Cambashi’s View – Mechanical CAE and Simulation
Review of 2025 and Opportunities in 2026
Cambashi has been tracking the CAE/Simulation market for many years, and 2025 was particularly noteworthy – for mergers and acquisitions as well as advances in technology and the blurring of lines between adjacent technologies such as Industrial AI, EDA (Electronic Design and Automation), and MBSE (Model Based Systems Engineering).
2025 Market Share: The “Big 3” Emerge
Synopsys closed the $35 billion acquisition of Ansys Inc., the market leader in CAE, in July 2025. This is the biggest deal in the history of the sector and a seismic shift for EDA and CAE
Cadence announced the acquisition of the Design & Engineering Software group inside Hexagon AB (the former MSC Software and Romax) for €2.7 billion in September 2025 (closed in February 2026). These acquisitions follow on the heels of Siemens’ acquisition of Altair Engineering Inc. in March Th 2025 for c. $10 billion, which consolidates the ‘top 6’ CAE vendors into a ‘Big 3’.
Source: Cambashi Product/Country/Industry Observatory, Q4, 2025
Note: ‘Siemens’ includes Post-Acquisition revenue from Altair; Pre-acquisition revenue is included in ‘Altair’.
AI/ML Reshaping the CAE Landscape
Physics-Based AI
Tangible customer success stories emerging. Niche applications are multiplying rapidly.
Agentic CAE Tools
Biggest impact in process improvements. ML/AI-driven workflow automation reduces cycle times.
Cloud-Driven Growth
AI/ML demand fuels cloud CAE computing. Both private and public clouds see surging workloads.
Projected Market Landscape and Six Growth Drivers for 2026
For an unparalleled depth of Projected 2026 Market Landscape analysis and a comprehensive understanding of Six Growth Drivers for 2026, we invite you to download the “Cambashi’s View – Mechanical CAE and Simulation. Review of 2025 and Opportunities in 2026”.
