From the Editor’s Desk: What are Your Predictions for Fluid Power in 2026?

Despite many challenging market conditions, there remain a number of opportunity areas for hydraulics and pneumatics. Automation continues to increase in both mobile and industrial applications to help overcome labor challenges, ease machine operation, and aid with productivity gains. Fluid power systems remain an important part of many automation solutions, making this a key development area for the sector.

The boom in data centers is another opportunity area that has presented itself for the fluid power industry. Not only does the equipment building these facilities rely on hydraulics and pneumatics but many fluid power components are also critical to the operation of the cooling systems utilized in data centers.

This year will see the return of CONEXPO-CON/AGG, one of the largest construction industry tradeshows and what has become one of the biggest events for the fluid power sector as well due to continued importance of hydraulics and pneumatics to construction machinery applications. Each edition of this show offers the opportunity to see the latest construction equipment designs, product launches from fluid power and other component manufacturers as well as insight into the trends shaping the mobile equipment industry – and thus the systems powering it.

If the technologies shown by Caterpillar, Bobcat and others from the heavy equipment industry at CES 2026 are any indication, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy are likely to be among the prevailing trends at CONEXPO this year as well.

Automate, iVT Expo and PACK EXPO International are just a few of the other shows we’ll be looking forward to this year as well.

There’s of course a lot of questions about what the year ahead may bring, but also a lot to look forward to in 2026 in terms of technological developments, market opportunities and events.

So, in that vein, we want to know — what are you looking forward to in 2026? What are your predictions for the year in terms of key technology development areas, market opportunities and events to watch?

Take our brief survey below to offer your thoughts and as always, you can reach out to me directly at [email protected] to provide your perspectives as well.