Starting next Monday, more than 3,000 exhibitors will demonstrate how the strategic implementation of industrial AI, robotics, automation, and digitalization translates directly into quantifiable competitive advantages.
New and innovative information and networking formats will offer guidance on how companies can integrate AI into their operations step by step.
“Competitiveness is built where innovations are implemented quickly,” says Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe. “At HANNOVER MESSE, attendees will experience firsthand how to implement AI productively and create real, tangible added value.”
Faced with the global challenges facing industry, Köckler sees industrial AI as a key driver of greater competitiveness. “It enables increased efficiency and productivity, optimizes resource utilization, and opens the door to new data-driven business models.”
AI and Industrial Robotics
Global technology giants, medium-sized industrial companies, research institutes, and startups will present real-world applications demonstrating how AI and robotics are increasingly being integrated into everyday industrial practice.
Among them, Agile Robots will showcase the potential of AI-powered robotics, focusing on Agile ONE, a humanoid robot that understands its environment, makes autonomous decisions, and operates in real time in complex industrial scenarios.
SEW-EURODRIVE will present an AI-based chat function for automation: its “Startup Agent” allows for the configuration of machines and robots through natural dialogue, significantly reducing commissioning time.
It is worth noting that the underlying AI operates without conventional LLM approaches, positioning the function as a standalone and practical solution, particularly geared toward European industry.
Siemens will use a flexible production line to demonstrate how AI systems can go beyond simple recommendations and take action. In this setup, an autonomous packaging robot and a humanoid robot perform tasks independently.
These examples are just a glimpse of what to expect at this year’s HANNOVER MESSE, where AI will be present at virtually every exhibitor’s booth. In the humanoid robotics segment alone, some 15 companies will be showcasing their systems, highlighting the speed at which this technology is moving from research labs to real-world industrial applications.
The main stage with Friedrich Merz, Roland Busch, and Barack Obama
The new main stage will be the heart of HANNOVER MESSE, bringing together business, political, and academic leaders to discuss the future of industry.
On the opening Monday of the trade fair, top industry executives will meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss how AI can be scaled to far-reaching industrial applications. Participants will include CEOs of DAX companies Roland Busch (Siemens), Christian Klein (SAP), and Tim Höttges (Deutsche Telekom).
That same Monday, astronaut Alexander Gerst, Holger Hanselka, president of the Fraunhofer Institute, and Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space, will discuss Germany’s high-tech agenda.
The main stage will also host high-level guests during the remaining days of HANNOVER MESSE.
On Tuesday, Toto Wolff, team principal of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, will join Oliver Steil, CEO of TeamViewer, to analyze innovations in Formula 1 and the lessons the industry can learn from them.
That same afternoon, CEOs such as Armin Papperger (Rheinmetall) and Michael Schöllhorn (Airbus Defence and Space) will meet with security architecture experts such as General Markus Laubenthal (Chief of Staff of NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)) to examine the implications of the changing geopolitical security landscape for industry and defense.