How to Network at Embedded World 2026: A Complete Guide

Embedded World 2026 is the global embedded systems industry's most important annual gathering, bringing more than 30,000 engineers, product managers, executives, and technology vendors to the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg in Nuremberg, Germany from March 11 through 13. With over 1,000 exhibitors spanning multiple halls and a parallel conference program featuring hundreds of technical sessions, this three-day event represents the single most concentrated opportunity to build relationships across the entire embedded ecosystem. Whether you design microcontrollers, develop firmware, integrate industrial IoT solutions, or sell semiconductor components, Embedded World is where the industry's most consequential partnerships begin. This guide will help you extract maximum networking value from every hour you spend in Nuremberg.

Pre-Show Preparation: Build Your Plan Before You Board the Plane

Embedded World packs an extraordinary amount of activity into just three days. The professionals who walk away with the strongest connections are invariably the ones who invested serious time in preparation weeks before the show opened. Walking into the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg without a plan means surrendering your schedule to chance, and chance is not a networking strategy.

• Define your networking objectives with precision. Are you evaluating a new microcontroller platform for an upcoming product design? Searching for a partner to help you bring a connected device to market? Exploring career opportunities in embedded security or edge AI? Seeking distribution partners for your RTOS or development tool? Write down your top three goals and use them as a filter for every decision you make at the show, from which booths to visit to which conference sessions to attend to which evening events deserve your time.
• Research the exhibitor list and identify your priority targets. Embedded World's exhibitor directory is available online months before the show. Study it carefully. Identify the 15 to 20 companies most relevant to your goals and rank them by priority. For each one, find out who will be staffing the booth and try to identify the specific person you need to speak with, whether that is a field application engineer, a product line manager, or a business development lead. A targeted approach always outperforms random booth browsing.
• Pre-schedule meetings through the Embedded World platform and direct outreach. The official Embedded World website and app allow exhibitors and attendees to request meetings. Use this feature aggressively. For your highest-priority contacts, also reach out directly via LinkedIn or email at least two to three weeks before the show. Mention that you will be at Embedded World and propose a specific time and place to meet. Senior engineers and executives at major exhibitors like NXP, Infineon, and ARM have fully booked calendars by the time the show opens. If you do not schedule in advance, you may not get meaningful face time.
• Register for the Embedded World Conference early. The conference runs parallel to the exhibition and requires a separate paid registration. It features hundreds of technical presentations and panel discussions organized into focused tracks covering topics like embedded security, AI and machine learning at the edge, automotive embedded systems, RISC-V architectures, and industrial IoT. Conference sessions attract a highly technical audience of engineers and architects who are deeply engaged with the material. These are some of the most valuable people to meet at the entire event, and the conference environment facilitates the kind of substantive technical conversation that is difficult to have on a noisy show floor.
• Study the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg floor plan. The venue is large and spread across multiple connected halls. Knowing the layout in advance lets you plan efficient routes between priority booths and avoid wasting precious time navigating unfamiliar corridors. Pay attention to which halls house which product categories so you can cluster your visits logically rather than zigzagging across the entire venue.

Key Exhibitors to Target for Networking

Embedded World attracts the full spectrum of the embedded industry, from silicon vendors to tool providers to system integrators. Here are five of the most important exhibitors you should plan to engage with, along with strategies for making those interactions count.

NXP Semiconductors

NXP consistently operates one of the largest and most impressive booths at Embedded World, showcasing their latest microcontrollers, processors, connectivity solutions, and security technologies. Their i.MX application processor family, S32 automotive platform, and MCX microcontroller lineup are central to thousands of embedded designs worldwide. NXP's booth is a destination for automotive engineers, industrial IoT developers, and anyone working with edge processing. The booth is always crowded, so schedule a meeting in advance if you need to discuss a specific design challenge. NXP's field application engineers are exceptionally knowledgeable and can provide deep technical guidance, but they are in high demand. If you cannot secure a pre-scheduled meeting, visit the booth during the first hour of the show day when traffic is lighter. Come prepared with specific technical questions about your application requirements to demonstrate that you are a serious prospect worth their time.

STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics brings a massive presence to Embedded World, highlighting their STM32 microcontroller family, which has become one of the most widely adopted MCU platforms in the industry. Their booth typically features extensive hands-on demonstration areas where you can interact with development boards, evaluation kits, and working prototypes. ST also showcases their MEMS sensors, power management ICs, and motor control solutions. The STM32 ecosystem is enormous, and ST has cultivated a large developer community around it. Networking at the ST booth often connects you not only with ST engineers but also with third-party tool vendors, RTOS providers, and system integrators who build on the STM32 platform. Ask about their STM32Cube development environment and any new partnerships they are announcing at the show.

Infineon Technologies

As a Nuremberg-headquartered company, Infineon treats Embedded World as a home event and invests accordingly. Their booth is typically one of the show's largest, spanning automotive microcontrollers, power semiconductors, security controllers, and IoT connectivity solutions. Infineon's AURIX platform dominates automotive embedded applications, and their PSoC and XMC microcontroller families serve a broad range of industrial and consumer applications. Infineon engineers tend to be deeply technical and willing to engage in extended design discussions if you come prepared. Because Infineon is a local company, many of their senior engineers and product managers attend the show, making it an unusually good opportunity to connect with decision-makers who might be harder to reach at other events.

ARM

ARM's booth at Embedded World is a hub for the entire embedded ecosystem. Because ARM architecture underpins the vast majority of microcontrollers and embedded processors on the market, ARM's presence attracts a cross-section of the entire industry. Their booth typically features demonstrations of the latest Cortex-M, Cortex-R, and Cortex-A processor cores, along with development tools, security platforms like TrustZone, and ecosystem partner showcases. Networking at the ARM booth can introduce you to ARM's own engineering and business development teams as well as to the extensive network of ARM ecosystem partners who co-exhibit or demonstrate within the ARM space. If you are evaluating processor architectures or exploring the RISC-V versus ARM landscape, ARM's technical experts at the show are some of the best-informed people in the industry to have that conversation with.

Renesas Electronics

Renesas brings a comprehensive portfolio to Embedded World, including their RA family of ARM-based MCUs, their RX family, and their automotive-focused R-Car platform. Following their acquisitions of Dialog Semiconductor and other companies in recent years, Renesas has broadened their offering to include wireless connectivity, power management, and analog components. Their booth at Embedded World often features integrated solution demonstrations that show how multiple Renesas products work together in complete system designs. Renesas engineers are particularly strong in automotive and industrial applications, and the show is an excellent opportunity to discuss complex multi-chip design challenges with their applications teams.

The Embedded World Conference: Where the Deepest Connections Happen

While the exhibition floor gets the most foot traffic, the Embedded World Conference is where many of the most valuable professional relationships are forged. The conference runs all three days alongside the exhibition and features a structured program of technical presentations, panel discussions, and workshops organized into focused tracks.

Key Conference Tracks

The conference program is organized around the topics that matter most to the embedded industry. The embedded security track draws engineers working on secure boot, hardware security modules, cryptographic implementations, and cybersecurity for connected devices. With the growing threat landscape for IoT and automotive systems, this track attracts some of the industry's sharpest minds and most engaged attendees. The AI and machine learning at the edge track focuses on deploying neural networks and inference engines on resource-constrained embedded platforms, a rapidly growing field that attracts both semiconductor companies and software tool vendors. The automotive embedded systems track covers everything from ADAS and autonomous driving to electric vehicle power electronics, drawing automotive OEM engineers and Tier 1 supplier teams. The RISC-V track has grown substantially in recent years as the open-source instruction set architecture gains momentum across the industry, and it attracts a particularly passionate and forward-looking community of engineers and architects. Additional tracks cover industrial IoT and connectivity, safety-critical systems and functional safety certification, embedded vision and graphics, and power-efficient design methodologies.

