For AI companies looking to explore manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive markets simultaneously, the challenge is not the technology itself, but how to identify the real needs of all three industries in one trip. Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026 (Hongqiao Tech Week) brings together topics spanning Artificial Intelligence, Smart Industry, Life Sciences and Health, and Future Mobility and Energy. Its program covers algorithms, platforms, and AI agents, as well as industry applications and underlying infrastructure. For AI companies, this means they can explore three sets of questions—what manufacturing needs, what healthcare needs, and what automotive needs—all during a single visit.
Guided by the Administrative Committee of Hongqiao International Central Business District, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, and the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Hongqiao International Tech Week is organized by Informa Group, with Shanghai Technology Innovation Center as its Strategic Innovation Partner and GEC as its Strategic Partner. The event is scheduled to take place from November 20 to 22, 2026, at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The Startup Ecosystem is one of its six technology tracks, making it particularly valuable for AI companies to explore. No matter how new a technology is, it still needs partners within the ecosystem who are willing to share the risks of being early adopters.
The Six Technology Tracks Form a Checklist of Industry Challenges for AI Companies
When evaluating an event, AI companies want to validate three things in one place: whether their technology can be implemented, whether an industry is willing to adopt it, and whether partners can fill the gaps in delivery. At Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026, exhibitions, forums, and targeted matchmaking take place within the same venue. This allows AI companies to investigate all three questions in front of the same pool of attendees, rather than spreading their efforts across multiple events.
The exhibition areas answer the question, “What applications can we explore?” The forums address, “Which issues deserve further investigation?” And targeted matchmaking answers, “Who can we work with?” Together, these create a validation process: first, examine how industries use technology at the exhibition booths; then take unresolved questions to the forums; finally, bring specific cooperation opportunities into matchmaking sessions. All three steps can be completed within the same venue.
Take an industrial machine vision solution as an example. Its algorithms and development platform fall under Artificial Intelligence, its computing power and storage under Smart Infrastructure, and its robots and digital twins under Smart Industry. The three industries are essentially looking at different aspects of the same underlying technology. Hongqiao International Tech Week brings these layers together within the same exhibition space, enabling AI companies to explore algorithms, deployment, and applications for the same solution while identifying relevant opportunities across each area.
The real-world application scenarios of more than 7,000 digital economy companies and over 3,600 automotive supply chain companies across the Yangtze River Delta are also part of the landscape AI companies can explore. Companies can begin to identify which industries are showing signs of genuine demand, giving them a more informed basis for deciding where to focus first.
Forums Help Teams Decide Which Industry to Target First
No matter how advanced a technology is, industry customers usually care about one specific problem. If an AI company talks only about its models and platforms without explaining the application scenario, listeners will struggle to decide whether a deeper discussion is worthwhile. The exhibition design at Hongqiao International Tech Week addresses this challenge, organizing its six technology tracks around the relationship between technology and application.
The forums address a central question: “Which industry should we target first?” Each of the six corresponding forums focuses on a particular technology area, allowing AI companies to choose discussions relevant to the industries they want to explore. Reviewing the published agenda in advance and selecting sessions based on current application challenges is more effective than choosing sessions based on speaker popularity alone.
The Hongqiao area is home to more than 7,000 digital economy companies, over 3,600 automotive supply chain companies, and more than 1,000 new energy companies. These represent several important categories of potential customers for AI applications. Such customers are usually spread across different industries and can be difficult to bring together, but they may attend the same event during the same week. This gives AI companies an opportunity to compare demand across manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive markets, prioritize their opportunities, and decide where to invest their demonstration resources first.
For AI companies, the Artificial Intelligence Forum offers more focused discussions on integrating large language models into industry workflows and transforming business models. Equipment connectivity and human-machine collaboration on factory floors are more likely to be discussed in depth at the Smart Industry Forum. Listening to both forums and then comparing the insights with what is presented at the exhibition booth can lead to a more informed conclusion than attending just one session. Hongqiao International Tech Week brings the schedule together within the same event period, saving the need for an additional trip.
AI Companies Should Segment Matchmaking by Industry: The More Specific the Requirements, the Better the Match
Hongqiao International Tech Week offers more than 2,000 one-to-one targeted business matchmaking sessions, with key industry decision-makers invited through targeted outreach. For AI companies struggling to decide which industry to target first, this program helps bring buyers from relevant industries into the same event. As part of the same global platform as London Tech Week, Africa Tech Festival, and Asia Tech x Singapore, Hongqiao International Tech Week enables AI companies to connect not only with domestic businesses but also with global innovation decision-makers, overseas enterprises, and venture capital firms.
Insights from more than 200 global leaders can help AI marketing teams make more informed decisions about the relative priority of manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive markets. Industry challenges heard on site can also help companies refine their demonstrations and emphasize the application scenarios that matter most.
