Hannover Messe 2026: Agentic AI Powers Next Stage of MES

To the surprise of no one, the umbrella of Artificial Intelligence (AI) covered Hannover Messe 2026, with many organizations showcasing its innovation, potential, and applicability. Infor used the event to announce its new partnership with AWS to bring industry-specific AI to its Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solutions. Accenture and Avanade revealed they are working with Microsoft to co-develop an Agentic AI system geared toward streamlining operations on the factory floor. Tulip showed new levels of AI automation in the digitization process. Each announcement utilized Agentic AI with MES platforms, designed to help manufacturers (discrete and process) scale and integrate their AI solutions over existing enterprise infrastructure.

Traditional MES solutions face challenges in today’s market. Clients increasingly value composable, cloud-native solutions with custom toolsets that more quickly connect relevant personnel with the control they need to optimize production. Yet, even with these advancements, MES is anchored in reaction. A problem occurs, it is then observed, documented, investigated, and—after several further stages of planning and scheduling—addressed. The MES did its job and provided the data, but the resulting action took too long, hindered by manual processes and fragmented responsibility.

“What makes agentic AI real for manufacturers is how it shows up for the people running the factory every day,” Michael Schleuss, Avanade’s Global Supply Chain and Engineering Lead told attendees at Hannover Messe. MES provider Tulip echoes this statement, describing the shift away from a static digital transformation to a continuous one. Agentic AI MES solutions dramatically decrease response times, linking previously disparate workflows into one closed loop.

At Hannover Messe, Tulip took this further, demoing AI for Frontline Operations. The solution presents a digitized view of the factory floor, created by feeding the AI content such as images, Speech-Language Pathologies (SLPs), and work instructions. The AI contextualizes these data, then asks the user questions to further extract expertise and fill in any gaps in logic or workflow procedure. This presents the user with a quick systematic view of the solution architecture, removing the minutia of most of the manual work previously involved in digitizing the process.

“Generic AI doesn't work in manufacturing—you need agents that understand manufacturing-specific operational processes, bill of materials, supply chains, and shop floor realities…the result is AI and agents built specifically for manufacturing industries that our customers can trust to run critical operations and deliver measurable financial impact,” said Rick Rider, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Infor. With properly deployed Agentic AI MES platforms, it is reasonable to expect significant reductions in costs, process downtime, and factory floor inefficiencies.

While the benefits of incorporating Agentic AI into MES solutions seem clear, the reality is more complex. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that, while AI’s potential is strong in manufacturing, many organizations have fragmented adoption rates, which are inconsistent across various internal sectors and departments. ABI Research has found manufacturers actually growing wearier of any digital investment, based on previous pilot failures. (Please see ABI Research’s Industrial and Manufacturing Survey 2H 2024/1Q 2025: State of Play for Digital Transformation (PT-3657) for further insight.)

Manufacturers investing in any digital transformation technology, including AI, without first examining their workflow execution, are priming themselves for failure. It all but ensures that any advancement or innovation will come more at the fringe, speeding up processes that are fundamentally disconnected, rather than actually connecting said workflow into a coherent and responsive infrastructure. Agentic AI in MES impacts how decisions are made, how plans are coordinated, and how to respond—all in real time. To be effective, it cannot be simply another layer added ad hoc to a pile of disparate technologies and strategies.

For manufacturers, this means being open to real change in operation execution. For agentic MES vendors, the burden is on educating customers about the true value of this technology, and highlighting the risk of improper adoption. Throughout Hannover Messe 2026, the focus remained strong on AI, but for Generative AI technologies in particular, there was an inflection. Manufacturers do not want flashy promises or gimmicks, they want real, scalable solutions. MES leaders need to put forward more than a vision to ensure that Agentic AI MES solutions become the new standard.