Tag: Conference Whispers

  • Conference Whispers: Commercial UAV Expo 2026

    Conference Whispers: Commercial UAV Expo 2026

    Las Vegas, NV September 1- September 3

    Published: September 5, 2026                                             ID: TBW2243

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio  episode.

    ABSTRACT

    Commercial UAV Expo 2026 brought operators, manufacturers, pilots, software providers, and data specialists to Las Vegas. Discussions focused on autonomy, navigation, endurance, geospatial intelligence, fleet management, infrastructure inspection, public safety, and industrial operations. Exhibitors showcased technologies supporting drone missions from planning and deployment through data processing and operational execution.

    The Conference

    • A community of roughly 3500 industry professionals gathered in Las Vegas for the Commercial UAV Expo. The event was held at Caesars

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    Exhibits

    Forrest fires across Europe and North America are constantly in the news as of late. Technology exists to put across your forest to immediately identify when a small fire starts to attempt to mitigate massive fires but what tools exist to actually stop it from spread? Meet Ponderosa.ai creating an advanced stationed drone system for fire fighting drone swarm. Key features include autonomous swarm operation, rapid response, suppressant capacity of 50-100 gallons per swarm, and cost effectiveness with an aim of $10,000 per drone per year. The goal is to reach any ignition point within 5 minutes. Another special use case, Think Power Solutions specializes in partnering with utility company’s power, gas, or solar. Their specialty involves infrastructure inspection.

    Inertial Labs was on site to empower drones to find and reach their targets – even in the toughest circumstances. Note Inertial is a physics term derived from the word inertia. As you might suspect, it is all about an object’s resistance to change in motion or movement – at land or sea. They featured three-axis accelerometers, Magnetometers or digital compasses, GPS-aided navigation systems, Navigation if GPS is denied via gyroscopes, IMUs (Inertial Measurements Units), Let’s just say, they have the technology to ensure you find your drop zone no matter the obstacles.

    If your drone’s end destination is moving, the landing can be quite difficult without the right technology.  SixdofSpace Optical tracking for landing drones on any surface even those moving. This task requires high-speed optical tracker paired with IR or infrared beacons at the landing zone. They have been able to achieve accuracy within 1/10th of a degree.

    Sometimes the primary concern when looking at drones is endurance. On that front, Skyfront shared their product capable of 5 hours or 10 kilos payload for 1 hour. It has flown in over 30 countries, and is integrated with Starlink. They noted that due to the distance they fly, they found Starlink to be their preferred communication link. Golden Feather exhibited their all solid state power supplies. Specializing in high energy density batteries they achieved 550 Wh/kg or watt-hours per kilogram and700 Wh/L or Watt-hours per liter of volume of battery.

    If you are dealer seeking to find a supplier, Almo is a master distributor for drones plus many other areas of technology for enterprises including telecommunications. Almo is known for its solution based selling vs box selling as could be evident by the in booth featured vendors. For monitoring drones, they had Pierce Aerospace. Same feel as one you may have seen in countless movies in the context of air traffic control. For RTRobotics, there are three numbers you need to know. 1, 4 and 30. Their drone completely fits inside 1 backpack. It allows 4 payload mounts showing off its diversity. Finally, 30 – it can life as much as 30 pounds. Finally, blue listed drone pilot training by SensorOps. SensorOps simulations immediately feel familiar to anyone who watched the latest Top Gun movie. SensorOps enables critical mission training and development of muscle memory are for tough operations. This applies to potential flights to rescue or provide aid via a drone in subway system like NY City or the Vegas Loops Tunnels. In life, there are simply events you cannot practice for in the actual space you may need to fly. Realistic simulation leveraging same controller, same dials, same everything is the best preparation possible and what they strive to provide to drone operators.

    For those wondering where the open source in the drone space, ArduPilot non-profit out of Australia has a few hundred partner companies. ArduPilot created a product that is quickly filling in for DJI absence. Meet CubePilot that came out of ArduPilot some 10 years ago. CubePilot is distributed by NWblue.com and is in over 3 million aircraft. It bridges the gap between community projects and professional-grade hardware.

