Marketers flying into Las Vegas for CES will be looking for ways to consolidate ad tech partnerships and enhance their AI opportunities, while discussing the uncertainty posed by the new White House administration and how it will affect the tech industry in the coming years, especially with regards to regulations and its stance on TikTok.

Those are some of the trends that marketing leaders are watching as the annual tech conference is set to kick off next week. Ad tech and media services will be highly relevant to the conversations taking place, said Mark Wagman, managing director at MediaLink, the consulting firm that plays a prominent role at the event. As a result of recent merger activity, including Omnicom’s proposed acquisition of IPG and Mediaocean’s acquisition of Innovid, the markets for advertising and ad tech services are consolidating. Marketers will have the opportunity to do more, with fewer relationships, partly thanks to AI, Wagman said.

Speaking of AI, the do-everything technology will be as visible this year as it was last year, only with more advances to highlight, said Kinsey Fabrizio, president of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organization that puts on CES. A lot has changed in the AI space since January 2024—there has been growth in the market for AI wearables and a shift toward more efficient systems, such as small language models, which are customizable for brands’ needs, and AI agents that are expected to rise in 2025. 

Also read: 3 AI innovations to watch at CES

Many of the top AI startups will be in town, too, only unofficially, without conference exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center. These companies, such as search platform Perplexity, will send executives to chat with existing clients and meet with prospective ones, Wagman said. And new to CES this year: Some of these AI providers are starting to explore revenue channels for the first time, namely through ad-supported models.    

AI advances will also manifest in programming throughout the event, which will be held from Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 across the Las Vegas Strip. Keynote speakers include Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, the microchip giant that has played an outsized role in powering the AI ecosystem, and Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, who will discuss how businesses are using AI to enhance customer experiences. And of course, there will be tons of new gadgets on the showroom floor. There is even an exhibit booth with the most Las-Vegas-tech-confab theme imaginable: an AI-powered hotel.

More than 138,000 people attended CES last year, per CTA. Fabrizio declined to provide an estimate for how many attendees may show up this year.

Meanwhile, CES coincides with two major legal cases that could seriously shake up the tech space. The deadline for TikTok to either be sold or banned in the U.S. is Jan. 19, and the Supreme Court is set to hear the merits of the case on Jan. 10, the final day of CES. The topic will surely be broached between the platform and brands at CES. Also, Google’s two antitrust cases loom large, a situation that could ultimately force Google to sell its Chrome browser, opening new competition in search and ad tech markets. Still, the outcome of Google’s trials could be years away. 

Vibrations of the incoming Trump administration will also be felt at CES. President-elect Donald Trump has won over many tech enthusiasts in Silicon Valley for his attitude toward deregulation, and has already appointed an AI czar, David Sacks, to oversee the growing industry. The crypto industry, too, has celebrated the incoming president for his support of their space. Crypto has been rather quiet at CES for the past couple years, but things could be different this time around, said Brian Yamada, chief innovation officer at VML. 

Brands will show out at CES, too. From cosmetics giant L’Oréal to big-box retailers Walmart and Lowe’s, top brands will be on the ground this year displaying how they’re using emerging technologies. A popular stop for chief marketers officers will return, as well: the C Space at the Aria, where MediaLink is running its usual “Marketing Reinvented” track, with keynotes and discussions about the creator economy, AI, commerce networks and more.

When it comes to CES, “people love to hate it, hate to love it, but everyone shows up,” Wagman said.

Here is everything advertisers need to know about this year’s event. 

Ad tech dealmaking

Since CES is an opportunity for marketers to finalize their agendas for the new year and begin planning for the next, dealmaking is a constant activity. Agencies from the big holding companies will be on the ground, as will their clients, culminating in the chance to meet with leading tech companies to discuss existing and prospective integrations.

This year, the backroom conversations will center on striking larger but fewer partnerships, Wagman said. Marketers need to simplify their rosters of partners as leaps in technology have enabled a plethora of new opportunities for advertisers. Streamlining ad tech partnerships will likely be a goal for many agencies and brands, as they look to make their toolkits more efficient by linking up with AI-powered demand-side platforms and using faster, cheaper methods of producing audio, image and video assets. To prevent the number of ad tech partners from ballooning, marketers will be keen to hear from players that have consolidated many of these capabilities into a single platform, Wagman said. 

