Samba in the rain
Yesterday evening, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave the starting signal for the Hannover Messe 2026. Today, the fair opens its doors to the public at six degrees and rain. More than 3,000 exhibitors from the mechanical engineering, electrical and digital industries will be showing their innovations. For the first time, Defense is represented with its own thematic focus. This year's partner country is Brazil.
We will also be there: Tim Höttges will give a keynote speech on digital infrastructure. Ferri joins NVIDIA and SIEMENS on the podium to discuss our AI factory. And Elke Anderl will take part in a Leaders Dialogue on the prerequisites for a distributed AI ecosystem. We will also be represented at partner booths: for example, at Industry 4.0 with Catena-X, 8ra and ROX and at the booth of Wandelbots.
Above the doors, a banner "Welcome to
Hannover Messe 2026."
"We will play at the front"
Tim Höttges’ keynote focused on industrial strength powered by digital infrastructure, with AI—especially in industrial settings—taking center stage. Europe and Germany, he said, have all the prerequisites to play a leading role. At the same time, companies must actively embrace these new opportunities. Many challenges can be addressed more effectively with AI, but this requires not only the right applications, but also a fundamental redesign of business processes to make them AI-ready. Höttges also urged industry leaders to keep a close eye on the impact of AI on people.
“Where AI and sovereignty come together, progress happens,” Höttges added. “Germany has everything it needs: a strong industrial base, engineering excellence, and the ability to integrate production with cutting-edge technologies. If we follow through consistently, Germany won’t just keep up—we’ll lead from the front.”
"Germany must be the driving force"
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, SAP CEO Christian Klein, Siemens CEO Roland Busch, and Telekom CEO Tim Höttges have once again highlighted the importance of industrial AI and reaffirmed their joint commitment to the “Made for Germany” initiative. Earlier, Chancellor Merz emphasized in his speech: “We want to move Europe forward, and Germany must be the driving force.” It is not too late. “AI is here, whether we like it or not,” the Federal Chancellor said. “SMEs are likely to benefit the most from AI. I can feel the momentum at the fair—now more than ever.” 
Christian Klein, Siemens CEO Roland Busch,
and Telekom CEO Tim Höttges
Industrial AI Cloud—speed counts
On the Center Stage, Ferri discussed our Industrial AI Cloud together with Rev Lebaredian, Vice President Omniverse and Simulation Technology at NVIDIA, and Horst J. Kayser, CEO Factory Automation at Siemens. Europe's first industrial AI cloud is developing a new operating system for industry, in which digital twins and AI agents continuously learn from real-world production and improvements flow back into design, engineering and operations. The trio talked about how industrial companies can use the common cloud foundation to move from siloed pilots to AI-powered, connected factories—while preserving European data sovereignty, security, and regulatory compliance. The conclusion: The AI factory can become a game changer for the entire industrial sector. The speed of implementation is decisive. Because one thing is clear: If you hesitate, you risk losing touch in the competition for industrial AI and the resulting value creation. Incidentally, the panel was moderated by Maja-Olivia Himmer, AI & Sovereignty Strategy Lead at T-Systems.
Technology at NVIDIA, and Horst J. Kayser, CEO Factory Automation at Siemens.
8ra—the open, interoperable infrastructure
Ferri also visited our partner booths. At the Industry 4.0 trade fair appearance, we were represented by 8ra, among others. It is the European initiative to build a sovereign, open and interoperable cloud and edge infrastructure. Our contribution is a platform that supports companies in consistently modernizing their IT landscapes and making them future-proof. Based on an automated, modular architecture, 8ra enables applications to be deployed quickly and operate securely—regardless of whether they run in the private, public or hybrid cloud.
For customers, this means more flexibility, shorter innovation cycles and significantly higher scalability. The consistent standardization and automation of operating processes also reduces costs and increases the quality and stability of services. At the same time, the platform meets the highest requirements for security and compliance – a decisive factor, especially for regulated industries.