How to Network at Conference Sessions

Conference sessions create networking opportunities that the exhibition floor cannot replicate. When you attend a technical presentation on a topic you care about, you are surrounded by people who share your specific interest. This shared context makes it dramatically easier to start a meaningful conversation. Arrive early for sessions and introduce yourself to the people sitting nearby before the presentation begins. During the Q&A period, listen carefully for attendees who ask particularly insightful questions, as these are often the most knowledgeable people in the room. After the session ends, approach both the speaker and those sharp questioners to continue the discussion. Speakers at Embedded World are typically practicing engineers, researchers, or product architects who are deeply engaged in their field and happy to discuss their work in more detail one-on-one.

Navigating the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg

The Exhibition Centre Nuremberg, known locally as NuernbergMesse, is a large, modern venue located on the eastern edge of the city. Understanding its layout will save you significant time and energy over the three days of the show.

Embedded World typically occupies multiple halls within the exhibition centre. The halls are connected by covered walkways and a central corridor, but distances between the outermost halls can be significant. Plan your daily route to minimize backtracking. The main entrance feeds into the central concourse where registration, information desks, and the main food court are located. From there, the exhibition halls extend outward in both directions.

The exhibition is generally organized by product category and application domain. Semiconductor vendors and microcontroller companies tend to cluster together, as do tool and software vendors, connector and passive component manufacturers, and distribution companies. Knowing which halls contain your priority exhibitors lets you block out focused time in each area rather than constantly moving between halls. The venue also features several smaller rooms and conference areas adjacent to the main exhibition halls where the Embedded World Conference sessions take place. Moving between a conference session and the exhibition floor is usually straightforward, but allow a few minutes of transition time, especially during peak periods when the corridors are crowded.

Food options within the exhibition centre include a large central cafeteria and several smaller food stands distributed throughout the halls. German trade show food tends toward hearty fare: sausages, pretzels, schnitzel, and beer. The cafeteria areas are natural gathering points and offer an opportunity to sit down with someone you have just met for a more relaxed continuation of a conversation that started on the show floor. Nuremberg is also famous for its Bratwurst, and you will find local specialties available at the venue.

Embedded Systems Industry Culture: How to Connect Authentically

The embedded systems industry has a distinct professional culture, and understanding it will make your networking at Embedded World significantly more effective.

• Lead with technical substance. Embedded engineers are builders. They care about clock speeds, memory footprints, power consumption, interrupt latency, and real-time performance. They are deeply skeptical of marketing language and buzzword-heavy pitches. If you want to earn credibility with an embedded systems professional, demonstrate genuine technical knowledge. Ask detailed questions about their design challenges. Discuss specific peripherals, communication protocols, or development tool workflows. The fastest way to lose an embedded engineer's attention is to talk in generalities.
• Respect the engineering mindset. The embedded community values precision, thoroughness, and reliability. These are people who write code that controls braking systems, medical devices, and industrial machinery. They take their work seriously because lives may depend on it. Approach conversations with the same rigor they bring to their designs. If you do not know something, say so honestly rather than bluffing. Engineers respect intellectual honesty far more than polished sales performances.
• Understand the European business culture. Embedded World is a predominantly European event, and German business culture shapes much of the atmosphere. Professional interactions tend to be more formal than at American trade shows. Use titles when introducing yourself to German professionals, particularly in corporate settings. Handshakes are standard. Small talk is appreciated but tends to be briefer than in American networking contexts. Get to the substance of your conversation relatively quickly. Punctuality is highly valued, so if you have scheduled a meeting, arrive on time or a few minutes early.
• Bridge the hardware-software divide. The embedded industry increasingly lives at the intersection of hardware and software, and Embedded World reflects this convergence. Some of the most interesting networking connections happen between hardware engineers and software developers who rarely interact in their daily work. If you are a firmware developer, spend time talking to silicon vendors about their hardware roadmaps. If you are a hardware designer, engage with RTOS and middleware companies about software trends. Cross-domain knowledge makes you a more valuable contact and a more effective engineer.
• Engage with the open-source embedded community. The embedded world has seen a significant shift toward open-source tools, operating systems, and even hardware architectures like RISC-V. Embedded World features a growing number of exhibitors and conference sessions focused on open-source technologies including Zephyr RTOS, FreeRTOS, Linux Foundation projects, and RISC-V ecosystem tools. The open-source community within embedded systems tends to be especially collaborative and welcoming, making it an excellent networking environment for newcomers to the industry.

