By Renato Cudicio – President, TechNuCom
Brussels, September 25, 2026
I’m in Brussels for the three-day Odoo Experience. Halfway through, I can already say: the 2026 edition is a success. In the halls of Brussels Expo, demonstrations are happening one after another, and discussions with users and partners are just as interesting as the talks. The scale of the event is impressive: Odoo is expecting more than 45,000 attendees (some say 65,000), over 400 exhibitors, and more than 450 talks. It’s intense!
The highlight was, of course, Fabien Pinckaerts’ presentation of Odoo 20. My overall impression? No revolutionary changes in every application, but a host of concrete improvements. And, above all, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in day-to-day tasks.
AI Is Integrating Into Workflows
What interests me isn’t just the ability to ask an AI to write a text. Odoo is introducing assistants capable of taking action within its applications. In particular, the company is highlighting an MCP connector that allows external AI agents to connect to Odoo’s data and functions. On the website side, its assistant can create a page based on instructions, then draw on products or events already in the database to complete it. Of course, these capabilities will need to be evaluated in real-world scenarios, with appropriate access rights and controls.
The Project Module as a Hub
I also see the Project module becoming even more central for service-based companies. Odoo allows you to create a project from a sales opportunity, assign roles to team members, and analyze the budget as well as actual and projected margins in dedicated reports. For a company that sells a consulting engagement, carries out the work, tracks its hours, and then invoices its client, the connection between these steps becomes particularly valuable.
Every Minute Counts
I particularly liked the new approach to timesheets. The Timesheet Assistant can monitor activity on the computer—windows, browser tabs, and developer tools—to suggest the project or task on which time was spent. The user then reviews the suggestions before confirming them. Odoo describes how observed activities are processed locally. Anyone who finds themselves reconstructing their week from memory on Fridays will immediately understand the value of this feature!
Telephony is becoming more integrated into work
I also enjoyed the demo of Phone, the telephony system integrated into Odoo. Some people in the room had the idea to call the number used during the presentation: seeing the phone ring on Fabien Pinckaerts’s desk, right in the middle of the demo, made for a pretty amusing moment.
Beyond this anecdote, the new features have practical value: you can set up a workflow for incoming calls with extensions and menus, choose the number displayed during an outgoing call, and log a call in a case’s discussion thread. These are small steps that can help prevent losing the context of a conversation with a customer.
A Step Forward in Payroll: A Country-by-Country Perspective
The deeper integration of payroll with human resources also deserves attention. The Belgian demo notably showcases the simplified creation of pay stubs and improvements related to employee records, Dimona reporting, and long-term absences. However, it is important to distinguish this Belgian advancement from the availability of compliant payroll solutions in each country. For our clients in Quebec, the issue remains that of local regulations and their effective implementation.
Prices are rising, but not for everyone
Finally, Odoo has announced a change to its pricing structure. The free single-app plan remains, as does the price of the Standard plan. However, the price of the Custom plan is increasing by 20%, a rise that remains below the cumulative inflation rate of 26% since 2022, as Fabien Pinckaerts pointed out. A “Light User” plan at 8.90 USD per employee has also been announced for certain uses, particularly those related to human resources. It would therefore be misleading to speak of a uniform or merely symbolic increase: its impact will depend on the plan and the number of users at each company. Halfway through Odoo Experience, one conviction is growing stronger: the value of an ERP system is measured by the fluidity of its processes. Odoo 20 offers promising ways to reduce data re-entry, better track completed work, and facilitate the transition from one task to the next. I’m continuing to attend the presentations and discussions in Brussels with these concrete benefits in mind. At TechNuCom, we’ll then take the time to evaluate how they can benefit our clients.
