Trade Show North AmericaUpcoming

XPONENTIAL

AUVSI's flagship event for autonomous, uncrewed, and emerging-aircraft systems. Four days bringing together the drone, UAS, AAM/eVTOL, and autonomous-systems industry — increasingly the room where the certification, training, and airspace-integration future of aviation gets shaped.

May 17–20, 2027Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, United States~8,500 attendees

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What to expect

XPONENTIAL covers a wider spectrum than its drone-show origins suggest. Programming now spans commercial drone operations, public-safety UAS, defence autonomy, counter-UAS, AAM/eVTOL certification and ConOps, vertiport operations, and the airspace-integration challenges sitting between traditional aviation and the new entrants. The exhibit floor reflects the same breadth — small commercial-drone vendors share aisles with Joby, Archer, Beta, Wisk and the rest of the AAM cohort, plus the platform companies (Anduril, Skydio) and the certification-services firms positioning for the AAM training and operations market. For pilot training schools, the most relevant content sits in the AAM/eVTOL pilot-training, vertiport operations, and airspace-integration tracks. The certification timelines are firming up enough that early-mover training schools are building partnerships and curriculum scaffolding now.

Quick facts

Dates

May 17–20, 2027

Location

Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami Beach, United States

Estimated attendance

~8,500

Exhibitors

~750

Registration

from USD 695 trade visitor; full-conference passes available

Languages

Regulatory focus

FAA

Also known as

XPONENTIAL, AUVSI XPONENTIAL, XPO, XPONENTIAL 2027

Who attends

AUVSI member organisations, drone and UAS operators, AAM/eVTOL OEMs and operators (Joby, Archer, Beta, Wisk and the broader cohort), public-safety drone programmes, defence autonomy primes, certification and training services firms, vertiport operators, FAA leadership on integration, and a growing pilot-training contingent positioning for AAM pilot pipelines.

Why flight schools attend

Direct fit is selective. Schools positioning for the AAM pilot-training pipeline — building eVTOL-relevant simulator capability, syllabus partnerships with OEMs, or vertiport operator relationships — will find the relevant decision-makers in one place. Schools without an AAM strategy typically find more direct value at WATS, NTAS, or VERTICON. The room is still skewing toward early-mover positioning more than 12-month enrolment economics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not exclusively. AUVSI's origins are uncrewed systems and that remains the largest single segment, but the show now covers AAM/eVTOL, defence autonomy, counter-UAS, and vertiport operations. The pilot-training relevance specifically sits in the AAM and airspace-integration tracks, which have expanded substantially over the past three editions.

Mainly if you're positioning for the AAM pilot-training pipeline. Schools building eVTOL-relevant simulator capability, syllabus partnerships with OEMs, or vertiport-operator relationships will find the relevant decision-makers concentrated in one place. Schools without an explicit AAM strategy generally find better fit at WATS or NTAS.

Commercial UAV Expo is a narrower, drone-operator-focused trade show in Las Vegas. XPONENTIAL is broader and more industry-strategic — wider AAM coverage, defence autonomy, certification policy. Operators serving multiple segments attend both; pilot-training schools usually find XPONENTIAL more relevant for the AAM thread.

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