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Beyond the connection: Key IoT trends shaping 2026 and beyond
Aine Flynn Connecting more devices is no longer the only challenge in IoT. The growing priority is ensuring those devices remain secure, adaptable and manageable throughout their lifetime, as eSIM adoption accelerates and AI creates new opportunities for connected industries.
Conversations across recent industry events have highlighted a shift in IoT connectivity, with growing emphasis on eSIM adoption, security, interoperability and long-term device management. As connected products become more intelligent, manufacturers need solutions that keep devices secure, adaptable and manageable throughout their lifetime.
From the practical adoption of GSMA SGP.32 to long-term device resilience and emerging commercial opportunities, the industry is moving beyond simply connecting devices towards making connectivity work throughout the product lifecycle.
eSIM and SGP.32: connectivity is becoming part of the product
In IoT, the GSMA SGP.32 specification enables standardised remote SIM provisioning and lifecycle management. For device manufacturers, that means connectivity can be built directly into the product, supporting new business models and customers in multiple markets rather than being fixed to a single network at the factory.
The wider eSIM market shows the direction of travel. According to the Trusted Connectivity Alliance’s mid year market snapshot, global consumer eSIM profile downloads in the first half of 2026 were almost equal to the total for 2025, with China’s expanding market contributing significantly. This is consumer data, but it points to the same shift: connectivity is increasingly activated digitally, and customers expect flexibility in how they access it.
In a recent article, Stop Designing eSIM Journeys Around the SIM, our Head of Sales, Jean-Louis Carrara points out that eSIM does more than make it easier to switch providers. It also lets providers reach new customers through the products and services those customers already use.
Supporting the standard is only the start, though. Real-world deployment depends on interoperability across eSIMs, cellular modules, connectivity providers and remote management platforms. That was the central theme of Kigen’s discussions at The Things Conference in Amsterdam, and the reason Kigen’s eSIM remote IoT management solution won the Innovation Product Gold Award at IOTE Shenzhen 2026 for its alignment with the latest SGP.32 specifications.
To make testing and activation simpler, Kigen’s IoT eSIM Starter Kit brings together GSMA-certified eSIM technology, remote management and participating connectivity partners. Submit your company details and intended use case to request a trial of the kit today
Can you trust every connected device for 10–15 years?
At The Things Conference, Kigen CEO Vincent Korstanje posed that question in his keynote, Can You Trust Every Thing You Connect?
His example was a virtual power plant, where thousands of distributed assets such as solar panels, batteries and EV chargers are coordinated through a single intelligent platform. AI can forecast demand, optimise distribution and issue operating instructions. But all of it depends on trusted communication with the physical devices that carry those instructions out.
To stay useful, connected assets must be identifiable, reachable, manageable and verifiable across their service life. That is a long time. Many industrial and energy assets operate for 10–15 years, during which networks, providers, ownership and security requirements can all change, while the connectivity decision was made at production.
SGP.32 addresses this by allowing cellular connectivity profiles to be managed remotely, which separates a device’s operational lifetime from its first network subscription. The principle holds across energy infrastructure, industrial automation, logistics and connected vehicles. For organisations running large fleets, it is central to business continuity and long-term control.
In conversation: Building flexibility into long-life IoT
Building on these themes, Vincent joined ABI Research’s Jamie Moss on The Things Podcast to discuss how SGP.32 is changing the way IoT connectivity is deployed and managed.
From switching connectivity providers without physical SIM replacements to managing devices remotely through Kigen eIM and Pulse, the conversation explores how manufacturers can maintain flexibility as their deployments evolve.
Cybersecurity regulation: designing for every market you sell into
As connected products grow more complex and business-critical, the question shifts from “is it connected?” to “is it still secure?”
At India Mobile Congress 2026, cybersecurity dominated Kigen’s conversations with automotive manufacturers. As Chetan Dixit, Regional VP for India and Sub-Continental Sales at Kigen, put it:
“Cybersecurity was top of the agenda for every automotive player we met at India Mobile Congress 2026.”
Those conversations reached beyond individual vehicles to connected infrastructure, intelligent cameras and autonomous systems. Security has to be considered across interconnected systems, not bolted on as a product feature. For manufacturers building for international markets, that also means looking beyond local requirements to the rules in every market they plan to sell into.