Over the past year, ad giants such as WPP and Publicis have developed brand hubs for AI experimentation, while also supporting consolidations in media planning infrastructure. Connected TV advertising has been undergoing its own transformation. The Trade Desk recently announced a new streaming operating system, Ventura, to compete with CTV stalwarts Google, Amazon and Roku. These players, all of whom will be at CES, will be emphasizing the versatility of their platforms in conversations with brands on the strip, Wagman said. 

CES is also the ad industry’s first major meetup since Omnicom announced its plan to acquire IPG in December. The merger, which would be one of the most significant agency deals in recent memory, will definitely make good fodder for gossip during happy hours and it will be a point in serious discussions around how the deal will affect the industry.

“Brands will be asking questions [about the merger] like: ‘Who should I be talking to about technical integrations?,’” Wagman said, adding that brands will also be asking, “‘How will this impact my account over the next few months?’”  

Also read: 8 potential client conflicts in the Omnicom-IPG deal

Omnicom and IPG will be on the ground with clients, but independent agencies and third-party tech companies may take the opportunity to swoop in and make their pitches to those same CMOs, Wagman said.

AI proving its worth

AI providers will also be pitching brands at CES. The mainstays—Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon—will be active on both the showroom floor via exhibitor booths and behind closed doors in client meetings. Each of these giants rolled out AI-powered ad tech throughout 2024, and they could give brands a taste of what’s next to come.

Smaller providers such as Perplexity do not have official presences on the floor, but “they will all be there for sure,” Wagman said, referring to myriad AI startups popping up in advertising. Perplexity Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko will be in Las Vegas to connect with partners, a Perplexity spokesperson told Ad Age. AI search is beginning to embrace advertising, which means these platforms will want to prove their worth to prospective clients. That will mostly come down to demonstrating to brands how ads on their platforms will further their marketing goals, Wagman said.

Also read: Perplexity’s AI search ad are being pitched to UM clients

At CES, brands will be interested in pressing further into AI adoption, said Emily Ketchen, CMO of Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices group. Some of the key topics they’ll be curious about are AI agents, advancements in large language models (LLMs), and new ways to personalize marketing, Ketchen said.

Also read: Women AI leaders on AI agents and overcoming biases

Marketers will look for further inspiration on the show floor at the convention center. They will be seeking fresh examples of how to embed AI technology into their strategies and how to distribute it to consumers, said Brian Yamada, chief innovation officer for VML. 

Wearables have emerged as one such area to explore AI, thanks to polarizing products like the Ai Pin and Friend. Wearables have particular potential to aid in new products and services from brands in fashion, cosmetics, lifestyle and health. For example, wearM.AI will showcase an AI fitness coach that clips to an athlete’s shoe. Braindeck will demonstrate its Bling watch, which uses AI to help people with speech challenges. There will also be at least one more AI-powered friend product, too, via a startup called Friend.fi.

Brands could even find inspiration from the most-fringe technology this year. There will be AI-powered baristas, plant boxes, water ionizers and even an AI-powered hotel called Otonomous, set to open in Las Vegas in March.

Tick tock on TikTok?

CES is also a place for social media platforms to hunker down in hotel rooms and event spaces to discuss with clients their plans for the new year. Pinterest will be back at The Cosmopolitan to show brands some of its new features, as well as a branded slot machine with prizes that include a trip to the nearby Las Vegas Sphere (more on that venue below). 

Reddit will have an immersive activation, also in The Cosmo, and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel will be on the ground, too. Meanwhile, X is amping up its presence this year with an official booth at the Aria Hospitality Suites. Last year, the platform was met with a mixed reception from marketers, with CEO Linda Yaccarino the only confirmed attendee from the embattled company. But now X has a new marketing leader in Angela Zepeda, who has big plans to take the platform into a mainstream advertising direction.

Read more about Zepeda’s plans for X here

Then there’s TikTok, which will have a robust presence, including a suite of programming at the Aria. But looming behind the festivities is the ultimatum that has been placed on the video app. TikTok has until Jan. 19 to be sold from ByteDance, its Chinese-based owner, or else it could be banned in the United States. 

That deadline is a mere nine days from the last day of CES, which means clients will undoubtedly be asking TikTok for assurances. The Supreme Court  has agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge to the potential ban. Those arguments will also begin on the last day of CES.

Also read: 5 of the best TikTok brand activations in 2024

Last week, president-elect Trump urged the Supreme Court to pause the impending law until he after he is inaugurated, so that he can have time to seek a negotiation.

