A CIO’s Guide To CES – And What’s Next In Enterprise Tech

An excerpt from the Forbes CIO newsletter. To get it to your inbox, click here.

Happy New Year! In this issue, we look at the early buzz around CES 2023, the annual extravaganza of consumer tech that kicks off next week in Las Vegas. We’re also introducing some new features to bring you perspectives from peers and pundits in the world of enterprise tech.

With 100,000 participants expected to attend CES this year – up from 45,000 last year but down from the 171,000+ prior to the pandemic – the event is a great way to stimulate ideas about what’s coming. Although much of what’s hawked by the 3,100+ exhibitors is likely to end up in the dustbin of history, CES has also been a launchpad for transformative products. Among the products introduced since its launch in 1967: the computer mouse, video cassette recorder, camcorder, DVD, compact disc player, Commodore 64 computer, HDTV, plasma TV, Microsoft XBox, and – more recently – a host of wearables, robots, and other connected products or services. Click here for a fuller timeline and here for more information on the categories and exhibitors this year.

The theme for 2023 is “Human Security for All,” which is shorthand for using technology to solve tough challenges such as feeding a growing population in an unpredictable climate. (John Deere CEO and Chairman John May is slated to give a keynote speech from the mainstage–a first for an agriculture tech leader)

For inspiration on what to watch, here’s some advice from our expert Forbes contributors, all of whom I encourage you to follow. Industry veteran Tim Bajarin, who’s heading to show for the 48th time, gives advice on how to get the most out of the CES experience. Strategist Bernard Marr is looking for more real-world applications in health tech and smart homes, and writes that CES is set to become America’s largest auto show. Indeed, tech reporter Martine Paris notes that this year’s event will showcase robotaxis and host an Indy Autonomous Challenge to test autonomous cars for speed. Consumer tech writer Andrew Williams gives his take on next-gen VR headsets to check out.

What’s Next In Enterprise Tech

Of course, you don’t need to go to Las Vegas to figure out what’s next. 2022 will go down as a year of big stumbles for the Titans of Tech. A year after changing his company’s name from Facebook to Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is facing layoffs, losses, antitrust challenges, criticism from former colleagues and competition from smaller players. One example, from contributor Joe Koetsier, is technology from Accenture-backed startup Mobeus that prompted a major aerospace company to cancel a 40,000-unit order of Meta’s Oculus Quest VR headsets. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is ending his annus horribilis with major blows to his wealth, reputation and business performance. Both Zuckerberg and Musk were named to our 2022 list of Notable Career Crashes.

So what’s coming in 2023? Here is a conversation with Metis Strategy President and contributor Peter High about the growing strategic importance of the CIO role and what he’s seeing in terms of talent, workplace IT, and other innovations that CIOs will have to navigate. As with CES, the overarching challenge is how to leverage technology to drive growth that is good for the planet, people and profits.

A Tipping Point For Generative AI?

All the fuss around Open OpenAI’s ChatGBI is just the start. Expect to see more exciting and potentially unnerving applications of generative AI – in which machines create art, music, poetry, images, code, disease diagnoses and other tasks that were previously the domain of the human imagination. The impact on marketing, sales, entertainment, software design and – yes – journalism could be profound. Here’s Benjamin Laker’s take. Villanova professor Steve Andriole ponders whether machines should replace leaders. (I also recommend his take on Gartner’s penchant for redefining words in creative and sometimes inexplicable ways.) For more on AI, venture capitalist Rob Toews of Radical Ventures shares his AI predictions for 2023 while Joe McKendrick writes about the paradoxes of trying to implement AI solutions.

And that’s just one realm to watch. Add in challenges like sustainability, cybersecurity, talent, digital transformation and the need for agile strategies around data, Web3, 5G, and more. That’s why we’re launching a new series of CIO Insights from people working on the front lines of enterprise tech. I can’t think of a better place to start than with insights from Jonathan Lehr and the team at Work-Bench, a venture capital firm that supports early-stage enterprise tech startups.

Meanwhile, we’ve been treated to plenty of reminders this holiday season about the cost of ignoring antiquated technology and low-tech threats — from Southwest Airline’s system failure that’s stranded thousands of travelers to physical attacks on the power grid that left thousands without electricity. (As this publishes, Russia has resumed attacking Ukraine’s power grid, too.) Regulators are trying to create more competition, with a recent ruling against MasterCard and a push to block a VR acquisition by Meta and Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision. What studies do show is that digital leaders fare better in tough times and three-quarters of companies are investing in digital transformation.