    The point of many drone flights is data collection. Understanding that data, no matter what drone type collected it is thus the entire point of the drone program. To that end, GeoCue LP360 has been fine tuning their solution for ethe complete lifecycle of ingestion process. In a Session summary by Darrick Wagg, he shared that the product updated its AI Classification tools, expanded sensor support, added tools to make interoperability easier and introduced lower price NDAA compliant model.  NDAA stands for National Defense Authorization Act. Together they focused on increasing automation to make it easy for anyone to evaluate their data.

    Regardless of the drone, many leverage a payload with LiDar. The problem with LiDar isn’t getting the imaging, it is getting the image processed. Meet YellowScan – easiest LiDar soluton – just press the yellow button. Super easy user experience to get LiDAR data out and processed.

    Conference Vibe

    Commercial UAV Expo brought together approximately 3500 industry professionals across the UAV commercial space. This year’s expo took over the entirety of Caesars Forum as they welcomed over 220 specialized vendors spanning platforms, LiDAR technologies, autonomous systems, landing systems, navigations systems, energy options and payload solutions. The event presented attendees with the opportunity for training and also featured demonstrations. Registration was quite efficient and easy to find. Enjoy the walkabout to and through both expo halls. We always try to bring fresh coverage each year. For those interested in additional research regarding Commercial UAVs should also refer to our previous coverage of the event in 2025 and 2024.

    We once again live streamed from on site to share the experience. Be sure to catch coverage on my syndicated segment on the nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    We conducted research for forthcoming Whisper Reports. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    1. Whisper Report: What drone myth needs to die?
    2. Whisper Report: What drone risk is nobody talking about?
    3. Whisper Report: What breaks between a drone demo and daily operations?
    4. Whisper Report: What drone cost nobody warned you about?
    5. Whisper Report: Where do drones still need a human?
    6. Whisper Report: What drone promise won’t happen soon?
    7. Whisper Report: What’s the most overrated drone spec?
    8. Whisper Report: What drone data does nobody actually use?
    9. Whisper Report: What won’t regulation fix?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Commercial UAV Expo Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be cited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    The video concludes with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the Commercial UAV Expo live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The Commercial UAV Expo will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Caesars Forum in September. The exact dates are not released at press time.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples of products in the same category may have also been on display.

    Corporate Headquarters

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    Downloading, re-uploading, or redistributing this file is not permitted under any license.

    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Whisper Report: What’s the biggest gap between AI demos and AI in production?

    Whisper Report: What’s the biggest gap between AI demos and AI in production?

    Published to Whisper Club: August 31, 2026        ID: TBW2217

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    ABSTRACT

    “This Whisper Report investigates What’s the biggest gap between AI demos and AI in production? Drawing on expert insights from Ai4 2026 in Las Vegas, it explores why  successful demonstrations often struggle when exposed to real enterprise environments, legacy technology estates, and production-scale uncertainty. The discussion highlights challenges that remain hidden until deployment. Cited experts: Eran Carmel Rubrik, Ankur Trivedi Digital AI, Mudit Sinha Lineaje.”

    Analysis available only to Whisper Club at this time. Join the YouTube Whisper Club at the Whisper Club Level to get access to the video edition today.

    Related playlists and Publication

    1. Whisper Report: What’s the biggest gap between AI demos and AI in production?
    2. Whisper Report: What AI cost nobody warned you about?
    3. Whisper Report: What’s the most valuable AI use case that isn’t GenAI?
    4. Whisper Report: What AI result surprised your organization most?
    5. Whisper Report: Where will AI agents replace workflows first?
    6. Whisper Report: What AI promise won’t happen soon?
    7. Whisper Report: What AI capability is still mostly hype?
    8. Whisper Report: What AI assumption breaks first at scale?
    9. Whisper Report: What AI problem still needs a human?
    10. Conference Whispers: Ai4 2026 Playlist
    11. Conference Whispers: Ai4 2026

    Corporate Headquarters

    2884 Grand Helios Way

    Henderson, NV 89052

    Downloading or re-uploading this videos is not permitted under any license.

