The Topics That Swept CES 2024

The words on everyone’s lips at CES 2024? Artificial Intelligence

The adtech world flocked to Vegas last week, seeking answers to all of their AI questions. CES calls itself “the most powerful tech event in the world” — and I wouldn’t disagree. Every year, the four-day event serves as the ultimate testing ground for cutting-edge technologies and leading industry innovators from around the world. 

While AI dominated CES this year, two other themes were hot on its heels at the forefront of many of my conversations and the panels I attended: cookie deprecation and inclusivity. 

For those of you who missed the event and want to stay in-the-know, here’s a breakdown of those topics from last week:

1. AI

It’s not a shocker that the number one topic of conversation at CES was around how brands are incorporating AI into their campaigns and strategies.

The major consensus of the week was that AI is no longer as intimidating as it once was, and it’s actually here to stay. Now it’s about asking the right questions, such as, what are the benefits of AI and how can it make us more efficient? People are now asking more complex questions and getting more complex answers.

The overall sentiment around AI was extremely positive. But the truth is AI, on its own, is not the answer to our questions — it’s not a “silver bullet” that will take us to the moon —  it’s a tool that when used correctly, can change the game in advertising forever.

I had the opportunity to sit in on a panel with EssenceMediacom, where they noted that it’s not about how it’s AI versus the culture –– it’s about how AI is part of the culture.

I also got watch Cognitiv’s Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder, Aaron Andalman, sit on the panel titled, The Creators Who Are Leaning Into AI — where the conversation focused on the combination of people using AI to spark creativity and building tangible proof of concepts earlier in marketing processes, and how it has become an industry game-changer.

2. Cookie Deprecation

Many of the conversations around the deprecation of the cookie were focused primarily around the need for strong contextual solutions. After years of speculation and anticipation, advertisers have accepted the cookie going away — and the consensus is that everyone is ready to explore new solutions.

Similarly to AI, this year at CES, there was overall a lot less fear and hesitation around going cookieless and more of a “let’s just do it” energy. I spent a lot of my own time talking to brands and sharing Cognitiv’s solutions for the cookieless world, and how there is great power in using GPT for context in real-time.

3. Inclusivity

The final major takeaway from CES 2024 was the focus on inclusivity in adtech. There is an increased demand for inclusivity, and “it’s not just the younger generation being idealistic,” as one of the panelists mentioned on the “CMO Insights: AI and Digital Inclusion” panel.

AI is playing a major role in the work towards inclusive advertising. Using AI, technology now has the ability to understand sentiment and relay messages in inclusive and authentic environments.

Just last October, Cognitiv released two new features built on top of our deep learning contextual capability: Inclusivity and Diversity. The features deliver a transformational approach to D&I media buying using AI. You can read more about it here.

Buying based on inclusivity not only unlocks more content for advertisers, it also helps them align their media buying with their creative messaging, brand suitability and help reach their DE&I media buying goals.

CES 2024

With Cognitiv being a company that heavily relies on AI in our products and day-to-day, I was excited to see the positive energy around AI and its advancements at CES 2024, and I am grateful I had the opportunity to go and be a part of it.

Until next time, Vegas!

Didn’t have the chance to connect with Cogntiv at CES 2024? Reach out to me at npapola@cognitiv.ai or shoot me a message on LinkedIn and let’s talk.