AutoTech 2026 Complete Guide — Schedule, Speakers, Themes & Key Takeaways
AutoTech 2026 · June 2–4 · Novi, Michigan · autotechevents.com
The Premier Automotive Technology Conference
AutoTech2026Software-defined vehicles, connected mobility, AI integration, and autonomous systems are no longer concepts on a slide deck. In June 2026, the industry's most consequential conversations happen in one place.
01 · When & WhereThe Place &
The TimeAutoTech 2026 runs June 2 through 4 at the Vibe Credit Union Showplace in Novi, Michigan · a fitting location for a conference of this scope. Novi sits at the heart of the North American automotive corridor, within driving distance of the global headquarters of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis.Organized by Informa and co-presented with WardsAuto, AutoTech brings together over 1,800 delegates spanning automakers, Tier 1 suppliers, software companies, and technology providers · all focused on a single overriding question: how do you build a profitable connected car business?
The TimeAutoTech 2026 runs June 2 through 4 at the Vibe Credit Union Showplace in Novi, Michigan · a fitting location for a conference of this scope. Novi sits at the heart of the North American automotive corridor, within driving distance of the global headquarters of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis.Organized by Informa and co-presented with WardsAuto, AutoTech brings together over 1,800 delegates spanning automakers, Tier 1 suppliers, software companies, and technology providers · all focused on a single overriding question: how do you build a profitable connected car business?
DatesJune 2–4, 2026Wednesday through Friday
VenueVibe Credit Union ShowplaceNovi, Michigan, USA
Scale1,800+ Delegates · 274 SpeakersOEMs · Tier 1s · Tech Companies
02 · Schedule & SpeakersThree Days,
One DirectionThe event moves across three days · from an opening awards night into two full days of keynotes, track sessions, exhibitions, and networking. With approximately 274 speakers and four simultaneous tracks, deliberate planning pays off.Full agenda at autotechevents.com/agenda. Subject to change without notice.
One DirectionThe event moves across three days · from an opening awards night into two full days of keynotes, track sessions, exhibitions, and networking. With approximately 274 speakers and four simultaneous tracks, deliberate planning pays off.
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Tuesday · June 2, 2026Awards Night & Welcome Reception
EveningAutoTech Awards & Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX · combined ceremony for the first time, recognizing excellence in AI, connectivity, and software
Post-ceremonyWelcome Drinks reception · award-winning vehicles on display in the exhibition hall
1
Wednesday · June 3, 2026Main Conference · Keynotes & Track Sessions
8:00 – 9:00 AMRegistration & delegate check-in
9:05 – 9:30 AMKeynote: The Future of Connected Cars · Strategies, Technologies & Experiences
9:30 – 9:55 AMKeynote: Emerging Trends in the Connected Car Ecosystem
10:45 – 11:45 AMTrack sessions: Advancing V2X for Smart City Infrastructure · Satellite-Terrestrial Networks · Next-Gen AI Interfaces for UX
11:50 AM – 12:15 PMBeyond OTA: Building the Digital Backbone of the Software-Defined Vehicle
12:15 – 1:45 PMLunch & Networking · VIP Lunch hosted by T-Mobile (invitation only)
1:45 – 3:30 PMTracks: Org Transformation for Software Innovation · Cybersecurity · Digital Twin Architecture · Smartphone vs. Embedded Systems
3:30 – 4:00 PMAfternoon networking break
4:00 – 5:30 PMTracks: Ubiquitous Connectivity for the SDV Era · In-Cabin Revenue Monetization · OTA Strategy Deep Dives
EveningCOVESA Evening Reception · off-site, in partnership with AutoTech
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Thursday · June 4, 2026Deep Dives, Exhibition & Closing Sessions
Morning tracksADAS safety standardization · Autonomous market opportunities · EV driving experience innovation
Afternoon tracksAI-driven manufacturing quality · Subscription revenue models · SDV roadmap workshops
Exhibition floorTwo-day exhibition open both days: in-vehicle AI · sensor fusion · connected platforms · next-gen cockpit systems
03 · Why AttendSix Reasons
You Should Be ThereThe automotive industry is not quietly evolving · it is being restructured from the ground up. Revenue models, engineering processes, customer relationships, and competitive dynamics are all shifting at once. AutoTech 2026 is designed for professionals who need to understand those shifts, not from a distance, but from the source.
