CES 2026 Post-Event Recap: What We Expected vs. What We Experienced
- Stormie Andrews
- Jan 13
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 13
Category: Events & Innovation | Issue #4 | January 2026
From Stormie Andrews and Shawn Andrews, Co-Founders, BREATHE! Exp
We just returned from CES 2026, and after producing events at this show for over a decade, we can say definitively: this year was different.
The hype around AI has been building for three years. CES 2024 teased AI's potential. CES 2025 showcased AI prototypes. But CES 2026? This was the year AI became operational. Real products. Shipping dates. Actual customers. Commercial scale.
Going into the show, we had specific expectations based on our read of the market, our conversations with exhibitors, and our experience navigating the innovation landscape. Here's how those expectations stacked up against what we actually experienced on the ground in Las Vegas with data, insights, and honest assessments of what surprised us, what disappointed us, and what exceeded our wildest projections.
CES 2026 By The Numbers: Expectations vs. Reality
Metric | Expected | Actual Reality |
Total Attendees | 140,000+ | 142,465 |
Exhibitors | 4,500+ | 4,513 |
Humanoid Robots on Floor | 20-30 models | 40+ models (North Hall takeover!) |
Jensen Huang Keynote Length | 90 minutes | Nearly 2 hours! |
Attendees at Jensen's Talk | 3,000 capacity | 6,000+ (auditorium + overflow + 4th floor!) |
Lisa Su Keynote Length | 60-90 minutes | 2 hours (matched Jensen!) |
Key Insight: The demand exceeded expectations across every metric. Standing room only wasn't just at keynotes, it was throughout show floors, conference sessions, and networking events.
The Keynotes: What We Expected vs. What We Got
NVIDIA - Jensen Huang: The Show Before The Show
Our Expectation: Jensen would announce Blackwell Ultra updates, tease Rubin architecture, and focus heavily on datacenter AI with some robotics discussion. We expected technical depth but consumer-light content.
What Actually Happened: Jensen delivered a masterclass that redefined what we thought possible. He unveiled Rubin (NVIDIA's first extreme-codesigned, six-chip AI platform already in full production), introduced Alpamayo (world's first reasoning autonomous vehicle AI), and announced the Vera Rubin NVL72 datacenter rack with 72 GPUs.
NVIDIA's Major Announcements
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What Surprised Us: The emphasis on open models. NVIDIA isn't just selling hardware, they're building complete AI stacks and giving them away to enable entire industries. This is ecosystem building at massive scale.
AMD - Dr. Lisa Su: Fighting for Position
Our Expectation: AMD would announce new Ryzen chips for consumer AI PCs and provide Instinct GPU updates to compete with NVIDIA's datacenter dominance. We expected solid but incremental announcements.
What Actually Happened: Lisa Su came out swinging with aggressive datacenter positioning and an audacious long-term vision. She matched Jensen's 2-hour keynote length and brought heavyweight guests: OpenAI's Greg Brockman, AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, Blue Origin, Liquid AI, and more.
AMD's Major Announcements
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What Surprised Us: The aggressive datacenter positioning. AMD isn't content being the 'also-ran' in AI infrastructure. The MI500 promise of 1,000x performance gains (if delivered) could reshape the competitive landscape in 2027.
Show Floor Trends: What Dominated the Conversation
1. Physical AI & Robotics: The North Hall Takeover
Expected: Prototype robots with impressive demos but distant commercial timelines.
Reality: Shipping products with actual customers and revenue. The robot revolution isn't coming, it's here.
Company | What We Expected | What We Saw |
LG CLOiD | Concept robot | Life-size robot ACTUALLY folding laundry, cooking basics, coordinating appliances. 'Zero Labor Home' vision |
Boston Dynamics | Atlas hardware demo | Atlas + Google DeepMind Gemini AI integration. Humanoid making complex decisions in real-time |
Agility Robotics | Warehouse pilot programs | Commercial deployments at scale. Real customers, real ROI metrics shared on stage |
Caterpillar | Semi-autonomous equipment | CEO Joe Creed keynote: Fully autonomous construction sites operating TODAY. 'Manufacturing plants as giant robots' |
The Technical Reality: These robots are trained in NVIDIA Isaac Sim/Isaac Lab in photorealistic simulated worlds, then deployed to real environments. The sim-to-real gap has effectively been solved.
2. Siemens x NVIDIA: Industrial AI Operating System
Expected: Enterprise partnership announcement, some digital twin discussions.
Reality: Roland Busch (Siemens CEO) and Jensen Huang unveiled the most significant industrial AI partnership of the decade. They announced an Industrial AI Operating System and Digital Twin Composer (launching mid-2026 on Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace).
Why This Matters: This isn't software integration, it's a full-stack platform for designing, engineering, and operating physical systems with AI from day one. Manufacturing is being fundamentally reimagined.
3. Lenovo at Sphere: The Spectacle That Worked
Expected: Immersive presentation, some new ThinkPads, standard product announcements.
Reality: Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang turned Sphere into the convergence point of the entire chip industry. Guest speakers: Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), Lisa Su (AMD), Lip-Bu Tan (Intel), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and Gianni Infantino (FIFA). Post-presentation performance by Gwen Stefani.
