From sci-fi to systems that work: what CES 2026 says about where the world is headed

The conversation we had ahead of the show, combined with her remarks during an earlier media briefing, paints a picture of a tech industry shifting from spectacle to substance. Robots that do jobs people want done. AI that doesn’t just answer questions, but completes tasks. Energy, power and infrastructure finally moving to the center of the conversation. And a growing unease that, in the US at least, the rules of the road still haven’t caught up.

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Robots are no longer show ponies

CES has always loved a robot. For years, many of them were impressive to look at – and largely useless. That’s changing.

“What you’re seeing now is robots evolving from single, scripted tasks to being able to do multiple things,” Fabrizio says. “A lot of that acceleration is driven by AI.”

The difference this year is intent. These aren’t humanoids built for cameras; they’re machines designed for construction sites, hospitals, agriculture, logistics and homes. Robots that dock boats autonomously. Emergency vehicles that think for themselves. Companion robots built not for novelty, but for care.

Robotics, Fabrizio argues, has quietly crossed a threshold: from science fiction to applied systems. It’s why CES 2026 feels less like a gadget show and more like a rehearsal for real life.

AI everywhere – and finally doing the work

If last year was about discovering generative AI, this year is about living with it. “AI is running through everything,” Fabrizio says. “But the shift now is from ‘give me the answer’ to ‘do the task.’”

That change from passive intelligence to agentic systems is reshaping entire organizations. Sales, marketing, data analysis, customer service, healthcare and even the humble inbox are being rebuilt around AI that acts, not just suggests.

This is why CES has made room for a different kind of exhibitor. Less about the biggest screen or the flashiest car. More about infrastructure, software, platforms and collaboration.

The CES Foundry – a focal point this year – exists precisely because many of the most important AI companies don’t need giant booths. They need conversations.

“No technology company is an island,” Fabrizio says. “Innovation right now is collaborative.”

A surprisingly optimistic show

Spend enough time talking about AI, automation and productivity and the mood can turn dystopian fast. CES, Fabrizio insists, remains defiantly optimistic. And for good reason. Walk the show floor and you see technologies tackling problems that genuinely matter: food security, water access, healthcare delivery, mobility, accessibility and energy resilience.

“You spend a year worrying about food supplies, water, power – and then you come here and see people actively building solutions. That’s one of the most exciting parts of CES.”

Energy, in particular, has become impossible to ignore. The demands of AI are forcing long-overdue conversations about power generation, grid modernization and alternative sources – with energy companies now showing up alongside chipmakers and software giants.

CES isn’t pretending technology can fix everything. But it is making the case that innovation still has a role in making the world work better.

The US AI problem no one has solved yet

For all that optimism, Fabrizio is blunt about one issue: AI governance in the United States is a mess. “There’s a lot of innovation happening because we don’t have a federal framework. But the patchwork approach is not sustainable.”

More than a thousand AI-related bills have already been introduced at state level. Large companies can absorb that complexity. Startups and mid-sized businesses cannot.

“The federal government is better equipped to do this,” Fabrizio argues, states simply not having the resources, expertise and cross-agency coordination.

Her prescription is clear: a federal, tech-neutral, risk-based framework that balances innovation with privacy, interoperability, infrastructure and energy demands. Low-risk applications treated differently from high-risk ones, such as healthcare.

Other regions have already moved. Europe has a framework. Korea has a framework. The US, for now, does not.

“If you don’t understand how a technology works, you can’t regulate it properly,” says Fabrizio, which is why CES continues to court policymakers as aggressively as it does founders and CEOs.

Why CES still matters

In an age of AI-generated content and digital noise, Fabrizio believes physical presence matters more than ever. “In-person is incredibly important right now. People want to know, is this real? Does this actually exist?”

That’s why boards are meeting at CES, why companies like Lenovo are anchoring major events around it and why CES continues to act as neutral ground – “Switzerland,” as CTA leadership like to call it – where startups, multinationals, governments and media collide.

CES 2026 doesn’t promise utopia. What it offers instead is momentum: ideas becoming real, systems becoming intelligent and technologies finally growing up.

For an industry that has spent years chasing the next shiny thing, that might be the most important shift of all.