You Should Be ThereThe automotive industry is not quietly evolving · it is being restructured from the ground up. Revenue models, engineering processes, customer relationships, and competitive dynamics are all shifting at once. AutoTech 2026 is designed for professionals who need to understand those shifts, not from a distance, but from the source.
"The businesses that thrive will be those building the right connections with the most informed strategies."
01Direct Access to Decision-MakersOver 1,800 delegates from leading OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and technology companies attend. The people shaping next-generation vehicle platforms are in the room · and so are you.
02274 Speakers, Zero FluffEvery session is built around concrete challenges · software quality, cybersecurity threats, OTA architecture, autonomous deployment. Practitioners talking to practitioners, not keynote theater.
03Industry Benchmark in Real TimeThe AutoTech Awards and Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX ceremonies show you precisely what "best in class" looks like right now. If you're building or selling in this space, that context is invaluable.
04Structured Networking That WorksVIP roundtables, the COVESA evening reception, and a dedicated premium networking lounge are designed to create depth · not just volume · in conversations. Partnerships formed here tend to outlast the conference.
05Technology You Can TouchThe two-day exhibition puts next-generation cockpit systems, sensor fusion solutions, and connected car platforms in front of you. Reading a spec sheet and standing next to the hardware are two very different experiences.
06Content That Travels Home With YouAI-generated session summaries, presentation archives, and a personalized agenda app mean the value of three days extends well past closing remarks. What you miss in the room, you can catch later.
04 · Conference ThemesThis Year's
Central QuestionsThe master theme for AutoTech 2026 is Monetizing the Connected Car · a deliberate provocation. The industry has spent years solving engineering problems. The question now is whether it can convert those solutions into sustainable, recurring revenue. Four specialized tracks, each threaded with AI, electrification, and data & telematics, pursue that question from different angles.
Central QuestionsThe master theme for AutoTech 2026 is Monetizing the Connected Car · a deliberate provocation. The industry has spent years solving engineering problems. The question now is whether it can convert those solutions into sustainable, recurring revenue. Four specialized tracks, each threaded with AI, electrification, and data & telematics, pursue that question from different angles.
Track 01Connected MobilityThe foundational layer · SDVs, V2X communication, cybersecurity, and satellite-terrestrial network integration. Every other track depends on what happens here.
Track 02SoftwareOTA update strategy, AI integration, software-driven revenue models, and the organizational transformation required to turn vehicles into continuously evolving platforms.
Track 03UI & UXIntuitive HMI design, AI voice interfaces, the smartphone vs. embedded system debate, and the emerging opportunity to monetize in-cabin screen time as a fourth screen.
Track 04ADAS & AutonomySafety standardization, AI-driven sensor fusion, real implementation barriers to autonomous systems, and long-term market opportunities for hands-free driving technology.
05 · Where to Focus Your TimeDon't Try to
See EverythingWith four simultaneous tracks, multiple exhibition zones, and VIP-only workshops running throughout each day, AutoTech 2026 rewards a deliberate strategy over an ambitious one. These five priorities will deliver the highest return on your time regardless of your role or specialty.
See EverythingWith four simultaneous tracks, multiple exhibition zones, and VIP-only workshops running throughout each day, AutoTech 2026 rewards a deliberate strategy over an ambitious one. These five priorities will deliver the highest return on your time regardless of your role or specialty.
01
Both Keynotes on Day One · The Industry's Official PositionThe two morning keynotes on June 3rd set the interpretive frame for everything else at the event. They reveal how the people running major automotive organizations are currently reading the market · and that context shapes the value of every panel and workshop that follows.
02
SDV & Software Track · Where the Real Restructuring Is HappeningSessions on zonal architecture, OTA strategy, and software-driven revenue models address problems that OEMs are actively grappling with today. Technical attendees find concrete implementation cases; strategy and business development attendees find the shifting revenue logic they need to understand.
03
V2X & Connectivity Sessions · Beyond the VehicleVehicle-to-everything communication and satellite-terrestrial network integration sessions extend well beyond the car itself. The implications reach logistics, insurance, urban planning, and infrastructure · making them relevant to attendees from industries adjacent to automotive.
04
VIP Roundtables & Workshops · The Conversations That Don't Make It Onto SlidesInvitation-only VIP sessions cover organizational transformation, flexible EV leasing strategies, and the competition for in-cabin experience in ways that public conference panels rarely can. If your pass includes access, these sessions should be your first entries in the agenda builder.