    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: All Wireless & Prepaid Expo 2026

    Conference Whispers: All Wireless & Prepaid Expo 2026

    Las Vegas, NV August 18- August 19

    Published August 22, 2026:                                                            ID: TBW2236

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio  episode.

    ABSTRACT

    “The All Wireless & Prepaid Expo brought together wireless dealers, carriers, MVNOs, distributors, repair providers, and telecom suppliers as Las Vegas hosted conversations around channel economics, customer acquisition, fraud prevention, eSIM adoption, dealer enablement, wireless retail operations, and the evolving business models supporting growth across the wireless ecosystem.”

    The Conference

    • A community of the wireless retail ecosystem including dealers, carriers, MVNOs, distributors, and service providers
    • 67% of attendees are retail-focused spanning dealers, repair shops and electronic merchants.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    Exhibits

    Have you ever thought, I would like to start my own wireless network service and become an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). MVNO doesn’t have to worry about the spectrum, as the physical network infrastructure and spectrum is procured from a MNO (Mobile Network Operator) – like Verizon. If you are thinking of creating one based on Verizon’s physical infrastructure and spectrum, Supersonic Mobile was in expo hall ready to help you. Supersonic Mobile is what’s referred to as an MVNE – E for enabler. They provide technical and operational support to MVNOs such as sim card set ups, billing and customer relationship management, and regulatory compliance and legal reporting. Supersonic Mobile’s customers can access their services via API or a platform.

    With over 20-years in telecom by their own account and a relationship with multiple MNOs, Telgoo5 is focused on growing your business. To them, you are more than a number, you are a partner. They understand a MVNE must provide support from the beginning all the way until the solution is live in the field and thriving. BeQuick was on site. They are not a full MVNE but instead focus on best of breed business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS). BeQuick is 100% software based and the solution is a software platform that is carrier agnostic with guaranteed four 9’s uptime. Within the BSS/OSS stack is a requirement to manage customer fraud risk and charge backs. Vesta was in expo hall to not only satisfy that requirement but to remove some of the risk for operators. Vesta manages digital payments and assumes the risk of fraud and charge back liability for carriers and MVNOs alike.

    Moving to the customer side of wireless solutions, there are Master Agents also called Master Sales Agents. Unlike the network stack, Master Agents handle things like sales volumes, commissions, training and support downstream. Agents focus on dealers to distribute MNOs and MVNOs networks. Perfect Vision is a Master Agent that provides marketing experts, sales agents and client experts to protect your business. A Master Agents specializing in Verizon, Wireless Masters would like to help you open your very own phone shop! Dreaming bigger? Maybe you want a store to offer wireless and Fiber? Unwired was on site offering access to AT&T, Ultra Mobile, Cricket, Joi and MobileX plus the ability to resell fiber!

    In addition to network operators, enablers, agents, the event also featured many accessory providers as well as support functions such as marketing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and human resources which we cover in their individual domain events. In addition, organizations to support those attending. NWIDA or the National Wireless Independent Dealers Association was on hand. Described as the AAA for wireless dealers, on average they help dealers save about $25,000 a year. This savings comes through 10-20% off of credit card processing, payroll processing, accessories, devices, business and health insurance. For those who specialize in phone repair, Tech Care Association was there for you! Their resources include a where to repair list for all its members as a public service to those needing repairs. They provide training, shop tools, and evaluate web pages ensuring your repair business has what it needs to succeed.

