Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.
Kinsey Fabrizio recently stepped into the role of president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the massive trade organization that owns and produces the annual technology conference CES in Las Vegas, which earlier this year attracted nearly 150,000 attendees.
Fabrizio, whose new position became effective in May, has worked at CTA for almost two decades, joining in the membership department before working her way up and contributing to various initiatives and corners of the organization.
Vegas Inc sat down with Fabrizio to talk about her experience at CTA, her goals for the trade association and the endurance of Las Vegas as the host city of CES.
The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
You have been at CTA for 18 years. What about CTA made you want to stay all these years and now step into this leadership role?
I first noticed the people. Then, I got to meet our members and the companies in the industry that we represent, and they're building and creating the coolest products, from just fun things — like gaming and home entertainment — to truly life-transforming tech that's solving big challenges — like access to food and clean air and water and healthcare. I was just enamored with this amazing tech industry.
Then I went to CES, and that just blew my mind. ... The 2009 CES was my very first CES, and I really realized at that time that I was looking into the future, that CES was a look into the future, that I was seeing all of these amazing innovations and these amazing product launches that probably wouldn't even come to market for another 10 years, if ever, but were showcasing what is possible with technology.
What are some of your goals, or what do you want to accomplish in this new role?
To answer that effectively, I have to first speak about (CEO Gary Shapiro, who served as CEO for more than 35 years), and what an amazing leader he has been for the last over 40 years. He's brilliant, and he's such a legend, and I can't even think about trying to fill his shoes, because that is impossible. But how I do think about it is, Gary built this amazing organization alongside the CTA staff and the tech industry, that has set us up to be, financially, very successful and stable, globally recognized and known around the world.
And he's done this through so many different phases over the last four decades. If you think about, first, the launch of the internet, and how disruptive and transformative — in an amazing way — that was, and then everything that came after, from mobile to streaming to the transformation of hardware being powered by software, and just this explosion of technology in so many different applications.
And so there are these amazing moments and highs, but also these challenges that he led CTA through. If you think about 9/11, and you think about the housing crash in 2008 and the recession that followed, and then you think about COVID — Gary was right there leading us through all of these changes. So I feel like I've had the best teacher and the best experience and the best mentor. So, my main goal is to continue to build on that success and continue to evolve our show and our organization in ways that meet the tech industry's needs.
I also think it's important to continue to emphasize the value of in-person events and coming together to see a trade show in-person. There is nothing like watching firsthand a demo of a new product, whether it's a new robotic application that will be able to fold laundry or do tasks around the house or an exoskeleton that can give somebody who has no mobility the ability to walk. Those things are really impactful, and seeing them in person is so important. So, my focus is continuing to build on all of the amazing things that CTA has done over the last few decades.
What makes CES so unique, and why is Las Vegas still the destination for it?
I wouldn't have CES anywhere else. Las Vegas is the perfect place to have it, because of the phenomenal venues, the (Las Vegas Convention Center) — especially since the renovation. I think it's the best convention center in the entire world. It has so many tech capabilities. The halls are set up in a way that really meet the needs of CES, but then also there's meeting space around it, and there's outdoor space and there's transportation options, so it allows for travel and convening and exhibiting all in one space — and that's just the convention center. We also use other venues around Las Vegas, like The Venetian, which has the expo space, but then also has ballrooms and hospitality suites and meeting rooms, and of course we're using Fontainebleau across the street and Resorts World, and Wynn and Encore, and MGM properties. We have a whole separate part of CES called C Space that takes place at Aria and Cosmo and Bellagio, and we do our preshow media event in Mandalay Bay. So we really use so much of Las Vegas.
It's a city that allows that, because of all of the international flights that can come in, and all of the hotel rooms, and all of the restaurant options and the entertainment options.
