Carat showed up big at CES this year. From breakfast briefings exploring where intelligence meets intention to keynote appearances on the future of advertising, our team was on the ground capturing the innovations that matter most for marketers. We hosted sessions with industry leaders, shared insights on pairing technology with human creativity, and identified the trends that will shape how brands connect with consumers in 2026 and beyond. Here's what we learned.
When Intelligence Meets Intention
At CES 2026, the brands that truly broke through weren't the ones shouting loudest about their technical capabilities. They were the ones making people feel something.
The difference? Taking a Human-centered approach.
The standout innovations weren't just intelligent. They were intentional — transforming abstract capability into lived human experience.
While brands are investing in AI adoption to market more efficiently and enhance the scale of what they can deliver, the continuing, and in fact, growing importance of ‘human’ creators and human curation, taste, and lived experiences cannot be underestimated.
At Carat, we know that while AI is accelerating, we also believe we are entering a human renaissance. The future isn’t going to be any less human, and the brands break through will be the ones who continue to value human connection while integrating technology.
AI That Solves for People, Not Just Problems
Last year, "agentic AI" was the buzzword permeating CES. This year marked its "sophomore phase," the moment when the technology moved from hype to reality, from demos to everyday applications that solve for longstanding friction in our daily experiences.
Our very own Mike Law took the stage at CES this year with OpenAP to discuss this within the context of the future of advertising, sharing his insights on the importance of pairing technology and data with strong brands, culture, and human insight.
The Path Forward
The innovations that stood out at CES 2026 asked key questions:
- Not can we build it? But should we build it?
- Not what can this technology do? But what friction can it eliminate?
- Not how smart is this AI? But how does this make someone's life meaningfully better?
The future belongs to brands that understand a fundamental truth: Artificial intelligence without human design is just noise.
At CES 2026, we saw glimpses of that future. The question now is: Which brands will build it?
Want to dive deeper into the innovations shaping the future of human-centered AI?
Read dentsu's CES Rewind 2026 to explore this year’s five emerging themes:
- Agentic AI's Sophomore Phase
- Enhancing IRL Experiences
- Where Culture Gets Made
- The Resilience of 'Minimalist' Solutions
- The Rise of the Total Person Experience in B2B
Discover the standout innovations that combined artificial intelligence with human design and learn what these trends mean for your brand in 2026 and beyond.
Featuring insights from dentsu's leadership team at CES 2026, including perspectives from the 'CMO Futures: Where Intelligence Meets Intention' and 'CES for Marketers: Trends We Expect for 2026' breakfast briefing sessions.
