embedded world 2026: A (Machine) Vision for the Future

Fears around the memory supply chain did little to dampen the hyperconnected, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled vision for the future posed by embedded world 2026, with myriad use cases set to justify a proliferation of embedded intelligent hardware. While extracting maximum AI-tailored performance from new product offerings was a point of conversation, semiconductor giants such as Qualcomm and MediaTek were by no means playing conservatively, pitching a variety of high-performance new devices to underpin a serious push on AI at the edge.

MediaTek unveiled a range of new Genio platforms aimed at the Internet of Things (IoT) market, with the Genio Pro winning Best in Show in Embedded Computing Design’s IoT & Connectivity category. Notably, alongside robotics and drones, the platform’s key target is to bring AI processing to Industrial IoT (IioT). The same was echoed over at the Qualcomm booth, which displayed use cases for Dragonwing, the “production-ready foundation for both physical and industrial AI.”

Open-source integration was another key topic, with GitLab’s booth highlighting the criticality of integrating cutting-edge open-source software development practices with the mature industry. The hardware available reflects this, with support for various Linux Operating Systems (OSs) being a requirement, and the integration of Arduino into the Qualcomm family reveals the growing cross-pollination of the open-source and industrial landscapes.

Machine vision may have been a hot topic already at the 2025 embedded world Expo, but it cemented its place as a key lynchpin in the 2026 event. A dedicated section of machine vision specialist booths displayed the ecosystem at work, with video processing, Internet Protocol (IP), and video-enabled technological supports highlighting the focus on giving intelligence-backed sight to the next wave of IoT devices.

With hyper-capable hardware, automated input management in the form of AI-processed vision, and an approach to the market deeply woven with an ecosystem mentality, IoT hardware has the opportunity to address real market needs in industry with more force and impact than previously achieved.

As always, the key question regarding market volume is the cost-benefit of investment, particularly how a proof-of-concept “nice-to-have” technology becomes a standard, and essential piece of equipment. Messaging around value through the full supply chain was clearer at this year’s show than it was previously, with the motivations for adoption crystallized. The capability gap is growing as performance and feature support increase, but this also gives pause to long-deployment end markets such as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and industrial.

Timing becomes a concern, with the risks of missing the next step-change in hardware growing as device lifecycles beyond 10 years drive a need for speculation. For embedded processing hardware vendors, targeting this market requires an emphasis on future-proofing. Increased openness in terms of both ecosystem and technical support, a consideration for modular and reusable design, and high degrees of interoperability go some distance toward this goal, but for device manufacturers or industrial integrators, uncertainty remains high.

In addition to performance and feature speculation, and the economic and supply chain uncertainty of the memory shortage and its knock-on effects, some dust has yet to settle in the regulatory landscape. While most of the details surrounding the Cyber Resiliency Act (CRA) coming in Europe in 2027 have been clear for some time, the discussion seems not to have advanced far from the same time last year, and the ”in-practice” realities of the act remain to be seen.

Even more impactful is the issue of quantum-safe capability, which is of critical concern for anyone deploying devices for more than 5 years. Products entering production now require plasticity, not just in what OSs and inputs they can manage, but also in fundamental cryptographic support, with resiliency to issues such as algorithm changes and key lengths growing dramatically.

For the vendors exhibiting at the show, the year ahead requires more than technology advances. Those that persist in displaying their products at the show year after year in the coming decade will be those most effective at managing the trust of their customers in navigating uncertain times, emphasizing agility and adaptability alongside impressive performance benchmarks.