diverse conference programme will run alongside the fair. Brazil is the Partner Country for Hannover Messe 2026.
For more information visit: www.hannovermesse.de/en/