A matchmaking request such as “We want to connect with major customers” is not useful enough. A more effective approach is to specify the target industry—manufacturing, healthcare, or automotive—as well as the desired job function, stage of cooperation, and discussion topics. A manufacturing company interested in jointly developing an industry use case has different needs from a customer that simply wants to purchase AI capabilities. These requests should be defined separately to improve the chances of finding the right counterpart.
Meeting materials should clearly address four points related to industry implementation: what specific problem the AI solution solves in manufacturing, healthcare, or automotive; which business environment would be most suitable for an initial pilot; what data and integration prerequisites are needed for cooperation; and what the company hopes the other party will do first. Possible next steps include a technical discussion, providing an additional use-case example, or arranging a joint demonstration. There is no need to force a contract at the first meeting.
Effective matchmaking starts with specific requirements. The more clearly the industry, job function, stage of cooperation, and discussion topics are defined, the easier it becomes to find relevant counterparts on site. The clearer the request, the better Hongqiao International Tech Week can connect AI companies with buyers who have the authority to make decisions on the spot, drawing on its shared global innovation network.
Beyond the Six Technology Tracks, the Inspiration Discussion Room Helps Address Unresolved Questions About AI Implementation
Some questions are not ready to become cooperation proposals from the outset. The Inspiration Discussion Room at Hongqiao International Tech Week allows participants to initiate topics and invite others to join. This can be particularly useful for AI companies that have not yet figured out exactly where manufacturing customers encounter difficulties. They can start with a concrete question: “Where do customers typically get stuck when an AI capability is integrated into their existing systems?” After one round of discussion, the company can clarify the problem and identify which needs warrant further exploration.
The sequence of activities can then be organized clearly: exhibition booths showcase the technology, forums provide broader perspectives, unresolved questions are explored in the Inspiration Discussion Room, and clearly defined requirements move into one-to-one targeted business matchmaking. Companies should prioritize activities according to what they need to validate. If the target industry is still uncertain, spend more time listening to customer needs. If the solution is already mature, focus on demonstrations and business connections.
Once the participation format is decided, it also becomes easier to determine who should attend. Questions about industry implementation require input from both business and algorithm teams, while system integration issues are better handled by engineers. Assigning people according to the topic is more efficient: colleagues who understand the industry can attend relevant forums, while technical specialists can address implementation questions. Everyone knows which part they are responsible for.
Companies can combine exhibition booths, themed discussions, forums, and business matchmaking according to the application questions they want to validate during the visit. The available formats can be checked in the published event information. The real challenge is matching the right technology with the right industry scenario. When time is limited, prioritizing a well-prepared booth presentation and one key matchmaking session is often more effective than spreading resources too thinly.
For AI companies looking to explore industries, hear real problems, and discuss cooperation in a single trip, Hongqiao International Tech Week is worth considering. These activities can be connected around the same application challenge. Questions that remain unanswered at the booth can be taken to the forums, while promising cooperation opportunities can move into one-to-one targeted business matchmaking. This creates a continuous process for advancing business development.
Often, the process begins with one critical question that someone on site is willing to engage with. Bringing that question to the right person gives a focused business conversation a clear starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If our AI solution has not yet been tailored to a specific industry, should we target manufacturing, healthcare, or automotive first?
Start by listening to real problems, then decide the order. Prioritize the industry where the pain points are most clearly defined and customers are most willing to run a pilot. Hongqiao International Tech Week brings Artificial Intelligence together with Smart Industry, Life Sciences and Health, and Future Mobility and Energy. This allows companies to compare pain points, purchasing practices, and validation cycles across the three industries on site. These differences are difficult to assess through guesswork alone. Once the specific needs of each industry are understood, it becomes easier to decide which one to target first.
Q: How can we understand the real needs of all three industries in a single trip?
Bring specific questions to the event. Manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive topics are all represented within the same event, making it more effective to explore and ask questions in person than to make assumptions from behind a screen. Once the questions are clarified, one-to-one targeted business matchmaking can help turn the discussion into concrete cooperation opportunities.
Q: Our marketing team is small. How can we balance product demonstrations with customer matchmaking?
First, identify one application objective to validate during the visit, then allocate team members accordingly. Ensure that someone at the booth can explain the product clearly, and avoid scheduling sessions requiring algorithm or engineering colleagues at the same time whenever possible.
To confirm participation arrangements, submit an expression of interest through the official Hongqiao International Tech Week website, specifying your product category, target resources, and team size.
When resources are limited, it is often enough to prioritize one key demonstration and one key matchmaking session. Rather than making only superficial progress across every session, it is more valuable to explore the challenges of one or two industries in depth. The insights gained will make it easier to decide which industry to target first. Record the questions raised during the event and use them to compare opportunities and prioritize the next steps afterward.
To learn more about Hongqiao International Tech Week 2026 (Hongqiao Tech Week), visit the official website at https://www.hongqiaotechweek.com/ or follow the official WeChat account “HongqiaoTechWeek 虹桥国际科技周.”