Our Three Takeaways from CES 2026 ‍

Each year, CES offers a front-row seat to how technology is evolving and embedding itself into everyday life. This year was no different. TEAM was on site running the Stagwell Content Studio while also exploring the show floor to understand what’s next and what it means for brands. Here are three takeaways that stood out.

1. Personal AI Is Becoming the New Brand Interface

AI is no longer just powering dashboards or enterprise tools. It’s becoming personal, ambient, and always-on, living with people across devices and seamlessly integrated into a wide range of environments.

From unified personal AI assistants to AI-native wearables like glasses, headphones, and home robots, intelligence is increasingly embedded into everyday moments instead of requiring extra steps to opt in.

Examples like Lenovo and Motorola introducing a cross-device personal AI agent, LG showcasing its CLOiD Home Robot as part of a fully connected “Zero-Labor Home,” and Razer debuting AI headphones that respond to the world all point to the same shift: AI that follows the user, not the platform.

This opens the door for brands to design ongoing relationships instead of one-off touchpoints. Branded intelligence that can respond, adapt, and support users contextually is the future. For experiential marketing, this signals a shift toward smarter, more personalized experiences that remember preferences, react in real time, and evolve with the consumer, on-site and beyond the event itself.

2. Wearables Are Evolving from Tracking to True Human Enhancement

Wearables have officially moved past steps, sleep, and heart rate.

With exosuit-style devices and advanced wearables designed for physical enhancement, strength, endurance, mobility, and adventure on display, wearables as lifestyle products continue to grow in popularity alongside rising wellness trends. They’re built for outdoor enthusiasts, creators, and everyday consumers alike. Brands like Hypershell and ULS Robotics highlighted how physical augmentation is entering consumer use cases, while Withings showed how health wearables are becoming deeply personal, capable of scanning dozens of health markers in minutes at home.

As performance technology continues to evolve, new opportunities emerge for designing physical experiences. Wearables can help prove how people react to brand products, enhance consumer interactions, and elevate experiences across outdoor, sports, and performance-driven spaces.

From content capture to endurance-based activations, wearables are being reframed as true experience enhancers for both individuals and the brands creating those moments.

3. Robotics Are Becoming Invisible, Useful, and Everywhere

Unlike the robots from Art Basel Miami this year, robotics at CES were all about function instead of spectacle.

From hospitality and in-store service robots to autonomous construction, farming, and hyper-specific home solutions like stair-climbing vacuums, the shift was clear: robots have moved from general-purpose novelties to purpose-built problem solvers.

Industrial innovations from John Deere, Caterpillar, and Bobcat, plus consumer breakthroughs like Roborock’s stair-climbing vacuum, LEGO’s smart Brick, and IKEA’s smart-home ecosystem may be completely different types of robotics, but they’re all integrating into everyday life in new ways. Simply saying something is robotic isn’t a flex anymore, but using those robotics to design seamless, helpful, and enhanced human experiences is an opportunity that will only continue to grow.  

Conclusion 

CES 2026 felt like the end of the “cool demo era” and the beginning of real-world usefulness at scale. From the endless types of electronics, robotics, AI, and technology on display, there was still one clear takeaway: the future of technology is about human-first experiences.

As an experiential agency, we already understand the importance of thoughtful technology integration and are energized by the opportunities this next wave of innovation unlocks.

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