Three Trends to Watch in 2026

If 2025 was a dynamic year in the design and engineering technology space, then 2026 looks to be even more eventful. There are three trends that I think will pick up pace this year, and that users of CAE, CAD and other software tools should watch closely.

Brian Albright

First, the pace of vendor consolidation has picked up and will likely continue this year. A number of simulation software companies and electronic CAD firms have gone through mergers and acquisitions over the past several years, which is increasing the number of integrated tool suites available. We have also seen a number of consultants and resellers merge as well. At the same time, new companies continue to emerge in the simulation space offering cloud-based tools, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and more. For end users, this could mean replacing heterogeneous IT environments with these combined solutions, although it is not entirely clear just how integrated these companies are moving forward.

Second, more vendors are embracing GPU acceleration, spurred on by powerful chips being released by AMD and NVIDIA. Last year, COMSOL became the last of the major simulation vendors to expand GPU acceleration across its product portfolio. Enabling faster simulation is a key part of simulation democratization. GPU support, combined with new simulation apps that can make rapid simulation available to a wider range of users, should help increase adoption across industries.

Finally, the most obvious trend: continued growth of AI tools in design and simulation. In the simulation space, vendors are using AI to create reduced order models and accelerate simulation. AI is also improving PLM and other data management solutions. On the design side, Autodesk has introduced the concept of neural CAD, allowing users to create basic designs using natural language prompts. Across all categories, AI assistants or co-pilots are helping users improve their use of these software tools.

While engineers won’t have much choice but to reckon with the impact of vendor consolidation and GPU usage, it remains to be seen how widely they will adopt these new AI solutions. There are still reliability questions, but vendors have shown that by carefully curating the training data and keeping the AI models current, they can provide valuable information and save time.

On another note, the Digital Engineering staff is gearing up for a busy travel season during the first half of the year. Our editors will be at 3DEXPERIENCE World, Additive Manufacturing Strategies in New York, the NAFEMS ASSESS Summit, AMUG, NVIDIA GTC, and RAPID over the next several months. 

We hope to see some of you at these industry events.