If you thought last year’s Ignition Community Conference raised the bar, this one clears it entirely. ICC 2026 is shaping up to be the most ambitious conference we’ve ever put together. Every year, we ask ourselves, “Can we make ICC bigger, better, and more valuable for the community?” This year, the answer is all of the above.
The ICC website has been updated with everything you need to know about ICC 2026, set for September 22-24 at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento, California. This is going to be the biggest Ignition Community Conference yet, and there is a lot to be excited about, so mark your calendar, grab your ticket, and take a look at what’s in store for ICC 2026.
‘Innovation Unleashed’ Isn’t Just a Theme; It’s What Happens at ICC
The industrial world is moving fast right now, with new technology arriving faster than most organizations can absorb it. The workforce is stretched, and the pace of change can feel overwhelming. However, we don’t solve challenges in this industry by slowing down but by innovating and bringing people together to figure out what’s actually possible.
Over the years, I’ve seen the Ignition community create breakthrough innovations because Ignition enabled them to remove limitations, share insights, and see things in a way they couldn’t before. This mindset shift has empowered the Ignition community to build things people once thought were impossible.
That’s what this year’s theme, “Innovation Unleashed,” is all about: It’s when engineers, developers, operators, and innovators from different industries with different problems, expertise, and ways of thinking come together in one place to meet, discuss, and find innovative solutions to today’s biggest automation challenges. The best answers don’t come from any one person or company but from a collaborative community like ours, and this year, our community is bigger than it’s ever been before.
Two Keynotes With Major Announcements
Technology Keynote (Day One)
The conference kicks off with the Technology Keynote, and it’s going to include some significant announcements that are worth showing up for. We’ll be previewing our next major release, Ignition 2027; sharing our plan for using AI with Ignition and how we see it moving the industrial sector forward; and more.
Community Keynote (Day Two)
This is a celebration of the most remarkable things that the Ignition community is building around the world, including how they are solving problems, impacting their local communities, and transforming industries. Additionally, we’ll be talking about how Inductive Automation is evolving to support the Ignition community’s massive growth.
Another Year, Another Record-Setting Schedule
Between breakout sessions, general sessions, and Solution Showcases, ICC 2026 will feature over 60 sessions in total, which is our fullest schedule in ICC history. It’s an extraordinary concentration of knowledge, experience, and expertise, and the breadth of topics reflects how far this community has come in just 23 years.
Session Topics Coming to ICC
ICC sessions will cover everything from Kubernetes deployments and fleet-wide Gateway management to scaling enterprise infrastructure and building agentic AI agents on the factory floor. Sessions on Perspective and the Ignition Gateway are packed with UI/UX tips and tricks for getting more out of the platform with less effort, and MES sessions cover everything from PLC integration and Python scripting to scheduling and SQL querying.
Whether you’re scaling a global operation, modernizing a legacy SCADA system, bridging the IT/OT gap with DevOps tools like Git, or looking to unlock the power of edge computing and MQTT, there’s content tailored specifically for you. For a deeper look at what’s covered in each category, check out our full ICC sessions preview.
The Industry Economic Outlook This year’s ICC will also include an exciting new macroeconomics session about the forces shaping industrial automation today, like geopolitical trends, supply chain dynamics, tariffs, labor markets, and what smart business leaders are doing to navigate them. If you’re looking for objective insights to help you navigate today’s macroeconomic realities and plan for a prosperous future, you won’t want to miss this session.
The Build-a-Thon
Day three of the conference features two Premier Integrators going head-to-head to present innovative and functional industrial applications that they’ve built in only two days. There’s competition, laughs, music, and, at the end of it all, a new Build-a-Thon champion will be crowned.
The energy in the room is electric every single year. If you’ve been to the conference before, you already know that the Build-a-Thon is unlike anything else at ICC. It’s one of those only-at-ICC experiences people talk about long after the conference ends. (P.S. Don’t miss the Build-a-Thon Elimination Challenge on July 30, where the final two competitors will be determined.)
Sponsored content by Inductive Automation
