en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) officially announced the keynote lineup for Automate 2026 on May 5, 2026. The event, North America's largest robotics and automation trade show, will be held June 22–25 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Automate 2026 will spotlight how AI is reshaping industrial automation, helping manufacturers address labor shortages, boost production efficiency, and maintain competitiveness. The show is expected to attract over 50,000 attendees, featuring more than 200 experts, over 140 conference sessions, and 1,000-plus exhibitors across 450,000 square feet of exhibition space.
This year's show features a dedicated humanoid robotics pavilion sponsored by NVIDIA, further highlighting the rising prominence of physical AI in industrial automation. What sets Automate 2026 apart from previous editions is the deep integration of generative AI and physical AI—from autonomous decision-making by robotic arms to factory deployment of humanoid robots, exhibiting companies will showcase the complete technology pathway transitioning from "automation" to "autonomy."
The keynote lineup covers core topics including industrial AI, workforce transformation, and physical AI. The opening keynote on June 22, "State of the Automation Industry: A Leadership Roundtable Discussion," features Mike Cicco, President and CEO of FANUC America; Andre Marino, Senior Vice President of Industrial Automation at Schneider Electric; Matt Moschner, President and CEO of Cognex; and Wendy Tan White, CEO of Intrinsic. On June 23, Siemens Digital Industries executives Annemarie Breu and Chris Stevens will deliver a keynote titled "The Automation Leap: AI, Automation, and the Human Element," exploring how manufacturers can integrate industrial AI with proven automation systems to build more resilient and adaptive operations.
The June 24 keynote will be delivered by Evan Beard, Co-founder and CEO of Standard Bots, with a presentation titled "99% of Tasks Are Still Not Automated: How Physical AI Changes That." Beard will explain how AI-native robots can learn from demonstration instead of traditional programming and adapt to real-world variability in real time, thereby unlocking millions of new automation tasks. Standard Bots will demonstrate its physical AI technology, built on the NVIDIA Isaac platform, live at the show. The closing session on June 25 features a leadership conversation hosted by former Chicago Bears star and Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher and radio commentator Jeff Joniak, discussing the principles of building a culture of trust, accountability, and excellence in high-performance organizations.
As the core organizer of Automate 2026, A3 is North America's leading trade association for the automation industry, with over 1,450 members spanning robot manufacturers, system integrators, end users, and academic institutions. A3 President Jeff Burnstein has previously noted that the convergence of AI and automation technologies is fundamentally reshaping the competitive landscape of manufacturing, and the degree of a company's engagement in this transformation will directly determine its future competitiveness. This show serves as a key platform for A3 to drive industry technology exchange and practical implementation. The event will also host the Engelberger Awards Gala, presenting one of the highest honors in the global robotics field.
When the show was held in Chicago in 2024, it set records with 42,895 registrants and 867 exhibitors, generating an estimated economic impact of nearly $50 million for the local economy. Automate 2026 is expected to surpass previous records across the board in scale, exhibitor count, and economic impact, further solidifying its position as the largest showcase platform for the automation sector in North America.
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