A Look Back at CES and a Look Ahead to 2026
2 minute read
In this episode of Exchanges with Hitachi Solutions, I sat down with Evan Sotos, Engineering Manager for the Empower Data Platform, and Stuart Morris, Director of Research & Development, for a fast‑paced wrap‑up of their time on the ground at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. With Hitachi’s presence spanning IoT, mobility, digital cities, energy, and data innovation, the team shares firsthand observations from the world’s largest consumer electronics event and highlights the trends shaping the year ahead.
In this episode, you’ll hear Evan, and Stuart discuss:
- What it’s like navigating CES across massive halls filled with humanoid robots, batteries, e‑mobility, and next‑generation digital city technologies—and why even three days on the show floor isn’t enough to see it all.
- How Hitachi’s unified booth showcased the full “One Hitachi” vision, bringing together group companies across industries to demonstrate integrated solutions for AI, data, and digital transformation.
- What Empower brings to the CES conversation, including how organizations can unify, orchestrate, and model their data to support analytics, AI, business insights, and industry‑specific use cases.
- Why clean, consolidated data is the foundation for any successful AI initiative, especially as companies discover the limits of rushing into AI without the right data architecture.
- How Hitachi Solutions is applying AI internally first—building real workflows, modernizing processes like RFP response management, and proving value before productizing solutions for customers.
- The industry’s growing focus on pragmatic, value‑driven AI, including a shift away from “toy” demos toward real workflows, hybrid models, and the rise of agentic AI—paired with the need to combine classical automation and machine learning with modern LLMs.
Whether you’re exploring how AI can drive real business transformation, looking to modernize your data foundation, or just curious about the innovations making headlines at CES, this episode offers an insider’s perspective on the technologies and trends expected to define 2026.
