A year ago, automation conversations were still shaped by supply chain disruption, long lead times, and delayed capital spending. By the end of 2025, that uncertainty had given way to something more practical. The industry spent the year aligning standards, reassessing priorities, and setting the stage for wider adoption as technology maturity caught up with long-standing expectations.
Those shifts were a recurring theme during A3 –Association for Advancing Automation’s webinar last week, “2026 Industrial Automation Trends, What to Expect in the Coming Year,” moderated by Jim Beretta, president of Customer Attraction. Rather than spotlighting one breakthrough technology, panelists described an ecosystem that has become easier to deploy, easier to scale, and more closely tied to real operational needs.
For Stu Shepherd, president of Shepherd Solutions Inc., the most meaningful progress was structural. Updated and harmonized robot safety standards between Europe and the U.S. finally moved into place, creating a common framework for global automation. “All three sections of the R15.06 have been updated and finally released this year,” Shepherd said, calling it a long-awaited step that allows companies to share knowledge and technologies more easily across regions.
The updates also include guidance aimed directly at end users, which Shepherd said is especially important as new people enter automation roles. At the same time, work is underway on autonomous mobile robot (AMR) standards, expected in early 2026, that will establish shared expectations for AMRs, autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), and automated forklifts.
That progress has not been without friction. Shepherd acknowledged that regulatory activity has slowed momentum in some cases, noting that distractions outside the plant floor have caused some organizations to delay projects, even as the long-term need for automation became clearer.
Vision, mobility, and maturity
As companies paused and reset, many expanded their view of where automation could deliver value. Craig Salvalaggio, president of Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), said that reassessment opened doors beyond traditional automotive programs.
One area gaining traction is vision-enabled automation. Improvements in sensing, grasping, and trajectory planning have expanded what is possible in environments with high variability. “The ability to pick, grasp, and sense in real time has unlocked some new application sets,” particularly in warehousing, cold storage, and distribution, explained Salvalaggio.
AMRs followed a similar path. After several years of interest and experimentation, 2025 marked a shift toward serious evaluation. Salvalaggio said customers are no longer asking whether AMRs are viable, but how quickly they can be deployed to move materials, connect islands of automation, and reduce forktruck-related safety incidents. He expects that momentum to build in 2026 as standards and deployment models mature.
Power and force limiting robots, i.e., collaborative robots or collaborative-capable industrial robots, are also entering a new phase. Once considered niche, these systems are now standardized enough to support repeatable applications. According to Salvalaggio, what matters most is not novelty but readiness. The combination of mature technology and harmonized standards is what positions these solutions for broader adoption.
AI moves from promise to practice
Artificial intelligence threaded through nearly every part of the discussion, not as a future concept but as a present-day enabler. Julia Astrid Riemenschneider, head of project excellence at SCIO Automation, described 2025 as a turning point, when AI shifted from theory to implementation. Collaborations between robot manufacturers, sensor suppliers, and AI providers accelerated, with solutions moving out of press releases and into production environments.
That shift extended beyond perception and vision into how manufacturers use data. Mike Lashbrook, vice president of digital solutions at JR Automation, said 2025 marked a long-awaited inflection point for Industry 4.0 and digital twins. After years of collecting data without clear outcomes, manufacturers are now able to turn that information into action.
“For almost 10 years, we talked about Industry 4.0 and digital twins,” Lashbrook said. “We were focused on collecting data, but not what to do with it. Now we can analyze the data, turn it into insights, and actually take action.”
Digital twins, once used primarily for visualization, are becoming operational tools. Lashbrook said manufacturers are using them for virtual commissioning, scenario analysis, and continuous improvement, keeping digital models aligned with real-world performance. When systems drift from optimal conditions, those digital models can help identify root causes and guide corrective action.
“That’s the exciting part now,” Lashbrook said. “We’re finally doing the last edge of Industry 4.0 that actually improves operations and drives value to the bottom line.”