What makes CES unique and special is that, one, we bring (in) more people from outside the United States than any other trade show. We bring 55,000 people from outside the U.S. to Las Vegas, and so we are a global convener when it comes to media, buyers, attendees and exhibitors. Our customers know that if they're looking to get into any market in any part of the world, CES is the place to come to.
Another thing that makes CES special is we audit our attendance, and not a lot of shows do this, and it's really important because we know exactly who was at CES. And we're able to share this information. We post it publicly on our website, and we share it with our exhibitors, so they know the value of the audience that they're meeting with, and they know they're going to meet with a really highly qualified, engaged and interested audience.
We are (also) constantly evolving and bringing new categories and new parts of the tech industry to life. So AI, of course, it's been a conversation for the last like almost decade, but it was a big conversation at CES 2026 and we created a new part of the show just focused on AI called the CES Foundry, and it was for companies that have AI software solutions ... that wanted to showcase them in a different way ... to a curated audience. And we had over 8,000 attendees come to that part of the show, so that was a huge success.
We're always looking to create opportunities for different segments of the tech industry — advanced mobility is an area that's grown in West Hall. We basically have an auto show that's showcasing safety solutions, advanced mobility, autonomous driving and electrification. We have a whole digital health part of the show. We have a food tech and agriculture tech. Really, everything that you can think of that's being touched or transformed by technology, you can find at CES.
We're about halfway between this year’s CES and next year’s CES. Do you want to talk about what you're looking forward to, or anticipating for the 2027 event?
AI will continue to be a topic, but we're seeing (a) shift in growth in AI, as in agentic AI. So you will be able to expect to see that at CES — dedicated areas focused on agentic AI companies, showcasing how their agents will be interacting in the real world, how consumers, and companies and organizations will be able to use their agentic AI solutions. So, (we’re) really excited about that.
Industrial manufacturing, and enterprise manufacturing and robotics, is an area that's really important, and we will have opportunities for those companies to showcase their solutions. One thing that we've transformed throughout the years, is not being just consumer tech, but also enterprise tech, as well. So, you'll see those solutions. Energy is really important right now, as we have more and more AI solutions come to market. We need more power, and so that is a critical part of CES, and we'll have exhibits covering everything from grid solutions to alternative power sources and solutions.
A couple years ago we started using the Sphere for keynotes, and that's been wildly successful. We'll continue to do that.
Technology is always evolving. How do you anticipate CTA continuing to grow at that same rapid pace that technology is and evolving alongside it?
Artificial intelligence is really going to transform this in every single way, and it's foundational to most every product category now. So you're seeing AI underpinning robotics, physical AI — but in health, in computing, in mobility, even your TVs will be TVs that have AI built into them, to make every experience smarter and more personalized to you as a consumer. So, we'll continue to grow those areas.
Some additional areas that we’ll expand into (are) this evolution of digital health into longevity tech. So digital health, you can think of as technology that can treat and manage illnesses or conditions, or track fitness. But longevity health is tech that's a little bit more proactive, that can help you live a longer and healthier life, focused on wellness and proactive behaviors that can drive healthier outcomes.
We (also) want to continue to make sure that there is space for newcomers. L'Oreal is an example of a company that has joined CTA and is a member, and you would maybe wonder why is a cosmetic company a member? Well, they have tech applications and solutions too.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Small companies are really important to CTA and CES. Eighty percent of our members are small- to medium-sized companies, and we have an entrepreneurial council that's focused on these smaller companies that is really telling CTA, “Hey, this is what I need as a small business. I need to connect with investors. I need mentoring. I need to convene with other small businesses on best practices, and how they're doing things, and how they're working. And I need to network, and I need to come together with other companies like me, but I also need to connect with large companies to learn from them.”
So we have resources that help these companies, and then we also have at CES a special part of the show called Eureka Park, which is dedicated to startups and early-stage companies that want to come launch a product. We subsidize that part of the show, so it's very low-cost. We want to make it a low barrier to entry, so any small startup with a phenomenal product and idea can come to CES and showcase it there. That's really important to us.