Best Tools and Apps for Networking at Embedded World

• Scannly. Scan attendee badges and business cards instantly to capture contact details without fumbling with manual data entry. Tag each contact with notes about your conversation, what technical topics you discussed, what products they were evaluating, and what follow-up actions you committed to. Export everything to your CRM after the show so that no lead is lost in the chaos of a three-day international event.
• Embedded World Official App. The conference app includes the full exhibitor directory, interactive hall maps, conference session schedules, and a meeting request feature. Download and configure it before you fly to Nuremberg. Build your personalized agenda within the app so you have a minute-by-minute plan for each day. The app also provides real-time notifications about schedule changes, special events, and exhibitor announcements.
• LinkedIn. The embedded systems community is increasingly active on LinkedIn, and it is the default professional networking platform across Europe. Send connection requests the same day you meet someone and include a specific reference to your conversation. Follow up with relevant technical content in the weeks following the show. LinkedIn is particularly valuable at an international event like Embedded World because it bridges language and geography in a way that email alone cannot.
• Google Translate or DeepL. While English is the lingua franca of the embedded industry, Embedded World draws significant attendance from Germany, France, Italy, Japan, China, South Korea, and other countries where English may not be a first language. A translation app can help bridge communication gaps in informal conversations and is especially useful for reading German signage and menus around Nuremberg.
• DB Navigator. The Deutsche Bahn app is essential for navigating German public transportation. The Exhibition Centre Nuremberg is well-connected by U-Bahn and bus, and many attendees stay in hotels in Nuremberg's city center or even in nearby cities like Erlangen or Fuerth. DB Navigator handles route planning, real-time departure information, and ticket purchases for all local and regional public transit.

On-Site Networking Strategies

• Arrive early on Day 1 to maximize your time. The exhibition opens in the morning and the first hour is often the least crowded. Use this window to visit your highest-priority booths while booth staff are fresh and more available for in-depth conversations. By mid-morning, the halls become packed and it becomes harder to have extended discussions.
• Use live demonstrations as conversation catalysts. Embedded World is filled with working demos: robotic arms controlled by microcontrollers, IoT sensor networks streaming real-time data, automotive ADAS systems running on evaluation platforms, and edge AI models performing inference on tiny processors. These demonstrations draw crowds of engineers who are all watching and evaluating the same technology. Turn to the person next to you and ask what they think. Technical curiosity is the universal language of the embedded community, and a shared demo is the most natural conversation starter on the show floor.
• Attend the hands-on workshops. Several exhibitors and conference organizers offer hands-on workshops where you can work directly with development boards, write and flash code, and experiment with new platforms. These workshops are typically small groups of 10 to 30 people and last one to two hours. The collaborative, problem-solving atmosphere of a workshop creates stronger interpersonal connections than almost any other format at the show. You will leave knowing the names, faces, and technical interests of every other participant.
• Visit the startup and innovation areas. Embedded World features dedicated areas for startups and innovative smaller companies. These areas attract forward-thinking engineers and investors who are scanning the horizon for emerging technologies. The founders and engineers staffing startup booths tend to be highly passionate about their technology and eager for substantive technical conversations. An early connection with a promising startup can yield significant advantages as their technology matures.
• Carry a portable charger and international power adapter. Germany uses Type C and Type F power outlets with 230V current. If you are traveling from outside Europe, you will need an adapter. Your phone is your map, your schedule, your badge scanner, and your note-taking tool. Keep it charged at all times.
• Bring a small notebook for sketching. Embedded engineers often communicate through diagrams, block architectures, and signal flow charts. Having a notebook where you can sketch a system architecture or jot down a pin configuration during a booth conversation demonstrates engineering seriousness and creates a useful record of the discussion.
• Take detailed notes after every meaningful interaction. After exchanging business cards or scanning a badge, step aside and spend 60 seconds recording the key details: what you discussed, what technical challenges they are facing, what they need, and what you promised to follow up on. By the end of three intense days, you will have spoken with dozens of people. Without notes, the conversations blur together and your follow-up quality suffers dramatically.