India already has its own regulatory driver, AIS-140, requires tracking devices with panic buttons in public service and commercial vehicles, from app-based cabs to school buses and hazardous-goods trucks, streaming data to the VAHAN platform. At the heart of each device is an eSIM, which must carry multi-operator dual profiles and switch networks automatically if one carrier loses signal, something SGP.32 remote profile management supports. At the same time, India is exporting more: 863,000 passenger vehicles were shipped in 2025, up 16% year on year according to SIAM, and each has to connect to foreign networks and meet foreign rules. Domestic compliance and export requirements therefore have to be designed together, not one after the other.
Regulation adds a second layer for anyone exporting to Europe. The European Union’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) sets cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements, with emphasis on secure design, vulnerability management and ongoing security support. Mandatory reporting of actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents became applicable on 11 September 2026. The main requirements follow on 11 December 2027. The CRA matters most to manufacturers who plan to sell connected products in Europe, where cybersecurity now affects market access as well as operational resilience. India’s exporters face AIS-140 at home and rules like the CRA abroad, so security belongs in the global strategy from the start rather than being treated as a regional add-on.
“Trust now must extend far beyond [the car], into smart cameras, autonomous systems and connected road infrastructure. India’s most ambitious OEMs want to secure that whole ecosystem once, at the silicon level – meet domestic demand today, and build once to export across Africa, the subcontinent, ASEAN and Europe.” – Chetan Dixit, Regional VP, India and Sub-Continental Sales
Sneak preview: Kigen features on the cover of Electronics Era’s November edition, on cybersecurity for connected cars
Security also has to last the whole lifecycle. Secure identity, trusted connectivity and the ability to respond to new requirements are all part of a broader strategy. Kigen supports this with security-assured eSIM technology, GSMA eSA certification and remote provisioning. eSIM certification alone does not establish CRA compliance, but these capabilities can underpin a manufacturer’s wider compliance approach.
Automotive eSIM: vehicles will outlast today’s networks
Automotive shows connectivity flexibility, long-term management and cybersecurity converging. Omdia forecasts more than 1.05 billion connected vehicles worldwide by 2035, up from approximately 474 million in 2025. Many vehicles built today will still be on the road well into the 2040s, potentially outlasting the network technologies and security assumptions set during development.
That concern ran through Kigen’s discussions throughout the events, where manufacturers were weighing how to secure increasingly connected vehicles while deploying across international markets.
In September 2026, Kigen announced its Automotive eSIM, the industry’s first GSMA eSA-certified eSIM supporting SGP.32 v1.3, giving connected vehicles a security-assured foundation. Because cellular profiles can be managed remotely, manufacturers and fleet operators can adapt to changing connectivity needs without physical SIM replacement.
Looking further ahead, post-quantum cryptography deserves attention for any asset expected to operate for more than a decade, and Kigen’s quantum-safe readiness work supports manufacturers evaluating that risk. The underlying lesson is to design for longevity: a vehicle’s life should not be limited by its first connectivity decision.
Critical infrastructure: reaching assets you cannot easily visit
Utilities, energy and industrial operators face the same problem. Smart meters, energy gateways and industrial controllers often stay deployed for years in places where physical maintenance is costly or impractical.
At the Utility Broadband Alliance (UBBA) Summit, private LTE networks stood out as a growing priority for utility security and operational resilience. Alongside that, we heard a need for better understanding of eSIM provisioning, profile management and the security certifications behind connected infrastructure.
That points to a wider lesson. Deploying secure connectivity is not only about choosing the right technology. It also takes expertise, interoperability and partnerships at scale.
It also ties back to the virtual power plant. A distributed energy system works only while its devices stay reachable and manageable, even as networks and requirements change. Remote SIM provisioning lets connectivity arrangements evolve without a site visit to every device. Kigen’s secure eSIM technology and eSIM IoT Remote Manager give manufacturers and enterprises the flexibility to provision and manage cellular connectivity across distributed fleets, and the value goes beyond lower maintenance costs: it preserves the ability to monitor and maintain infrastructure for its whole operational life.
Building for what comes next
Three forces defined the conversations we had in 2026. eSIM is opening new commercial opportunities. AI is making connected assets central to operational decisions. And cybersecurity rules are pushing security into every stage of the product lifecycle.
These are not separate challenges. They are one requirement: connected products that operate securely, reliably and commercially across different networks, markets and environments. With more than 50 million IoT eSIMs delivered and recognition including Technology Scale-Up of the Year at the Business Weekly Awards in Cambridge, Kigen is helping manufacturers and enterprises meet it through certified eSIM technology, remote SIM provisioning and collaboration across the connectivity ecosystem.
The future of IoT will be defined not simply by how many devices we connect, but by how effectively we can continue to trust, reach and manage them.
