Charles R. Goulding and Preeti Sulibhavi predict which industries will have the most significant impact in 2026.

As we move toward 2026, a clear pattern is emerging across technology and industrial markets. The industries expected to have the greatest economic and operational impact are not developing in isolation. They are converging around compute, automation, energy, and data-driven optimization. At the center of that convergence sits additive manufacturing.

The growth of the 3D printing industry is accelerating. While 3D printing is often discussed as a discrete industry, its real power is as an enabling technology inside much larger transformations. Artificial intelligence, digital twins, data centers, automation and robotics, and energy infrastructure are all projected to be breakthrough industries in 2026. In each case, additive manufacturing is already being used in production, tooling, and system optimization, not just prototyping.

This article looks at those five industries, why they matter in 2026, and how leading companies in each are directly using additive manufacturing today.

Artificial Intelligence: Hardware, Customization, and Speed

Artificial intelligence is the dominant driver of global technology investment heading into 2026. But behind every AI model is physical infrastructure: processors, cooling systems, enclosures, and test hardware. As AI systems scale and diversify, traditional manufacturing is struggling to keep up with the speed and customization required. Additive manufacturing fills that gap.

NVIDIA is a clear example. While best known for GPUs and AI software platforms, NVIDIA increasingly relies on additive manufacturing for internal development and partner ecosystems. In recent system designs, metal additive manufacturing has been used to produce complex cold plates and thermal management components for AI servers. These parts feature internal channels optimized for heat transfer that would be impractical to machine conventionally.

The benefit is not just performance. Additive manufacturing allows NVIDIA and its partners to iterate hardware designs faster, test multiple thermal configurations, and deploy customized solutions for specific data center environments. As AI workloads become more specialized, this kind of hardware agility becomes a competitive advantage.

Across the AI sector, similar patterns are emerging. Custom fixtures for chip testing, rapid enclosure redesigns, and low-volume production of specialized components are increasingly produced additively. In 2026, AI’s growth will depend as much on manufacturing flexibility as on algorithms, and additive manufacturing is already embedded in that reality.

Data Centers: Cooling, Power, and Structural Optimization

Data centers are one of the fastest-growing physical infrastructures in the world, largely driven by AI compute demand. By 2026, power density, cooling efficiency, and rapid deployment will be defining challenges. Additive manufacturing is becoming a practical tool to address all three.

Vertiv, a major supplier of data center power and thermal management systems, has been actively integrating additive manufacturing into product development and production workflows. Recent examples include 3D printed heat exchangers and airflow management components designed for high-density AI racks. These parts often incorporate complex internal geometries that improve cooling efficiency while reducing size and material use.

Schneider Electric provides another strong example. The company has used additive manufacturing to produce customized electrical enclosures, cable management components, and cooling accessories for data centers. In some cases, polymer additive manufacturing enables rapid customization for specific customer layouts without the cost and delay of tooling.

For data centers, additive manufacturing solves a critical problem: every facility is different, but the deployment timelines are shrinking. 3D printing allows suppliers to respond with tailored hardware at near-industrial speeds. As AI-driven data center construction accelerates through 2026, additive manufacturing is becoming a standard tool rather than an exception.

Automation and Robotics: Lightweighting and Integration

Automation and robotics continue to expand across manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. What’s different heading into 2026 is the growing emphasis on flexible automation, where systems must adapt quickly to new products, layouts, and workflows. Additive manufacturing plays a central role in enabling that flexibility.

ABB, one of the world’s largest industrial robotics companies, has long used additive manufacturing for robotic end-effectors, grippers, and custom tooling. Recent deployments show a clear shift toward production-grade printed components, particularly for lightweight robotic arms and application-specific tooling.

By using additive manufacturing, ABB can optimize grippers for specific parts, reduce weight to increase robot speed, and integrate pneumatic or sensor channels directly into printed structures. This reduces part count, simplifies assembly, and improves reliability.