After-Hours Networking in Nuremberg's Old Town

Nuremberg's Altstadt, or Old Town, is one of the most atmospheric and walkable historic city centers in Germany, and it serves as the unofficial after-hours venue for Embedded World. When the exhibition halls close each evening, thousands of engineers and business professionals flow into the city center for dinner, drinks, and continued conversation in a setting far more relaxed than the show floor.

The area around the Hauptmarkt, Nuremberg's central market square, is densely packed with traditional Franconian restaurants, beer halls, and wine taverns. Bratwursthaus and Bratwurstgloecklein are legendary local institutions serving Nuremberg's famous small pork sausages, and they become impromptu networking hubs during Embedded World week. Hausbrauerei Altstadthof brews its own beer on-site and offers a convivial atmosphere that encourages table-sharing with strangers, which during show week often means table-sharing with other Embedded World attendees.

Many exhibitors host private evening events, customer dinners, and partner receptions at restaurants and event venues throughout the Old Town during the show week. If you have been invited to one of these events, prioritize attending. These invitation-only gatherings tend to attract senior-level attendees and create an environment where business relationships deepen significantly beyond what is possible in a ten-minute booth conversation. If you have not received an invitation, do not hesitate to ask your key contacts at exhibitor booths whether their company is hosting any evening events. Many are happy to extend an invitation to a qualified prospect or partner.

For more casual after-hours networking, the bars and restaurants along Weissgerbergasse and around the Kaiserburg castle area are popular among the international embedded community. The atmosphere in Nuremberg during Embedded World is unique because the city is small enough that you will repeatedly encounter the same people at restaurants and bars, which naturally deepens the relationships you began on the show floor. The walk from the Old Town up to the Imperial Castle at dusk is a memorable experience and a worthwhile way to decompress after a long day on the exhibition floor.

Tips for International Attendees

Embedded World draws attendees from more than 70 countries, making it one of the most internationally diverse trade shows in any industry. If you are traveling to Nuremberg from outside Germany, a few practical considerations will help you maximize your networking effectiveness.

• Book hotels early. Nuremberg is a mid-sized city, and Embedded World fills a very large portion of its hotel capacity. Hotel prices in the city center rise sharply during show week, and desirable properties sell out months in advance. Consider staying in Nuremberg's city center near the Hauptbahnhof for easy U-Bahn access to the exhibition centre. Hotels in nearby Fuerth or Erlangen are connected by excellent regional rail service and may offer better availability and lower rates.
• Understand the transportation network. Nuremberg Airport is a small international airport with direct flights to major European hubs. From the airport, the U-Bahn reaches the exhibition centre in about 20 minutes. The Nuremberg U-Bahn and bus system is clean, efficient, and runs on a precise schedule. Purchase a multi-day transit pass for the show week to simplify your commute. The exhibition centre has its own U-Bahn station, Messe, on the U1 line, making public transit the most practical way to travel to and from the venue.
• Prepare for the language environment. English is widely spoken in the embedded systems industry and throughout the exhibition, but not universally. Conference sessions are presented in both English and German. Signage at the exhibition centre and throughout Nuremberg is primarily in German. Restaurant menus in the Old Town may be German-only. Learning a handful of German phrases, such as greetings, thank you, and please, goes a long way toward building rapport with German colleagues and is always appreciated.
• Carry sufficient business cards with international contact information. Despite the digital age, business cards remain a standard currency at European trade shows. Ensure your cards include your international phone number with country code, your email address, your LinkedIn URL, and your company website. If your company has a European office or distributor, include that information as well.
• Be mindful of time zones when scheduling follow-ups. You will meet people from across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. When you discuss follow-up meetings or calls, be explicit about time zones. European professionals typically refer to Central European Time, and clarifying this in the moment prevents confusion later.
• Understand currency and payment. Germany uses the euro. While credit and debit cards are increasingly accepted, Germany remains more cash-oriented than many other Western European countries. Carry some euros for smaller purchases, taxi rides, and restaurant bills. Many traditional Franconian restaurants in the Old Town prefer cash payment.