    Conference Vibe

    An energized gathered of wireless dealers, repair-shop owners, electronic retailers, MVNOs, carriers, distributors, and telecom suppliers gathered at Caesars Palace in the Julius Ballrooms for the All Wireless & Prepaid Expo. Registration was fairly efficient with an expedited line for exhibitors. Enjoy the walkabout to and through expo hall. You’ll notice a lot of accessory providers and vendors for general support were also on site. General support vendors include those for marketing, managing customers and human resources. We once again live streamed from on site to share the experience. Be sure to catch coverage on my syndicated segment on the nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    It may be helpful to understand some of the acronyms used in the room like MNO’s (Mobile Network Operators eg. AT&T and Verizon) own the network infrastructure. MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) offer wireless despite not owning any spectrum or tower/network infrastructure. In addition, MVNE (Mobile Virtual Network Enablers) provide technical and operational support to MVNOs such as sim card set ups, billing and customer relationship management, and regulatory compliance and legal reporting. Master agents aggregate sales volume, handle commissions, provide training and support, and take an override on what their downstream sells.

    We conducted research for six additional forthcoming Whisper Reports. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: All Wireless & Prepaid Expo Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be cited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.  The video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the All Wireless & Prepaid live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The dates for next years’ All Wireless & Prepaid Expo have not been announced a time of press.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

    Corporate Headquarters

    2884 Grand Helios Way

    Henderson, NV 89052

    Downloading, re-uploading, or redistributing this file is not permitted under any license.

    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: Black Hat USA 2026

    Conference Whispers: Black Hat USA 2026

    Las Vegas, NV August 1-6, 2026

    Published: August 9, 2026                                                    ID: TBW2226

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli
    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio and Computer Talk Radio.

    ABSTRACT

    Black Hat USA 2026 brought 20,000 cybersecurity professionals to Las Vegas, where researchers, vendors, and practitioners examined the evolving risks introduced by agents, AI, and increasingly complex digital environments. The event held over 100 briefings, 125 tool demonstrations and 120 sponsored sessions. Discussions across sessions and exhibits touched on agent security, threat hunting, governance, infrastructure resilience, device vulnerabilities, fraud prevention, and professional development.

    The Conference

    • A community of 20,000 verified cybersecurity professionals gathered at Black Hat USA. Over 100 briefings, 115 tool demonstrations, 120 sponsored sessions and 425+ Exhibits and vendors gathered across the 6 days.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    Sessions

    We were given an advance preview of the talk, “Promptward EOD: Skillful Agent Detonation” by Zenity’s CTO and Co-Founder Michael Bargury. Just by visiting the wrong website you could be compromised. They specifically demonstrate how an agent can jump from viewing a web site to gaining control of your bank account. Now that is scary.

    We were also provided an exclusive summary to the session, “Obscurize: Malware for Defense and Counter Offense”. As a response to recent malware, Aaron Beardslee, Manager of Threat Research at Securonix created Obscurize. Sitting above the EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), it acts as an additional layer. Leveraging the malware’s own fingerprint, its psychology is studied and learned. This tool then makes a sandbox look like a bare metal system or a bare metal system look like a sandbox. This enables the hunter to trick the malware to kill itself or to run thinking it found the goods. The best part? Obscurize is free and publicly available for your to use during your threat hunting!

    Exhibits

    Fast track adoption of agents has organizations trying to keep up and stay safe. Sometimes in the chaos, the best laid plans go astray. Sometimes, guardrails are not enough. We have all read the horror stories of agents gone wild! Meet PointGuard AI the ultimate kill switch for agents. Avepoint aims to be your unifying trust layer for AI. Their focus is cloud security, safe data governance, and resiliency challenges across the AI stack.

    If you are Fortune 2000 and concerned about tracking agents, Zenity was looking to meet you! Softbank and other clients leverage Zenity to understand what data is being touched by agents and what that intent of those agents are. Not only that it will steer agents into the correct direction to help keep them on track. 

    Mission critical infrastructure for sovereign AI that is private to you. Cogl provides a knowledge graph and enables threat hunting and investigation in a transparent and secure manner. As you might expect, this technology is leveraged in environments ranging from the Department of Defence to banking.

