The pace of change, thanks to AI, is breathtaking at CES 2026
CES 2026 is coming quickly. This time around, things will be very different thanks to AI. With all the noise and chaos, just getting noticed will be tougher than ever. So, how will your company get noticed? This time of year, my email is overflowing with invitations from countless companies and senior-level executives for special and private meetings in wireless, telecom, AI, and more in the tech world. CES26 is overwhelming.
The question around most senior level executives is asking is how will they rise above all the noise and chaos? How will they be seen and heard at CES26 and beyond in the marketplace among competitors?
One method is focusing on key, powerful, industry thought leaders
Today, there are too many different Industry Analysts, influencers, columnists, media and more. Smart companies have always had two lists.
One, for the masses. The other, is a smaller list of key individuals who can be very important to their success, especially in a noisy industry. This is the group every competitor needs to get close to.
This year, top of mind for most companies is Artificial Intelligence and their role in this next AI revolution. While this technology has been growing for decades, it has only just become mainstream in the recent couple years.
Now, winning in this new area is key. However, most companies and senior level executives know this, but are blind as to the “how”.
How to be noticed, seen, and heard in noisy and chaotic AI world
Being noticed is one of the biggest challenges of the AI race. While CES is a great place to start in 2026, that does mean being seen and heard over all the noise, chaos, announcements and distractions.
Some high-profile companies are leading the charge into AI such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Amazon, Anthropic, Adobe, Alphabet, Palantir Technologies, Apple, AWS, Oracle, Tesla, C3.ai, and more.
Next are all the other companies who are just as innovative and important in their space, but since they don’t have a strong brand name in AI, at that high-level, they find it very difficult to be seen and heard.
I know this is an issue because that is what senior-level executives tell me about their marketing. They are all excited about their progress, movement, growth and potential growth in the AI space, but they are having a tough time getting the marketplace to notice.
CMO needs to learn about and use many new marketing tools in AI world
In the past, a good story always attracted investors, customers, workers, executives, media attention and more.
Not today. Today, the Chief Marketing Office or CMO needs to learn and use many new tools that are available to them. Some will work better than others, but today is the time to be expanding your vision. Finding the tools that work best for your company.
As I advise executives, I always ask how they successfully market today and how is that different from way they did things yesterday?
All these things woven together can create an important framework from which a company can grow.
This year at CES 26, AI will play a very strong role
This year at CES26, all these companies will be there, big and small, known and unknown. They all want to get noticed. They see CES as an opportunity. They all want to be seen and heard. They want to be seen as hot. They want to attract investors, workers and customers.
So, what is your strategy and plan to accomplish this goal?
One sure way to accomplish this is to find a way to punch your way onto the radar of the marketplace and all its participants.
How to attract important visitors at CES 2026
The problem is that most are young or small, and they simply do not have any idea how to attract powerful visitors, to meet them, see their technology, hear their story, and buy into their vision of the future and their role in it.
The focus of every company at a show like this is to find the best way to punch their way through all the noise and be found. Found by customers, investors partners workers the media and the marketplace in general.
If done correctly, CES can be one of the best and most important events of the year. That being said, I am sorry to say most companies do not have a workable plan and let this opportunity slip through their fingers.
Most companies at CES are not successful at achieving this critical goal
I have learned over several decades of attending this show that meeting with so many companies, and learning what works and what does not, and why from their senior executives, is an important first step.
There are reasons for success and for failure. The main goal after simply being there is to punch through all the noise and chaos and to be seen and heard.
Keep that in mind with every CES press conference, press release, after hours event, booth on the floor, the people you arrange to meet with and more. This is a great opportunity to meet the people you want.
Next, and this is key, you must use all the intelligence you gather and form long-term and positive relationships with all the key individuals. Some will be customers, others will be in the media, still others can be what I do as an Industry Analyst and columnist, and so much more.
I realize you have been planning and strategizing your CES effort for quite a long time. Don’t let that reality blind you to fully understanding what most companies fail to understand here.
The next several years will be explosive with AI growth for only some companies. Now is the time for you to solidify your name and brand in the exciting new world we are jumping into.
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