Boston Dynamics, now part of Hyundai, provides a more visible example. In recent humanoid and mobile robot development programs, additive manufacturing has been used extensively for structural components, protective housings, and test parts. The ability to rapidly redesign and print parts accelerates development while enabling geometries that balance strength, flexibility, and weight.

As automation systems become more intelligent and mobile, additive manufacturing is increasingly essential to making them practical, scalable, and economically viable.

Digital Twins: When Virtual Models Become Physical Assets

Digital twins are no longer abstract simulations. In 2026, they are becoming operational tools that mirror real-world assets in real time. The most effective digital twin strategies tightly integrate simulation, sensing, and physical production. Additive manufacturing is a natural extension of this loop.

Siemens is one of the strongest examples in this space. Through its digital industries software and manufacturing operations, Siemens uses additive manufacturing to produce components that are first designed, optimized, and validated inside digital twin environments. Turbine components, tooling, and industrial parts are often printed after virtual optimization of performance and lifecycle behavior.

GE Aerospace has taken a similar approach. The company’s well-known additively manufactured fuel nozzles are part of a broader digital twin strategy, where each printed component is tied to a digital record that tracks performance, maintenance, and future redesigns.

In both cases, additive manufacturing is not just a production method. It is a physical output of a digital twin workflow. As more industries adopt digital twins for factories, infrastructure, and energy systems, additive manufacturing becomes the fastest and most faithful way to turn optimized digital designs into real-world hardware.

Energy and Oil & Gas: Efficiency, Resilience, and Localization

Energy infrastructure, including oil and gas, is undergoing rapid transformation driven by digitalization, supply chain risk, and efficiency demands. By 2026, energy security and infrastructure resilience are top priorities globally. Additive manufacturing is already proving its value in this environment.

Shell has been a leader in additive manufacturing adoption within the oil and gas sector. The company has deployed metal additive manufacturing to produce spare parts for offshore platforms, including valve components, brackets, and tooling. In several recent cases, parts that previously took months to source were printed locally in days.

This approach reduces downtime, inventory costs, and reliance on long supply chains. Just as importantly, printed parts can be redesigned to improve performance or durability based on operational data.

ExxonMobil and BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips have followed similar paths, using additive manufacturing for replacement parts, inspection tools, and custom equipment. These are not experimental projects. They are targeted deployments where additive manufacturing solves specific operational problems better than traditional methods.

As energy systems become more complex and digitally managed, additive manufacturing offers a practical way to keep physical infrastructure aligned with changing operational needs.

The Research & Development Tax Credit

The now permanent Research & Development Tax Credit (R&D) Tax Credit is available for companies developing new or improved products, processes and/or software.

3D printing can help boost a company’s R&D Tax Credits. Wages for technical employees creating, testing and revising 3D printed prototypes can be included as a percentage of eligible time spent for the R&D Tax Credit. Similarly, when used as a method of improving a process, time spent integrating 3D printing hardware and software counts as an eligible activity. Lastly, when used for modeling and preproduction, the costs of filaments consumed during the development process may also be recovered.

Whether it is used for creating and testing prototypes or for final production, 3D printing is a strong indicator that R&D-eligible activities are taking place. Companies implementing this technology at any point should consider taking advantage of R&D Tax Credits

Additive Manufacturing as an Industry Multiplier

What ties these five breakthrough industries together is not just growth, but complexity. AI systems demand new hardware. Data centers push physical limits. Automation requires customization. Digital twins close the loop between data and hardware. Energy infrastructure must be more resilient and responsive.

In each case, additive manufacturing acts as a multiplier. It doesn’t replace traditional manufacturing, but it enables faster iteration, localized production, and designs that were previously impossible.

By 2026, the most impactful uses of additive manufacturing will not come from standalone 3D printing businesses alone. They will come from deep integration inside AI platforms, industrial automation systems, digital twin workflows, and energy infrastructure.

For the additive manufacturing industry, that may be the most important trend of all.