    Focusing on the Security Operations Center, BlueVoyant brings what they like to call ‘holistic protections’. Their approach combines internal monitoring and ecosystem oversight. Traditional operating challenges are now assisted by AI driven agentic capabilities. The four risks they aim to mitigate include: data security and leakage, identity vulnerabilities, supply chain and vendor risks, and operational inefficiencies.

    Threat hunting is the ultimate game of cat and mouse in cybersecurity. Securonix was on site to share their tool with fellow threat hunters. Whether you want your sandbox to trap the threat or to let it run to so you may study it’s behavior, Securonix provides both options. They even have their own threat hunting team that regularly leverages the tool as they assist the clients security their own environments.

    One of our favorite areas is at the edge, connected devices and the Internet of Things – IoT. These devices span from connected vehicles to the simple fire alarms in your home. These devices often bring vulnerabilities. Due to the difficulty in updating their firmware, connected device firmware vulnerabilities become your environment’s weakest point and the point of failure. Finite State focuses on assisting companies reduce the noise as they test their products before shipping. This noise reduction enables their clients to find their vulnerabilities before they ship products to their customers. 

    Today, a wire money transfer is frequently still sent in plain text. Thus, it is not surprising it is a huge target of fraud. Introducing InoQlate! A Canadian non-profit providing a solution to your wire transfer security issues. Close that door to fraud and stop sending wire transfer information over plain text communication lines!

    Seeking a boutique penetration firm? Meet the white hats from Black Hills Information Security. They beg you to make their lives harder! They don’t want to succeed when they try to break into your infrastructure! Providing penetration testing, SOC operations, IR (incident response), and training. Perhaps the most unique thing coming out of Black Hills Information Security is their well known communication medium: Comics! Their security comic series titled, “The Future is ***” available at 750 comic book stores. Not only that, their wisdom is available via a game to make training even more approachable. The game Back Doors & Breaches boasts over 150,000 sales to date.

    Finally, the ultimate organization for security professionals, ISC2 was in expo hall. Known as the largest professional organization for cyber security professionals, there is likely a chapter near you! Providing certifications, community and advice with the goal to the make the world a safer place.

    Conference Vibe

    Cybersecurity specialists gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for Black Hat 2026 and it did not disappoint. Over 20,000 verified attendees gathered for over 100 briefings, 115 tool demonstrations, 120 sponsored session and over 425 exhibits and vendors. The only expected thing we didn’t hear much of is organizations preparing for the quantum impact to cybersecurity. You may recall last year we were the first ones given permission to video expo hall at Black Hat USA. This year, enjoy a first ever live Black Hat USA walkabout while expo hall its open. We once again live streamed from on site to share the experience. Be sure to catch coverage on my syndicated segment on the nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    While at Black Hat, we conducted research for 9 additional forthcoming Whisper Reports. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel first.

    1. Whisper Report: What cyber risk are we all ignoring?
    2. Whisper Report: What security advice is actually wrong?
    3. Whisper Report: If AI attacks get smarter, what fails first?
    4. Whisper Report: What’s broken in identity we still accept?
    5. Whisper Report: What attack will dominate headlines next year?
    6. Whisper Report: What cyber myth needs to die in 2026?
    7. Whisper Report: What security trend is mostly hype?
    8. Whisper Report: What breach changed how you operate?
    9. Whisper Report: What security problem can’t AI solve?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Black Hat USA 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be cited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    The video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending Black Hat USA live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The Black Hat USA will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Mandalay Bay on August 3-8, 2027.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

    Corporate Headquarters

    2884 Grand Helios Way

    Henderson, NV 89052

    Downloading, re-uploading, or redistributing this file is not permitted under any license.


