What to Expect at the 2025 ISA Automation Summit & Expo

Summary

The 2025 ISA Automation Summit & Expo, to be held 5-7 October 2025 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL, is shaping up to be the must-attend event for automation, control and industrial cybersecurity professionals. Whether you’re focused on operational excellence, safety and compliance or the cutting edge of ICS/OT security, this year’s program delivers value-packed sessions, hands-on experiences and unmatched networking. Here’s your insider’s guide to can’t-miss highlights like the Expo, the keynote lineup, the Honors and Awards Gala and the ICS4ICS workshop.

The Expo: Where innovation meets implementation

This year, ASE features the ISA Expo—a vendor showcase presented in partnership with the ISA Tampa Bay Section where technology moves from concept to production floor. Expect a curated mix of 74 top-tier automation vendors demonstrating real-world solutions across process and discrete industries.

At the Expo, you’ll be able to explore how advanced process control, edge analytics and AI-assisted diagnostics perform under realistic plant conditions. Vendors will highlight IT/OT convergence in action, safety and reliability technologies, solutions driven by ISA standards, mobility and visualization technologies and more.

Make sure to stop by the Student Simulation Showdown, an immersive, cutting-edge game demonstration that lets students and professionals alike dive into real-world scenarios impacting critical infrastructure. This immersive VR scenario is open to all conference-goers—it’s a great opportunity to build connections between students and industry. You can also learn more about how your organization can get involved with a student design competition where teams of students will work with companies to create a fully interactive, virtual environment to assess, analyze and design solutions to real-world incidents. 

Keynotes: Vision, strategy and the future of automation

This year’s keynotes bridge strategy with execution, emphasizing major conference themes like new technology implementations and new threats in OT cybersecurity. The keynotes include:

• “To Infinity and Beyond: Innovation in Space Flight,” Douglas Hurley, retired astronaut, NASA 
• “Confessions of a Dirty Hacker: Over Two Decades as a Hacking Curmudgeon,” Tom Liston, owner, Bad Wolf Security 

Other speakers confirmed to present at the event include automation experts from Falcon Attractions, Lockheed Martin, Shell, Amazon, Eli Lilly, Walt Disney World, Blue Marvel, MiTRE and more. Expect conversations that connect macro trends—like AI and digital transformation—with the day-to-day realities of project delivery, workforce upskilling and OT cybersecurity.

Check out the full conference agenda, which is sortable by topic, session type or day. Look for sessions and workshops that align with your interests and plan accordingly.

Honors and awards gala: Celebrating excellence in automation

The Honors and Awards Gala is a hallmark of ASE—an evening that recognizes the engineers, educators, volunteers and innovators who advance the automation profession and the ISA community. It highlights the global impact of rigorous engineering, mentorship and professional leadership.

This year, the Gala will be hosted within Pandora - The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, where ISA’s 2025 awardees, Fellows and scholarship recipients will be honored on 6 October. Separate tickets are required for this awards ceremony, dinner and park buyout—make sure to select the ISA Honors and Awards Gala on your registration form. Bring your entire family for a memorable night honoring top leaders in automation. 

ICS4ICS Workshop: Hands-on defense for critical infrastructure

The Incident Command System for Industrial Control Systems (ICS4ICS) workshop is a standout for anyone responsible for protecting industrial environments. Purpose-built for practitioners, this hands-on workshop demonstrates a tried-and-true framework for responding to incidents using exercises that map to real plant scenarios. Participants will come away with process templates and guides for deploying ICS4ICS on their own turf, as well as self-assessment tools and engagement strategies for taking the next steps.

Make the most of your ASE experience

• Plan around outcomes: Identify two or three problems you need to solve this year—then target sessions, booths and people aligned to those outcomes.
• Schedule networking: Block time for the Expo floor and community meetups. Many partnerships and pilot ideas start in casual conversations.
• Capture and share: Take structured notes—goal, key insights, actions and owners—and debrief with your team post-event.

This year’s Automation Summit & Expo promises a high signal-to-noise ratio for anyone serious about advancing automation and protecting industrial operations. From the innovation-packed Expo to strategy-rich keynotes, the celebratory and inspiring Honors and Awards Gala and the hands-on ICS4ICS workshop, this year’s program is built to help you find new ideas and turn them into action.

In-person conference registration for the 2025 ISA Automation Summit & Expo is now open and starts at 835 USD for ISA members or 995 USD for non-members. An expo-only pass is also available for 125 USD. To register for the event or to learn more about the program and sponsorship opportunities, visit the event website.

_{This article originally appeared on ISA Interchange.}