Hardware Pioneers 2026: AI in IoT needs a clearer business case

Interest in AI at Hardware Pioneers 2026 was unsurprisingly high, but attention has shifted from technical capabilities to the business case for AI. Some participants were unconvinced that its commercial impact will be proportionate to the current levels of industry enthusiasm.

Discussions centred on three themes: improving the efficiency of AI at the edge, the supply chain implications of RAM shortages and increasingly sophisticated security requirements in IoT. These themes together highlight the challenges of scaling AI-enabled IoT solutions.