    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: Ai4 2026

    Conference Whispers: Ai4 2026


    Las Vegas, NV August 4-6, 2026

    Published: August 9, 2026                                                                            ID: TBW2216

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    ABSTRACT

    “Ai4 2026 experiencing over 50% growth and welcomed more than 12,000 in the enterprise AI ecosystem to Las Vegas. Over 100 countries were represented amongst attendees and 400 exhibitors. Vendors, startups, and practitioners discussed what it takes to move artificial intelligence beyond experimentation. Conversations across the show floor touched on governance, deployment, security, agents, data accessibility, software delivery, and business process transformation as organizations continued evaluating paths toward large scale adoption.”

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio and Computer Talk Radio

    The Conference

    • A community of over 12,000 came together in Las Vegas for the 9th annual Ai4 event. Attendance grew by over 50% at the 9th annual event. Vendors grew from 250 in 2025 to 400 in 2026.
    • Start-ups were also present growing from 25 last year to 66 this year.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    Exhibits

    It’s wonderful when an individual AI pilot works, maybe even delivers business value to a department. Getting that solution to deploy corporate wide is very different. Engineers that have worked in the largest organizations always smile when they see the demos and chuckle inside as looks great but what about at my scale. For those seeking industrialized AI delivery, ModelOp is a delivery engine meant to overcome frictions that occur during integration. It’s purpose is to enable those organizations to take the idea and realize it in production for the entire organization.

    Governance was on the mind of many. Actualyze AI was founded by repeat founders who have spent their careers in large scale infrastructure and transformations. They focused their solution on protecting data, models routing, financial spend, and the type of infrastructure a technology requires to become part of enterprise IT.

    For business work flows that make a difference, Evalueserve wants to remind you, don’t start with the technology to enable scale. Their organization focuses on business workflows that make a difference. They serve life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing and consumer good verticals. While many solutions leverage AI, many metrics such as cost and quality do not require AI. Never approximate when math can get you the precise answer.

    One critical aspect of reliability is the infamous undo button or some method of recovery. There is rule in cybersecurity to assume when not if; as such one must prepare for how to recover when it goes wrong. It may be quite wise to adopt this stance in AI as well. Rubik is all about deploying agents – safely.  They provide capabilities for agent monitoring, control, and something new – rewind agents. As one might suspect this includes the ability to back-up and recover from agent behavior. In their world, no agent permanently wiped out my database or the code we wrote – it can be recovered.

    When you have a complex web of services, models, or agents. Understanding the complex web of dependencies is critical for operations with any type of reliability. The infamous Solar Winds incident let everyone know that the software supply chain and its dependencies are critical for security and stability. The solution turned out to be something in the industry referred to as SBOM for software bill of materials – expanding on the shipping term. Now Lineaje has thought of this problem and created a solution for AI and AI agents. Their solution provides dependency crawler, checks and suggests upgrades for compatibility and provides what they like to call security layer for agent builders.

    Some environments are tougher than your average environment such as those that have required decentralization or compartmentalization of information such as government and military environments and related applications. Axonis was in expo hall to serve you. They also create a trail of decisions. Not about insights but rather save the final decision made by humans and AI. They like to think of it as a creating a feedback loop for audit and training models on past decision. They referred to it as metadata on data; we have shared this approach before. The hash of an image matched against the hash of what is in front of someone for authentication during our coverage of ISC West.

    Not all AI solutions involve Large Language Models or LLMs. Modulate is a voice ai platform that provides all your common conversational understanding requirements for any conversational need. Like the advice provided in Whisper Report: Which spatial computing use case will scale fastest?, Modulate is growing through a pivot to APIs. By leveraging an architecture of highly specialized models, each trained for a narrowly defined purpose, a given application can combine them in a manner that fits its environment. Their architecture leverages these specialized models to monitor conversational tone and provide insight into intent, meaning, emotion, and context. Together they refer to their architecture as an ensemble listening model to understand and identify user behavior. This AI architectural approach of leveraging several specialized machine learning models is one that provides a high degree of success and has a long track record of enterprise results at scale.

