Sonia Carreno Explores Key Trends and Insights from CES 2026

Advertising does not evolve in isolation. It moves with changes in how businesses are built, how technology is deployed, and how value is created across systems.

Drawing on insights from CES 2026, IAB Canada explores six shifts already underway that will shape how advertising fits into operations, ecosystems, and everyday life.

These are not forecasts. They are patterns we can already see.

CES isn’t about finished products or headline announcements. It’s one of the few moments each year where you can step back and see how technology, business, and design are evolving together. While much of what’s on display is still early or experimental, taken as a whole it reveals clear structural shifts already underway. Intelligence is moving into operational systems, creation is becoming infrastructure, production is more accessible, and coordination across systems is increasingly strategic. These aren’t predictions. They’re signals of how companies are being built and how value is being created.

Advertising and media don’t sit outside these changes. We operate inside them. As technology becomes more embedded in operations and everyday life, product performance, trust, and accountability become inseparable from brand experience. Advertising is increasingly tied to operational reality rather than isolated narratives, and effectiveness depends on how well we integrate with shared infrastructure and ecosystems. The opportunity ahead isn’t just to adopt new tools, but to align creativity, technology, and human judgment responsibly within these evolving systems and to help shape them in ways that support long-term value for our industry and the people it serves.