CES 2025: Innovation, Connections, and New Opportunities

As the plane touched down in Las Vegas, I couldn’t help but notice how this trip to CES felt a bit different. This would be the 14th CES that I have attended, but the first one that coincided with starting in a new role at a new company. Only 6 days prior, I was honored to start as the Global Head of Strategic Partnerships with Appliscale. This is a company that I have respected for years, as they were my offshore engineering team when I started my own company in late 2019. Now it was my turn to work with Ad Tech / Mar Tech / E-commerce / Gaming companies in helping them see the great talent and skill Appliscale brings to each project. It certainly felt like the perfect place to start my journey in meeting up with old colleagues and new contacts alike.

Over the years, my schedule for CES has remained the same, spend the first 2.5 days in and around the Ad Tech / Mar Tech space, known as Aria and Cosmopolitan, and then venture to the convention center to look at the latest innovation and TVs that my lovely wife will certainly turn down (I mean so what if the 163” QED TV covers part of the fireplace, the clarity is incredible). So after checking into the hotel, I was off and running, taking part in 23 scheduled meetings, 3 happy hours, 1 Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) concert and a steak dinner with a wonderful friend. There were so many colleagues who wanted to learn more about Appliscale, either due to looking for great engineers or because they were starting their own companies and needed help with projects and/or building out their UI. The conversations were quite productive and I felt very positive knowing that my company was positioned to help each of them with a portion of their 2025 roadmap. On Wednesday night, I met up with so many great colleagues at the LiveRamp happy hour that it certainly started to feel like an advertising.com / AOL alumni party. Then it was off to the Yahoo! sponsored 50 Cent concert, where it must have been a world record for the number of J Crew button down shirts with Patagonia vests in attendance ever to see a show (I was proudly one of those helping to set said record).

On Thursday afternoon, I made my way down to the convention center.  While the usual companies were there, Samsung, Hisense, Panasonic, there were an ample amount of companies promoting their Smart Glasses.  They have certainly come a long way in looking “normal”, while providing a unique way of flailing one’s arms to press buttons that can only be seen by the actual owner of the glasses.  And everything was AI infused, whether it was AI TVs, AI Audio, AI Gaming or Smart AI Boating, all things AI were covered. It was quite impressive to see how all of the Smart technology is helping as well. Whether it was Smart nursery (understanding the type of baby cry), Smart health (tracking vital signs and monitoring exercise) or Smart energy consumption (only heating / cooling rooms being used), the innovation is quite impressive in ways to help in making our daily lives more efficient.  I then capped off my visit with a picture of the NFL Lombardi trophy, as I wanted to make sure it was just right before being handed over to Lamar Jackson on February 9, 2025.  Go Ravens!

A great trip indeed and I look forward to working with so many great companies in 2025!