CES will also be a place for marketers to discuss how Trump could shake up other areas of business, such as proposed tariffs that would affect retail and other industries. Members of the administration will be on the ground and engaging with various aspects of event programming, CTA’s Fabrizio said.

Immersive brand events and C Space

Brands will be out in full force, many of which will have installations on the showroom floor. Lowe’s will showcase its new digital home platform, in which users can store information about their properties in the retailer’s rewards app, which launched last spring. John Deere is back too, and it will once again introduce additions to its line of autonomous machines.

CES 2025 will also feature numerous top auto brands. BMW plans to demonstrate its new in-car display system in an event hosted by comedian Tim Meadows. Honda and Kia will show off new electric vehicles (EVs). The event comes at a time of uncertainty for automakers as they prepare for the new administration, Automotive News reported recently. Meanwhile, Nissan and Honda are apparently exploring a possible merger, which would further shake things up for the whole industry.

Consumer electronics brands will be in the convention center with big displays around new products including TVs, audio and smart home technology. Lenovo, Sony, Samsung and LG will lead the way, alongside a plethora of smaller brands with more speculative appliances.

Beyond the convention center, brands will be stepping up their games this year to entertain clients at events, said Lenovo’s Ketchen.

One example is Delta, which will hold its keynote at the Sphere. The airline will activate both the exosphere—the outside screen—and the immersive inner screen that has driven significant buzz for the venue since its launch last year. Lenny Kravitz will also perform.

Delta’s keynote is the only official tie-up between the Sphere and CES, said CTA’s Fabrizio. During last year’s event, the venue was too new for any brand takeovers, but a few tech companies still managed to advertise on the exosphere, including Google and Intel.

Lenovo will host an immersive experience for clients dubbed “Night Vision,” which will take place at a Sphere-like event space called Illuminarium, just off the Strip. The occasion will be interactive and is meant to celebrate the future of tech, according to an event description.

MediaLink’s C Space track, set for Tuesday, will feature conversations with CMOs from Mars, Home Depot, Nissan and Hilton. These talks will, unsurprisingly, touch on AI and its applications in marketing, but they will extend to other areas, such as creator marketing tactics that are helping brands reach younger consumers, said MediaLink’s Wagman.  

A notable difference between this year’s C Space and the C Spaces of the last 10 or so years is that Michael Kassan will not be formally involved. The MediaLink founder and former CEO, who parted ways from the company earlier this year amid a legal fight with owner UTA, was more or less the face of C Space, often leading its keynote conversation (last year, he spoke with Snap CEO Spiegel). In his stead, podcaster Ashley Flowers will steer this year’s keynote with SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz.

Kassan is not exactly keeping his distance from the event, however. He’ll be hanging at the Aria with 3C Ventures, his new firm, where he’ll be meeting with clients and focusing on intimate meetings rather than panel discussions, he told Ad Age. At Cannes, attendees noted some tension between MediaLink and Kassan when they held separate events at the same hotel on the same night. Kassan does not expect any drama to occur at CES, he said.

AR/VR, digital twins, quantum computing?

Outside of AI, marketers at CES will engage with numerous kinds of emerging tech. One example of popular emerging tech is developments in digital twins, which offer a virtual replication of a physical object or process. Exhibitors in manufacturing and health care will displaythis technology, CTA’s Fabrizio said. Brands such as Le Pain Quotidien have also taken a stab at forming their own digital twins over the past year. 

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) will be everywhere, and perhaps receive more serious attention thanks to Meta’s recent re-commitments to the technology, MediaLink’s Wagman said. Attendees may even get the chance to test the product with EssilorLuxottica, Meta’s eyewear partner, which will command a booth on the showroom floor.

Advancements in gaming will be quite visible for brands roaming around. And Roblox executives will join panels on immersive shopping and the creator economy, including Stephanie Latham, Roblox’s VP of global brand partnerships.

Another area of emerging tech that will definitely be over some marketers’ heads, but still interesting to check out, is quantum computing, which is expected to make a splash at this year’s event, CTA’s Fabrizio said. Quantum computers solve computational problems at a much faster clip compared to traditional computers. The tech is still far too young to be used in any practical way, but recent breakthroughs are pushing it closer to real application.

For this reason, VML’s Yamada said, CMOs should ask their CIOs and CTOs to keep an eye on the technology. Likewise, Lenovo’s Ketchen is already in dialogue with tech colleagues over how the space is shaping up, and what use cases may be coming down the pike.

“I think it’s extraordinarily important for the next frontier,” Ketchen said. “Certainly people are talking about it.”