Speaking at a journalists’ preview event ahead of CES opening on January 6, the Consumer Technology Association’s Brian Comiskey outlined the trends he believes will define this year’s show, from intelligent transformation to longevity and engineering tomorrow, offering an early view of how the world’s biggest tech event expects innovation to shape the year ahead.
CTA’s Brian Comiskey and Melissa Harrison address journalists ahead of CES opening
At CES 2026, the Consumer Technology Association is framing this year’s show around a broader question than what’s new. Its focus is on how technology adoption is reshaping economies, industries and everyday life – and where that trajectory is heading next.
That perspective was set out in an on-stage conversation between Brian Comiskey, senior director of innovation and trends at the Consumer Technology Association, and Melissa Harrison, the CTA’s vice-president of communications and marketing.
Their argument was not that any single technology defines CES 2026, but that a set of overlapping forces now shape how technology is developed, deployed and adopted. CTA groups those forces into three connected mega-trends: intelligent transformation, longevity and engineering tomorrow.
Together, they form the framework CTA is using to interpret what appears across the show floor.
Intelligent transformation: from digital systems to adaptive ones
CTA positions intelligent transformation as the next phase after two decades of digital transformation. Where earlier waves focused on cloud adoption, connectivity and digitization, the current shift is driven by artificial intelligence becoming embedded across systems rather than layered on top of them.
Comiskey described this as a move from AI as a tool to AI as an active collaborator. In CTA research, awareness of AI now exceeds 90% across major global markets, while usage in the workplace is rising quickly. In the US, a majority of workers report already using AI at work, with measurable productivity gains.
At CES 2026, CTA sees this trend expressed not just in software but across infrastructure. Cybersecurity, cloud scalability and simulation technologies form the foundation, enabling AI to operate securely, at scale and in real time. As a result, intelligence is increasingly built into manufacturing, logistics, mobility and urban systems.
Physical AI is a visible extension of this shift. Robots, autonomous vehicles and industrial machines are presented as operational systems rather than experimental prototypes. CTA’s view is that AI-driven autonomy is now moving into real-world environments, supported by advances in sensing, compute and scenario simulation.
Consumer devices also reflect this transition. Phones, PCs, televisions and wearables are positioned less as standalone products and more as intelligent platforms that adapt to users over time. In CTA’s framing, intelligent transformation is defined by technology that adjusts to human behaviour, rather than requiring people to adapt to technology.
Want to go deeper? Ask The Drum
Longevity: technology as a quality-of-life multiplier
The second mega-trend, longevity, focuses on how technology supports longer, healthier and more independent lives. CTA frames this not as an anti-ageing narrative, but as a shift toward continuous, preventative and personalized care.
At CES 2026, health technology is presented as moving beyond episodic diagnosis toward ongoing monitoring and early intervention. Wearables, connected diagnostics and AI-driven symptom analysis extend healthcare into the home, while remote care platforms reduce reliance on traditional clinical settings.
CTA also points to precision medicine as a key development area. Advances in genomics, biomarkers and analytics are enabling more personalized approaches to risk detection and treatment, shifting healthcare away from one-size-fits-all models.
Mental health, sleep and wellness feature prominently within this trend. Technologies that analyze voice, behavior and biometric signals are positioned as tools for earlier identification of stress, anxiety and fatigue. CTA’s emphasis is on proactive support rather than reactive treatment.
Accessibility is treated as a core component of longevity. Assistive technologies, adaptive interfaces and inclusive design approaches are presented as expanding participation across physical and cognitive ability levels. CTA argues that accessibility-led innovation increasingly improves outcomes for all users, not just specific groups.
The home also plays a role in this longevity framework. Smart home systems that integrate energy management, safety monitoring and health-related functions are presented as part of a broader shift toward environments that support wellbeing over time.
Engineering tomorrow: systems-level innovation
CTA’s third mega-trend, engineering tomorrow, looks beyond individual devices to the large-scale systems that underpin modern life. The emphasis here is on how technology is being applied to mobility, energy, food systems and infrastructure.
In automotive and transport, CTA highlights the transition to software-defined vehicles, where over-the-air updates, AI-driven personalization and partnerships with technology providers enable continuous evolution after purchase. Autonomous and assisted driving systems are framed as part of a broader redefinition of mobility across land, sea and air.
Similar approaches appear in construction, agriculture and manufacturing, where automation and AI are being used to improve efficiency, safety and sustainability. CTA positions these technologies as responses to labour shortages, environmental pressures and productivity demands.
Energy is presented as a unifying challenge. Electrification, smart grids and AI-enabled monitoring are central to managing rising power demand from digital infrastructure and AI workloads. Alongside established renewable technologies, CTA points to hydrogen, next-generation nuclear and early-stage fusion concepts as areas of active exploration at CES 2026.
Food systems also fall within this engineering lens. Vertical farming, automated harvesting and AI-optimized supply chains are framed as ways to increase resilience, reduce emissions and bring production closer to urban centers.
CTA’s CES perspective
CTA’s overall position is that CES 2026 reflects a shift from isolated innovation toward interconnected systems. Intelligent transformation, longevity and engineering tomorrow are presented not as separate themes, but as overlapping lenses through which technology adoption can be understood.
From CTA’s standpoint, the show illustrates how intelligence is becoming embedded, how health and wellbeing are being supported continuously and how large-scale systems are being redesigned to meet long-term challenges.
In that framing, CES is less about unveiling future concepts and more about demonstrating how those concepts are already being implemented.
link