Follow-Up Strategies After Embedded World

The connections you make at Embedded World only become valuable through deliberate, timely follow-up. The embedded industry moves fast, and the window for converting a trade show conversation into a lasting professional relationship closes quickly.

• Send personalized follow-up emails within 48 hours. Reference something specific from your conversation. Mention the demo you watched together at the NXP booth, the conference session on RISC-V where you sat next to each other, or the specific design challenge they described. Generic follow-up messages get ignored. Specific, personal ones get responses. If you met someone whose first language is not English, keep your message clear and concise.
• Segment your contacts by priority and required action. Not every contact from Embedded World requires the same follow-up. Separate your contacts into tiers. Hot leads and high-priority connections get a phone call or video meeting request within the first week. Warm contacts get a thoughtful email with a relevant technical resource, application note, or case study attached. General connections get a LinkedIn request with a personal note referencing where you met.
• Share technical content that demonstrates value. The embedded engineering community responds to substance, not salesmanship. Send a relevant application note, a white paper addressing the technical challenge they described, a link to a useful open-source project, or an introduction to another engineer who is working on a similar problem. Leading with genuine technical value builds the kind of trust that sustains professional relationships over years.
• Request or provide evaluation hardware. If an exhibitor showed you a microcontroller or development kit that aligns with your project needs, follow up with a formal request for evaluation samples. Semiconductor companies and tool vendors are generally willing to provide evaluation hardware to qualified engineers, and the request itself signals genuine buying intent that strengthens the relationship. If you are a vendor, offering to send a development board to a promising contact is one of the most effective follow-up actions in the embedded industry.
• Schedule follow-up meetings within two weeks. For your highest-priority contacts, propose a 20 to 30 minute video call while the Embedded World experience is still fresh. Be specific about the agenda for the meeting. Embedded engineers do not want to join vague catch-up calls. They want to continue a specific technical discussion or evaluate a specific solution.
• Stay connected through the embedded community year-round. The embedded systems industry has a rich ecosystem of online communities, webinars, regional meetups, and industry publications. Stay active on platforms like LinkedIn, EEWeb, and the Embedded Computing Design community. Engage with content from the people you met at the show. Comment on their posts, share their articles, and maintain visibility in their professional network. Embedded World happens once a year, but the relationships you build there should be cultivated continuously.

Final Thoughts

Embedded World 2026 brings together more than 30,000 professionals and 1,000 exhibitors at the epicenter of the global embedded systems industry. From the expansive booths of NXP, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, ARM, and Renesas to the focused intensity of the Embedded World Conference tracks, from the startup pavilions buzzing with emerging technology to the cobblestone streets of Nuremberg's Old Town where conversations continue over Franconian sausages and local beer, the show offers an extraordinary concentration of networking opportunities for anyone who works with embedded hardware, software, or systems. But the sheer density of the event means that without intentional preparation, clear objectives, and disciplined follow-up, you risk leaving Nuremberg with nothing more than a bag of brochures and a stack of business cards that go stale in a desk drawer. Start planning now. Identify your priority contacts. Register for the conference sessions that align with your goals. Book your hotel and your meetings. And when you return home, treat the 48 hours after the show as the most important part of the entire trip. The relationships that drive the embedded industry forward are not built in a single booth conversation. They are built through the sustained effort that begins with a handshake in Nuremberg and continues through months and years of genuine professional engagement.