Behind Closed Doors At EUG 2026: 5 Insider Observations

Summary: The 2026 e-automate User Group (EUG) Conference reinforced one clear message: growth in the office technology industry depends on connected systems, governed innovation, and true partnership between dealers and ECI. With over 300 users in attendance, this bi-annual event focused on integration, automation, AI-driven strategies, ecommerce expansion through EvolutionX, and the continued evolution of the e-automate ecosystem.

Key themes included ecosystem connectivity, scalable API innovation, managed IT expansion, and collaborative roadmap development.

The e-automate User Group (EUG) is an independent community that underscores e-automate’s standing as the industry’s go-to ERP. It’s rare for a software to have such a dedicated, self-governed force of professionals behind it, all working together to share best practices and push the platform forward. This group is a huge part of what makes the e-automate ecosystem so prestigious, bringing the country’s top dealers together to figure out what’s next for office tech. We asked Jamie Bradley, product manager for e-automate and freshly returned from the EUG conference, to share his observations from this year’s event. 

The EUG Conference has become one of the most important events in our calendar. It’s a bi-annual gathering of power users, partners, and industry leaders who genuinely care about how e-automate evolves.

This year’s 2026 event was no different.

I had the privilege of co-presenting our “What’s New and What’s Coming” e-automate session alongside Nikki Stoltz — one of the most respected and knowledgeable product managers in our history. If you’ve been around e-automate for any length of time, you know Nikki. The depth of knowledge she brings and the trust she’s built with this community over the years, are pretty special. It was great to share the stage with her in front of a packed room of over 300 e-automate users.

I also co-hosted our EvolutionX ecommerce breakout session with Kent Gutowski, our sales manager. Now, Kent isn’t your typical sales guy. He’s a true consultant. He’s working with dealers every day on forward-thinking digital strategies, and right now he’s pushing some cutting-edge AI conversations that are opening a lot of eyes. It was great to bring that practical, real-world perspective into the session.

Here are a few things that really stood out to me from EUG 2026. 

1. This is a partnership

What I appreciate most about EUG is that it never feels like we’re just presenting a roadmap. It feels like a working session with people who rely on this software to run their businesses.

The conversations centered around growth, efficiency, margins, service performance, and customer experience. You challenged us in a good way! You shared what’s working, what isn’t, and where you need us to go next.

That kind of feedback is invaluable and directly shapes how we prioritize and where we invest.

2. Growth only works if systems work together

A consistent theme throughout the event was this: disconnected systems slow you down.

Whether it was service workflows, IT managed services, ecommerce, or reporting, the message was clear — you don’t want more tools. You want connected ones.

In the EvolutionX session, the excitement wasn’t just about launching a digital storefront. It was about doing it in a way that ties cleanly into e-automate (pricing, contracts, inventory workflows) without creating more back-office work.

When the ecosystem works together (e-automate, Printanista, EvolutionX, MobileTech, and vendor integrations). That’s when you can scale confidently. 

3. Innovation’s in your DNA

If there’s one thing this community proves every time we get together, it’s that innovation is alive and well in this industry.

Dealers are expanding into IT managed services that build new recurring revenue streams. They’re making it happen by stitching together third-party tools through smart workflows to enter adjacent markets. All without blowing up their core operations.

One dealer shared that they’ve brought their own voice AI agent to market — capturing customer phone conversations, handling interactions through the agent, and automatically creating a service call in e-automate using the context of that call.

Our role isn’t to chase every edge case or open the doors to anything and everything. Our role is to support your growth ambitions in a scalable, secure, and practical way — primarily through a governed API platform. That means enabling innovation through structured, supported integrations that protect system integrity and ensure long-term stability.

4. The ecosystem makes everyone better

It was also great to see our friends from CEOJuice at the event. They led several sessions and continue to deliver real value to dealers through integrations, alerts, and reporting layered on e-automate. They’re well respected in this community, and that was obvious.

What I appreciated was the professionalism and the tone. Even in areas where our strategies increasingly overlap, there is a mutual respect for the direction ECI is heading.

A strong ecosystem pushes all of us to be better. It challenges us to sharpen our roadmap, strengthen our API strategy, and continue delivering more capabilities natively inside the platform.

At the end of the day, what matters most is dealers winning.

5. We’re building together 

Walking away from EUG 2026, I felt proud.

Proud of the progress we’ve made. Proud of the ambition in this community. And proud of the honest conversations we’re able to have.

As the operational backbone of your business, e-automate continues to evolve into a more connected, intelligent, automation-driven platform. We are committed to investing in innovation that helps you grow, adapt, and stay competitive.

Thank you to everyone who showed up, shared openly, and challenged us to think bigger.

We’re listening. And we’re building this together.

Recap: The e-automate User Group (EUG) is more than a conference. It’s an independent, self-governed community of power users and industry leaders who actively shape the future of the industry’s leading ERP platform.

Few ERPs have this level of engaged user leadership. That’s part of what makes the e-automate ecosystem unique.

At EUG 2026, over 300 dealers, partners, and platform experts gathered to collaborate—not just listen. Here are five observations from this year’s event.