Held June 22–25 at McCormick Place in Chicago, the show drew a record-setting 50,000 attendees and packed the floor with 1,000+ exhibitors across 450,000 square feet of robotics and automation technology. The scale wasn’t just a flex. It was a signal. The market is accelerating, and buyers are showing up with real budgets, real problems, and a need for real outcomes.
Below are the key snapshots that stood out most to our TEAM LEWIS industrial automation experts that were on the ground.
1) Humanoid robots moved from hype to headlines
Organizers called it: humanoid robots were one of the biggest trends on display. And the attention wasn’t only about “cool factor.” The conversation is shifting toward practical questions:
- Where do humanoids actually fit in operations today?
- What tasks are realistic in the next 12–24 months?
- What does safe deployment look like in mixed human/robot environments?
The takeaway: humanoids are becoming less of a sci-fi concept and more of a serious category that teams are evaluating alongside more established robotics options.
2) Automation is now a business strategy, not a side project
Across conversations on the floor, robotics and automation weren’t positioned as isolated tech investments. They were framed as core levers for competitiveness—tied directly to business planning, operational resilience, and productivity goals.
That mindset shift matters. It changes how decisions get made:
- ROI and outcomes lead the story.
- Integration and change management come to the forefront.
- Automation roadmaps become multi-year strategy, not one-off pilots.
In other words: the market is maturing, and so are expectations.
3) The future workforce was a major theme; today’s automation experts are starting younger than ever
One of the strongest through-lines was education and student readiness. Automate 2026 put a meaningful spotlight on how the next wave of talent will be built: students getting hands-on with robotics earlier, building confidence with automation concepts, and seeing robotics as a normal part of modern work.
This wasn’t just “STEM is important” messaging. It felt like an industry-wide recognition that scaling robotics adoption requires scaling robotics fluency across technicians, engineers, operators, and future business leaders.
4) Scale signals momentum and urgency
When an event hits a record 50,000 attendees, it’s not only a milestone for the show. It’s evidence of demand. Buyers, builders, and partners trying to keep pace with fast-moving capabilities.
For anyone selling into manufacturing, logistics, or industrial operations, Automate reinforced a simple truth: the bar is rising. Customers are expecting clearer value stories, faster paths to deployment, and solutions that fit into broader transformation plans.
What we’ll be watching next
Automate 2026 showed an industry expanding in two directions at once:
- Up-market in ambition (humanoids, new form factors, bigger bets)
- Down-market in accessibility (education, earlier exposure, broader adoption)
That combination is what drives lasting change.
If 2026 was the year humanoids took center stage—and workforce readiness got real attention—2027 may be the year we start seeing which approaches scale beyond pilots.