Metaverse for SMEs
A handshake seals the deal: Dirk Keller, Managing Director of EDAG Production Solutions, and Ferri sign the agreement for T Cloud Public and Industrial AI Cloud at Hannover Messe. The engineering service provider for automotive, defense, industry, and public solutions will operate its industrial metaverse platform “metys” on our T Cloud Public and additionally use the Industrial AI Cloud. Together, this ensures data and operational sovereignty according to European standards and makes advanced hardware—such as NVIDIA technologies for high-performance computing, AI training, and simulation—more accessible to the industrial midmarket.
The metys platform connects virtual product development with physical production to form a digital ecosystem, enabling end-to-end, AI-driven industrial processes. It brings together simulation, analytics, and AI models in a central environment. In the future, EDAG will offer solution packages via metys to provide the midmarket with access to capacities in the Industrial AI Cloud.
Train robots with the Industrial AI Cloud
Visit to the customer Wandelbots. Katharina Jessa, Chief Revenue Officer, gives positive feedback on the Industrial AI Cloud. The Dresden-based technology company sells software solutions for industrial robotics and automation. The focus is on the idea of no longer thinking of robotics in isolation, but as part of a networked ecosystem. With the Industrial AI Cloud, Wandelbots now bundles data from different production environments, analyzes it and uses it in real time. Wandelbots can thus provide training data for robots centrally and continuously improve it. This allows motion sequences to be optimized without having to program each system individually. For users, this means shorter commissioning times, lower costs and significantly simplified integration of automation solutions.
More AI power for Germany
The promotion truck for our AI factory is also a must at the industry's leading trade fair. Directly in front of the Center Stage in Hall 25, it draws the visitors' attention to the AI power of the Industrial AI Cloud.
Empowering Industrial AI
With a little delay, the sun has also found its way to the capital of Lower Saxony – in keeping with the partner country Brazil. And with that, welcome to the second day at the Hannover Messe. Today's focus is on the Leaders' Dialogue with Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche, in which Elke Anderl is also participating. Event title: Empowering Industrial AI.
Let’s get started
Europe is capable of industrial AI. But only if we create the right conditions—now. That was the core message of the panel in which Elke Anderl, Chief Commercial Officer of T-Systems, took part as part of the Leaders' Dialogue on the Center Stage in Hall 25. Joining her on stage were Johannes Hoffart, CTO AI at SAP SE, Stephan Ilaender, Field CTO at STACKIT, and moderator Astrid Frohloff. “We need to create an open data ecosystem that everyone can participate in, whether large companies or start-ups. What really matters is that we get started now, using the infrastructure that already exists. And everyone is invited to take part,” said Elke.
Robots need data
At the Solution Lab for Research & Technology Transfer, experts exchanged views on the RoX research project. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. A consortium of 22 companies aims to develop a digital ecosystem for AI-based robotics in real-world applications—scalable and innovative.
T-Systems has been involved since the project began in September 2024. Christoph Schlueter-Langdon moderated the discussion with seven experts from ABB, roboception, SOTEC, Intrinsic, DLR, and VDMA. The partners agreed that the next generation of robotics will be based on artificial intelligence. AI requires large amounts of data. However, companies find it extremely difficult to share data, as the fear of disclosing sensitive information is too great. The solution must therefore be peer-to-peer—via infrastructures such as the 8ra cloud continuum and the Catena-X data space.
Taking the leap into service
For the first time, the defense sector was also more strongly represented. In Hall 11, the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) drew attention to career opportunities with camouflage-painted sports cars and a helicopter. In Hall 26, around 40 companies showcased their offerings in production technology for the defense industry across 1,200 square meters.
Note: The “company car” is not part of the standard personal equipment 😉
Katherina Reiche visits
Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche visited the Industry 4.0 stand and learned about projects from the IPCEI-CIS program. IPCEI stands for Important Projects of Common European Interest, and CIS for Cloud Infrastructure and Services. IPCEI is the European Union’s key initiative to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. More than 150 partners are working together to build a powerful and sustainable multi-provider cloud-edge continuum for Europe.
Deutsche Telekom is playing a leading role in this effort in Germany. The project is called the “EdgeConnect.” Elke Anderl represented Telekom during the minister’s visit to the stand and accompanied the tour.
