Smart Industry's Crystal Ball 2026 Series: AI dominates manufacturing technology

Our annual series of predictions for the new year calls for industrials to use artificial intelligence in savvy ways but be more aware of cybersecurity threats, open to automation, enthusiastic about large-scale tech investments, and prepared to streamline data.

Welcome to Smart Industry's annual Crystal Ball Report, our collection of expert opinions on what to expect in the new year, which is 2026, believe it or not!

For the new year, we’ve got a strong lineup of smart people offering their informed opinions on what to expect in manufacturing technology throughout the next 12 months.

AI is going to dominate the conversation, but when we report on AI now it’s a lot more “in the weeds” about use cases and how AI “gets real” on the factory floor.

So, expect a lot of discussion about specific manufacturing applications like agentic AI (“replacing tasks, not people”), more about how AI is assisting predictive maintenance, and how artificial intelligence is helping to optimize production systems.

There’s a lot in this series besides AI, however, as cybersecurity and the specific threats that manufacturing faces (ransomware is at the top) lead a lot of conversation about what’s ahead.

Expect a lot about data as well, like industrial data fabrics, data pipeline management, and the like. Of course, if Topic A is AI, also expect Topic B about everything that relates to digital transformation.

Smart Industry Head of Content Scott Achelpohl arranged the material for this series, putting a strong emphasis on critical topics such as cybersecurity, AI, automation and other technologies that will likely trend in the new year.

So, enjoy the series (you’ll need a site-access membership to see the stories in full), which will stretch into January.

And please have a happy and prosperous new year!