Product announcements:
Lenovo Qira: New AI platform
ThinkPad Aura Edition: AI-enhanced productivity laptops
Motorola Razr Fold: First folding phone that opens like a book (tri-fold design)
The Strategic Play: By getting all chip CEOs on stage together, Lenovo positioned itself as the neutral platform that works with everyone. Smart ecosystem politics.
What Surprised Us (Good and Bad)
Pleasant Surprises
Lego Smart Brick: First major Lego update in 50 years. Proximity-sensing bricks that interact with each other, play sounds, and revolutionize creative play. The Star Wars-themed debut sets had lines around the block.
CES Foundry Exceeded Expectations: We thought this would be a side venue. Instead, it became the destination for serious AI/quantum discussions. D-Wave, IBM, Quantinuum demos were substantial. The Michael Kratsios (White House Science & Tech Advisor) fireside chat drew standing-room-only crowds.
Women's Health Summit: New track this year addressing the $100B opportunity. Sessions on GLP-1 drugs, female-focused diagnostics, and 'ending default male AI' were packed and substantive. This wasn't diversity theater, it was business strategy.
Accessibility Stage: Debut at Venetian featuring smart glasses, robotics, and voice-activated assistants focused on accessibility tech. Real users on stage sharing impact stories. Powerful and authentic.
Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold: Hands-on availability of the tri-fold phone. Not a concept, you could actually use it. The form factor is legitimately compelling for productivity use cases.
Disappointments
No Consumer GPU Announcements: NVIDIA had zero GeForce RTX news in the main keynote. They relegated gaming updates to a separate 'GeForce On Community Update' at 9 PM. AMD similarly de-emphasized consumer gaming. The message: Enterprise AI is where the money is.
Intel's Muted Presence: Intel announced Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) but couldn't match the energy of NVIDIA or AMD. The 18A process is critical for Intel's turnaround, but the presentation felt defensive rather than visionary.
Over-the-Top AI Hype in Some Booths: Not every exhibitor got the memo that CES 2026 was about real products, not vaporware. Some booths still had 'AI-powered' labels on products with no actual AI functionality. The market is maturing past this, but some stragglers remain.
Creator Space Wasn't Fully Realized: Expanded to Central Hall with open access, but the programming didn't quite live up to the potential. 'Partnering with Purpose' and 'Metrics for Success' sessions were good, but we expected more depth given the creator economy's importance.
Key Themes: What Actually Defined CES 2026
The Defining Narrative of CES 2026 1. From Prototype to Production: AI is operational, not experimental. Products are shipping in Q1 2026 with actual customers and measurable ROI. 2. Physical AI is the Next Frontier: Robots aren't coming, they're here. Humanoids in warehouses, autonomous construction equipment, home robots folding laundry. The simulation-to-reality gap has been bridged. 3. The Chip Wars Are Real: NVIDIA's dominance is challenged but not threatened. AMD is positioning aggressively for 2027. Intel is fighting for relevance. The winner will power the next decade of computing. 4. Enterprise > Consumer: The biggest announcements, longest keynotes, and most crowded booths were all enterprise-focused. AI datacenters, industrial automation, and B2B solutions dominated. 5. Open Ecosystems Win: NVIDIA's open model portfolio, AMD's open platform strategy, and cross-industry partnerships (Siemens x NVIDIA, OpenAI x AMD) defined the show. Walled gardens are losing. |
What This Means for Business Leaders
Three Strategic Takeaways
1. The AI Infrastructure Investment Window is Closing
Both Jensen and Lisa Su emphasized that AI compute demand is growing 100x over the next few years. The companies investing in infrastructure now will have competitive advantages that late movers can't overcome. This isn't about being early, it's about not being too late.
2. Physical AI Requires Different Skills Than Software AI
Training robots in simulation, transferring learned behaviors to physical systems, and integrating with existing manufacturing workflows requires expertise in robotics, simulation, and domain-specific engineering. Companies need to build these capabilities or partner with those who have them.
3. The Creator Economy is B2B Infrastructure
Despite the Creator Space underperformance, the reality is that creators drive product awareness, shape purchasing decisions, and provide authentic distribution at scale. Businesses ignoring the creator channel are leaving money on the table.
Final Thoughts from BREATHE!
After producing events at CES for over a decade, we've learned to separate hype from reality, prototypes from products, and vaporware from viable businesses. CES 2026 delivered substance.
The AI transformation we've been anticipating is no longer theoretical, it's operational. Physical AI robots are working in factories, autonomous vehicles are on roads, and AI is embedded in the tools we use daily. The companies that understand this shift and act decisively will define the next era of business.
At BREATHE! Exp, we're a strategic growth firm focused on transformational technology companies. We produce world-class events, from CES activations to our own branded technology conferences while also training and certifying organizations in AI transformation through our GPS Summit program. Whether you need to build AI strategy, evaluate technology partners, prepare your workforce for the AI age, or produce events that showcase innovation authentically, we bring the expertise and network to make it happen.
See you at CES 2027. Based on what we saw this year, it's shaping up even bigger.
— Stormie Andrews & Shawn Andrews
Co-Founders, BREATHE! Exp
Need help translating CES insights into business strategy?
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