AutoTech 2026: The In-Car Screen Took Centre Stage

Most people walking the floor around the AutoTech halls shared the same joint impression: the conversation has moved inside the car.

Typically, at these automotive-centric events, attention usually revolves around battery performance, interior design, or driver-assistance stack. This year, at AutoTech much of it shifted to the screen.

The conference programme was split across four themes, but the in-car experience ran through most of them making it the common denominator. The organisers framed it clearly by stating that infotainment is becoming the centre of the cabin, the layer of the vehicle that adapts to whoever is sitting inside it.

A few years ago, that might have sounded like a “nice-to-have". But cars have continued to evolve since and keep doing so right after they leave the lot. Software arrives over the air, and the display becomes the surface drivers and passengers interact with every day.

That makes it one of the parts of the vehicle people form the strongest opinions about, and not so long after they are rumminating about horsepower.

What OEM's asked  during the event

The more interesting question beneath many of the sessions that were held, was not what the screen can show, but whether anyone uses it. And this hit a nerve especially when we know from our own experience that a cabin full of features that sit untouched is a cost. And that an experience people return to out of habit earns its place.

Several conversations circled back to that distinction, which feels like a healthier question for the industry than simply asking how many apps fit on a home screen. It also puts the passenger back into the picture, again something that resonated well with us, as it is a core priority embedded in all our solutions.

The person in the seat is not a spec sheet. They want what they open to work immediately, without fuss, so it feels worth opening again tomorrow, and like it belongs in that particular car rather than being bolted on from a template.

As we have worked on this layer through 3Ready Automotive for a while and with leading OEMs, AutoTech felt like a useful place where to validate our thinking process, point of view and whether we match the focus where OEMs are putting their attention. In summary, if the cabin screen is becoming the part of the car people, like us, judge, then the experience on it deserves the same level of care as everything built around it.