What solutions intelligent automation and robotics provide for the challenges of the future was demonstrated by the leading trade fair automatica from June 24 to 27, 2025, in Munich. Around 47,500 visitors from more than 90 nations (40,000 visitors from 88 countries), about 800 exhibitors from 40 countries (650 exhibitors from 34 countries), and an extensive supporting program were part of the showcase. This was announced by the organizer of automatica, Messe München, in a press release.
The fair has grown
At the focus during the four days of the fair were AI-supported robotics, SME automation, health tech solutions, mobile robotics, and connected production. From the perspective of Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Co-CEO of Messe München, a successful mix of topics.
"The automatica is once again a driving force for the entire industry. Despite economic headwinds, the fair has grown significantly in terms of visitors and exhibitors. This shows: It is a must-attend event for the industry."
"With 800 exhibitors and an impressive 1,120 robots on site, automatica is an incredibly impressive showcase across the
entire value chain. What particularly pleases me: its pronounced character as a working fair," says Anja Schneider, Exhibition Director of automatica.
Patrick Schwarzkopf, Managing Director of VDMA Robotics + Automation, also draws a positive trade fair balance.
"The automatica 2025 has shown: Robotics and automation are the key to strong competitiveness. With practical AI solutions, automation for SMEs, and connected production, it has impressively confirmed its global leadership claim: It is the place where world premieres and the future of automation debut."
In a survey conducted by the opinion research institute Gelszus, 94 percent of exhibitors rated the fair as excellent to good. The quality of visitors (88 percent) and the increased proportion of new customers (87 percent) were particularly praised. At automatica 2025, Neura Robotics unveiled the new generation of its humanoid.
"The fair has allowed us to present our vision and products to tens of thousands of people," says David Reger, Founder & CEO of Neura Robotics. "And we are honored by the incredibly positive response and the great interest in more
than 60 robots from Neura."
Reinhold Groß, CEO of KUKA's robotics division, also draws a positive conclusion.
"This year we are experiencing remarkable interest from customers who have not yet automated. For us, automatica 2025 was therefore the ideal stage to show that 'making automation easier' goes far beyond simple and intuitive access to robotics."
Not least for this reason, more and more medium-sized companies are automating, also sees Martin Bender, Managing Director of Bender+Wirth, from the user's perspective. "I appreciate the professional exchange with the exhibitors and feel that as a representative of an SME, I am absolutely in the right place at automatica," says Bender.
"The fair inspires and motivates me to try new things and advance with automation."
The top ten visitor countries after Germany were Austria, Italy, Switzerland, South Korea, China, Poland, Great Britain, Czech Republic, USA, and France. The proportion of international visitors was almost 35 percent.
The showcase was supplemented by an extensive supporting program. 14 showcases and stages, more than 270 keynotes, ten guided tours, and three
workshops enabled exchange and knowledge transfer, according to the organizer. As part of the fair, the topic of health tech received special attention for the first time with many industry exhibits from exhibitors and including the two-day MedtecSUMMIT.
The munich_i Hightech Summit revolved around the megatrends in robotics and AI. The event – including speakers from Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and Nvidia – was curated again this year by the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich. Prof. Lorenzo Masia, Executive Director of MIRMI, concludes.
"Automatica is the optimal place to showcase the institute's ability to adapt to current challenges in the fields of robotics and AI. And of course, to make contacts with the industries with which we wish for more intensive exchange and brainstorming."
The next automatica will take place from June 22 to 25, 2027, once again in parallel with the Laser World of Photonics – the world's leading trade fair and congress for components, systems, and applications in photonics – and the World of
