Adobe Summit 2026: Using Technology to Create Better Experiences

At Adobe Summit 2026, TEAM supported Code and Theory with on-site booth operations, experience management, and content capture for The OPEN Invitational, the conference’s first-ever AI-powered table tennis experience.

Built around Code and Theory’s vision of coherence, the activation showed what happens when strategy, creative, data, and technology move as one. Attendees could grab a paddle to compete and see how connected systems turn live moments into stronger engagement and more meaningful performance.

The experience brought serious energy to Las Vegas, with Olympian and six-time U.S. Table Tennis National Champion Lily Zhang, international pro and community builder Daniely Rios, and NFL legend Terrell Owens all joining the action. Across the booth, sessions, and conference floor, attendees had the chance to play, connect, and go head-to-head with the best.

For John Cicero, TEAM’s EVP of Client Development & Growth, Adobe Summit was a clear look at where experiential is headed next.

With nearly two decades at TEAM, John has helped shape the way brands show up across live environments, client relationships, cultural moments, and consumer engagement. His biggest takeaway from Summit was simple:

“Experiential isn’t sitting on the sidelines anymore. It’s becoming one of the most direct ways to connect data, content, and real human interaction in real time.”

Here are five of John’s learnings from this year’s Adobe Summit:  

1. Welcome AI into Live Environments

AI is already starting to influence live experiences, from dynamic content to smarter on-site decisioning. The opportunity is using it to make moments more responsive, relevant, and connected to what people are doing in real time.

For experiential, AI works best when it supports the human interaction rather than overwhelming it. The goal is not to make experiences feel automated, but to make them feel more adaptive and alive.

2. Personalization Has to Happen in the Moment

Personalization has moved beyond audience segments and pre-planned journeys. Brands now have opportunities to create interactions that respond to individuals as they engage.

That shift matters for live experiences because no two guests move through a moment the same way. The strongest activations will be built with enough intelligence and flexibility to meet people where they are.

3. Speed Is the Brand Advantage

At Adobe Summit, speed was not only about producing content faster. It was about how quickly brands can learn, adapt, and evolve the experience while it is happening.

For experiential, that makes operations, production, and content capture more strategic than ever. The brands that stand out will be the ones that have evolved to be dynamic and willing to react at the speed of culture.  

4. Experience Is Becoming the Engine

Live experiences are becoming more connected to the full brand ecosystem. A booth can fuel content, capture data, create conversation, and extend engagement well beyond the event floor.

That makes experiential a more central driver of brand performance. The live moment is no longer the final output; it is the source material for what comes next.

5. Measurement Is Catching Up

Clients want to understand the business impact of experience with more clarity. Engagement still matters, but the bigger question is what that engagement creates.

The next era of measurement will connect live experiences to stronger outcomes, from content performance to data capture to relationship-building. That gives experiential a clearer role in proving value across the larger marketing ecosystem.

The Big Picture

Adobe Summit made one thing clear: the future of experiential is not about adding technology to a footprint. It is about building live experiences that can respond, adapt, and create value in the moment.

For TEAM, that future feels familiar. The strongest experiences have always lived at the intersection of strategy, creativity, operations, and human connection. And as the tools catch up to the kind of work TEAM has been doing for more than 35 years, experiences will continue to positively impact brands and individuals.  

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