- The IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) 2026 has been presented at the UGR.
- It will take place from 8 to 10 May
- The University of Granada is leading the organisation
- Granada’s bid to host this event has beaten those of London, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Sofia
The UGR has presented the IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) 2026, one of the most relevant international forums in the field of AI. This event will be held at the Palacio de Congresos de Granada from 8 to 10 May 2026. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organisation dedicated to the advancement of technology, is organising this conference.
The rector of the UGR, Pedro Mercado, led the presentation of the forum, accompanied by the vice-rector for Research and Transfer of the University of Granada and professor of the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Enrique Herrera; and the professor of the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and director of the Andalusian Inter-University Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI Institute), Francisco Herrera.
“The University of Granada celebrates the arrival of an event of this magnitude as a recognition of the scientific leadership that the institution and the city maintain in the field of AI. IEEE CAI 2026 represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen the international visibility of the UGR, which consolidates itself as an institution of reference in the ethical, rigorous and multidisciplinary development of artificial intelligence,” said the rector of the UGR, Pedro Mercado.
In their speeches, the vice-rector Enrique Herrera and the director of DaSCI, Francisco Herrera, stressed that the designation of Granada as the host of the IEEE CAI 2026 is “the result of an intense selection process that has lasted more than two months, in competition with other candidate cities of great international importance such as London, Istanbul, Hong Kong or Sofia”.
Granada’s candidacy has been promoted by an academic and institutional consortium, and has had the support of the local technological and scientific ecosystem. Both Enrique Herrera and Francisco Herrera, both UGR specialists in artificial intelligence, are part of the organisation of the IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) 2026. They do so as ‘general chair’ and ‘program chair’, respectively.
Both lead a top-level international team, with the support of the four major IEEE scientific societies in artificial intelligence: the IEEE Signal Processing Society, the IEEE Computer Society, the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, and the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. Together, these groups bring together more than 75,000 leading engineers and researchers in the field of artificial intelligence and its applications.
This international conference combines scientific congress and technology exhibition. It focuses on the applications of artificial intelligence and its implications in key sectors of industrial innovation. The event is conceived as a meeting point for industry, academia and public administration to jointly analyse the shared challenges of AI, its future viability, and its capacity to transform society and the global economy.
Hundreds of attendees from multiple disciplines and sectors will participate. Among the central themes of the programme are high-impact topics such as reliable and secure AI, foundational and generative models, AI for transport and aeronautics, life sciences and health, sustainability, education, industry, cultural heritage and tourism, robotics and UAVs, and the social and economic implications of AI, among others.
The organising committee is currently working on the final configuration of the programme and the finalisation of the main guest speakers, with the aim of attracting figures of the highest international prestige, including Turing Award and Nobel Prize winners. In addition, the first conversations are being established with local, national and international entities for the sponsorship of the event, such as the company T-Systems.
The IEEE CAI 2026 will be, in addition to a space for the presentation of the most cutting-edge advances in artificial intelligence, an opportunity for emerging companies, research centres, public agents and professionals from all over the world to strengthen collaboration networks, explore business opportunities and share perspectives on the social and ethical impact of these technologies.
Contact:
Enrique Herrera Viedma, Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer, University of Granada
E-mail:vit@ugr.es / viedma@ugr.es
Francisco Herrera Triguero, Director DaSCI Institute, University of Granada
E-mail: herrera@ugr.es
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