Winners of the 2026 Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award honored together with Roland Berger
The winners of the 2026 Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award (MIMA) have just been announced. The prestigious award is now in its seventh year of recognizing pioneering solutions that are shaping the future of the manufacturing industry. The winners were once again selected by a high-profile jury of experts from industry, academia and the consultancy sector.
Outstanding projects were sought in the categories Innovate!, Scale!, Add Value!, Disrupt!, Sustainability!, and SME!, as well as the overall winner of MIMA 2026. Since November, companies from across the EMEA economic region had been invited to submit their digital solutions for the manufacturing, process, construction, and automotive industries.
A total of 15 finalists from nine nations qualified during the application phase to present their projects at the Pitch Day on February 24. Following intensive evaluations and in-depth discussions, the MIMA jury selected seven projects that stood out for their exceptional innovative strength and their potential to significantly advance digital transformation in their respective industries. Almost all of the solutions honored with the MIMA 2026 are based on artificial intelligence (AI).
“Artificial intelligence is the key driver of industrial transformation and will determine how competitive the industry will be tomorrow,” says Gabriele Eder, General Manager of Manufacturing at Microsoft Germany. „With the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award 2026, we are highlighting solutions that are not only technologically leading but are already delivering measurable value today. The award-winning companies demonstrate how AI helps advance efficiency, transparency, resilience, and sustainability simultaneously – thereby enabling fast, robust business results.“
"Artificial intelligence has moved beyond pilots and is now delivering real value on the factory floor,” says Jochen Gleisberg, Partner at Roland Berger and member of the expert jury. “The MIMA 2026 winners show how industrial companies are putting AI to work to fundamentally rethink their operations. Success is not about the technology itself, but about measurable impact: faster decisions, more resilient processes, and clear productivity gains.“
News release from Roland Berger, 24/03/2026