05
The Exhibition Floor & COVESA Reception · Where Business Actually Gets DoneWalk the exhibition floor with specific questions in mind · demo the AI cockpit systems, digital twin platforms, sensor fusion solutions · rather than browsing. End the day at the COVESA Evening Reception, which consistently produces the most candid conversations of the entire event.
06 · The Road AheadWhat the Industry
Is Building TowardAutoTech 2026's agenda is itself a map of where the industry is heading. Read across the session titles and you see a sector that has moved past the question of whether to transform and is now working through the harder question of how. Four directions dominate that conversation.The through-line connecting all four directions is the same: the vehicle is evolving from a device that moves people between two points into a platform that occupies and serves those people throughout the journey. Whoever delivers the best experience on that platform · and extracts the most value from the data it generates · will lead the industry. AutoTech 2026 is where the strategies for doing that are being tested in open conversation.
Is Building TowardAutoTech 2026's agenda is itself a map of where the industry is heading. Read across the session titles and you see a sector that has moved past the question of whether to transform and is now working through the harder question of how. Four directions dominate that conversation.
Software-
Defined VehiclesHardware is becoming a platform; software is becoming the product. A vehicle's capabilities are no longer fixed at the point of manufacture · OTA updates add features, optimize performance, and resolve issues post-sale. GM's 2028 computing platform and Google-powered in-house UI development are early, concrete expressions of this direction: cars that improve the way smartphones improve, through the operating system rather than the showroom.
Defined VehiclesHardware is becoming a platform; software is becoming the product. A vehicle's capabilities are no longer fixed at the point of manufacture · OTA updates add features, optimize performance, and resolve issues post-sale. GM's 2028 computing platform and Google-powered in-house UI development are early, concrete expressions of this direction: cars that improve the way smartphones improve, through the operating system rather than the showroom.
Connected
Mobility at ScaleThrough 5G and satellite networks, vehicles are becoming nodes in a larger system · communicating in real time with other cars, traffic signals, and road infrastructure. Context-aware AI, demonstrated prominently by Bosch, Qualcomm, and TomTom at CES 2026, provides the intelligence layer that makes those connections useful. The destination is a transportation network that responds and adapts rather than simply carries.
Mobility at ScaleThrough 5G and satellite networks, vehicles are becoming nodes in a larger system · communicating in real time with other cars, traffic signals, and road infrastructure. Context-aware AI, demonstrated prominently by Bosch, Qualcomm, and TomTom at CES 2026, provides the intelligence layer that makes those connections useful. The destination is a transportation network that responds and adapts rather than simply carries.
Subscription-
Based RevenueVehicle sales alone cannot sustain the R&D investment that modern automotive transformation requires. OEMs are building recurring revenue models around advanced driver assistance features, premium audio, in-cabin entertainment, and data services. The in-car display · increasingly called the "fourth screen" · is being seriously evaluated as an advertising and commerce platform.
Based RevenueVehicle sales alone cannot sustain the R&D investment that modern automotive transformation requires. OEMs are building recurring revenue models around advanced driver assistance features, premium audio, in-cabin entertainment, and data services. The in-car display · increasingly called the "fourth screen" · is being seriously evaluated as an advertising and commerce platform.
Autonomy
Made PracticalFull autonomy remains a long-term target, but Level 2 and Level 3 ADAS are already on the road and expanding. The industry has shifted its focus from "will it happen" to "how do we scale it safely." AI-driven sensor fusion, safety standardization across markets, and software validation processes are the current battlegrounds.
Made PracticalFull autonomy remains a long-term target, but Level 2 and Level 3 ADAS are already on the road and expanding. The industry has shifted its focus from "will it happen" to "how do we scale it safely." AI-driven sensor fusion, safety standardization across markets, and software validation processes are the current battlegrounds.
Register NowThe Future
Starts in DetroitEarly bird pricing closes midnight ET on May 22nd, 2026. If the direction of connected mobility matters to your work, this is the most concentrated three days you will find this year.Visit the Official SiteSources: AutoTech 2026 Official Site · WardsAuto · S&P Global Automotive Insights
Starts in DetroitEarly bird pricing closes midnight ET on May 22nd, 2026. If the direction of connected mobility matters to your work, this is the most concentrated three days you will find this year.Visit the Official SiteSources: AutoTech 2026 Official Site · WardsAuto · S&P Global Automotive Insights
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