3M Company (MMM) announced Monday that it's bringing AI into the decidedly unglamorous world of picking the right adhesive tape for your engineering project. The company is debuting new tools at CES 2026 that promise to make material selection faster and smarter.
What 3M Is Building
The centerpiece is "Ask 3M," an AI assistant built specifically to help engineers navigate bonding and assembly decisions. Think of it as a very specialized chatbot that knows an absurd amount about industrial tape and adhesives. The tool guides users toward products that match their specific design requirements, asking about substrates, environments, assembly methods, and performance targets before recommending options.
3M is also expanding its Digital Materials Hub, which supports deeper virtual testing workflows. The idea is to let engineers validate materials digitally before they spend money building physical prototypes. The hub includes simulation-ready data cards that plug into design software, making it easier to evaluate options without ordering samples and running lab tests.
Why This Matters for Engineers
The pitch here is straightforward: generative AI and modeling can shorten iteration cycles and cut costs. Instead of ordering three different adhesives, building prototypes with each, and testing them to failure, engineers can run virtual simulations first and narrow down their choices before touching physical materials.
"At 3M, we're combining decades of material science with AI so engineers can make better decisions, faster," said Holly Semerad, chief marketing officer for 3M's Safety & Industrial Business Group.
The Rollout Plan
3M plans to pilot Ask 3M initially with engineers working on bonding challenges, focusing on tapes and adhesives within the Safety & Industrial group. The assistant runs on Amazon Web Services infrastructure, including Amazon Bedrock and AgentCore.
It's a practical application of AI in industrial settings where the right material choice can mean the difference between a product that holds together and one that falls apart. And if it works, it could save engineers a lot of time they'd otherwise spend combing through technical data sheets.
MMM Price Action: 3M shares were down 0.54% at $160.85 at the time of publication on Tuesday.