For customers, that progress has changed expectations. AI-driven analytics, digital twins, and automation are no longer separate initiatives. They are increasingly viewed as connected capabilities that support faster launches, greater flexibility, and sustained performance.
New sectors, familiar pressures
Labor shortages and reshoring pressures are pushing automation into less traditional sectors. That’s according to Lashbrook, who said that over the last year, those forces created opportunities in areas such as agriculture, where automation had previously been limited.
Farmers, he explained, are exploring automation to reduce labor intensity while improving sustainability. The systems often borrow from material handling concepts, applying familiar automation logic to vertical farming and feed production. Lashbrook said the work required new thinking, but the underlying drivers were consistent across industries.
“We did see quite a few manufacturers looking at the ability or the need to reshore and the shortages of labor,” he said, noting that those pressures opened conversations that might not have happened otherwise.
The same dynamics are reshaping expectations more broadly. Customers want greater customization and faster product launches, even as they face workforce constraints. Lashbrook said that combination is accelerating interest in digital twins, virtual commissioning, and AI-driven analytics that go beyond data collection to deliver actionable insights.
Sustainability, with people at the center
Sustainability entered the conversation less as a regulatory mandate and more as a byproduct of efficiency. Salvalaggio said customers are focused on long-term solutions that can be replicated across facilities, rather than one-off projects. “They don’t want to put science projects into their manufacturing facility,” he said. “They want long-term solutions that go beyond the ROI.”
In Europe, economic pressure has increased demand for retrofits. Riemenschneider said those projects provide an opportunity to update components, improve safety, and boost efficiency while extending the life of existing equipment. They also highlight a critical human factor. “In industries outside automotive, operators are not familiar with this,” she said. Successful retrofits require training, documentation, and support that help operators grow alongside the technology.
Lashbrook pointed out that efficiency gains often align naturally with sustainability goals. Optimizing robotic paths, reducing energy consumption, and shipping fewer partially filled pallets lower environmental impact while improving operating costs. In that sense, sustainability becomes “just good for business.”
Passing knowledge forward
As automation accelerates, panelists repeatedly returned to the challenge of workforce transition. A significant number of experienced workers are nearing retirement, raising concerns about the loss of institutional knowledge.
Shepherd said companies are placing greater emphasis on mentoring and apprenticeship-style learning. Traditional classroom training is giving way to hands-on approaches that reflect how younger workers learn. Small, practical doses of information paired with real-world application help bridge the gap between generations.
Lashbrook described long-tenured employees as “oak trees,” holding decades of insight that is rarely documented. When those employees leave, that knowledge can disappear unless it has been captured and embedded into systems, training, and digital tools.
Riemenschneider framed the issue as an opportunity rather than a risk. The industry, she said, cannot afford to abandon past experience in the rush toward AI and automation. Progress depends on combining deep operational knowledge with the confidence and fluency of a new generation already comfortable with robots, software, and AI.
What comes next
Looking ahead, panelists agreed that the forces shaping automation decisions are unlikely to ease. Labor shortages remain persistent, customer expectations continue to rise, and technology cycles are moving faster than many manufacturers are accustomed to managing. Together, those pressures are compressing the timeline for action.
Lashbrook pointed to labor constraints as a defining factor. “With the labor shortages, manufacturers are going to have to do more with less, and that means you have to automate in parallel,” he said. For many companies, automation is no longer about incremental improvement, but about maintaining throughput and competitiveness under tighter conditions.
The panel also emphasized that waiting for perfect clarity carries its own risks. Shepherd encouraged manufacturers to begin planning and deploying automation even if the first steps are modest. “The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The second best time is now,” he said.
As AI-enabled systems mature and standardized solutions lower barriers to entry, the cost of delay continues to rise. Shepherd was direct about what that means for manufacturers weighing their options. “Automation in the next 10 years is not an option,” he said. “It’s a requirement.” PW