    If you have an enterprise software development team and are seeking an AI Powered DevSecOps Platform meet Digital AI. Their environment is specifically focused on regulated industries. They purported clients such as the Top 10 banks in N. America and Europe, and the top 5 Global airlines, top 4 N. American Insurance Companies. Their use of AI is very purposeful, is strictly to enhance delivery and planning capabilities to accelerate delivery. 


    Department strictly focused on marketing and customer data? Kana.ai marketing operating layer was designed for you. Kana provides an agentic End to end solution for marketing that moves to where the customer data’s resides offering a continuous agentic layer across marketing stack. The named elements of the marketing stack they service include: strategy planning, audience building, activation, and measurements such as MTA – multi-touch attribution and MMM Marketing Mix Modeling.

    Two hurdles frequently stand in the way of AI’s success. On one hand, corporations may have their history locked up on physical books. On the other hand, organizations creating models need data to train and a controversial method of scanning physical books is involved. One reason for the controversy is that the organizations are breaking the spines to digitally scan them. Both hurdles can be solved by ARC document solutions. Another hurdle for capturing data, particularly notes are notes on the go. If find yourself want to take notes on the go or for when you are not in front of your computer, Ninja Concepts AI note takers offer you different options to fit your needs.

    Conference Vibe

    This enterprise AI gathering focused on adoption, implementation, governance and business outcomes. This wasn’t about the clouds and sizzle, more about show us real impact. Attendance shot up more than 50% from last year’s crowd of 8,000 to more than 12,000 attendees this year! Over 100 countries were represented and expo hall exploded from 250 exhibitors to 400! Due to their explosive growth there were some growing pains. The registration lines for some attendees was reported in excess of 90 minutes. Navigation was a bit tougher than usual as the convention put the show carpet over a large majority of the navigational booth numbers making finding vendors very very difficult. I had not witnessed this error at other events at that location previously. In addition, perhaps due to the explosive growth, the connectivity was exceptionally challenging at the same level or worse than CES. At that same time, the energy and excitement easily matched and dare I say, exceeded CES this year. At one point I recall literally realizing I could not feel my face from so much smiling. Enjoy the walkabout to and through expo hall. We always try to bring you fresh vendors in our coverage but you will recognize many brands in the walkabout from our coverage of other data related events such as the Informatica World, or our coverage of Put Data First.

    We once again live streamed from on site to share the experience. Be sure to catch coverage on my syndicated segment on the nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    We conducted research for Six additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    1. Whisper Report: What’s the biggest gap between AI demos and AI in production?
    2. Whisper Report: What AI cost nobody warned you about?
    3. Whisper Report: What’s the most valuable AI use case that isn’t GenAI?
    4. Whisper Report: What AI result surprised your organization most?
    5. Whisper Report: Where will AI agents replace workflows first?
    6. Whisper Report: What AI promise won’t happen soon?
    7. Whisper Report: What AI capability is still mostly hype?
    8. Whisper Report: What AI assumption breaks first at scale?
    9. Whisper Report: What AI problem still needs a human?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Ai4 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    The video will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the Ai4 live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The Ai4 will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Venetian Expo on August 4-6, 2027.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

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    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • What’s the next SolarWinds-level breach waiting to happen?

    What’s the next SolarWinds-level breach waiting to happen?

    Published Whisper Club:     July 27, 2026                                      ID: TBW2092

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    ABSTRACT

    “This Whisper Report investigates what the next SolarWinds-level breach waiting to happen may be. Filmed at Black Hat USA 2025 in Las Vegas, it examines how rapidly evolving technologies are introducing new risks that organizations may not yet fully understand. Experts explore where these emerging vulnerabilities could surface at scale. Cited experts: Jonathan Rende Checkmarx, James Spiteri Elastic Security, Alex Lanstein StrikeReady, Brian Mehlman Cyber Innovate, Thomas Roccia Microsoft, Ariful Huq Exaforce, David DellaPelle Dune Security, Saket Bajoria Safe Security.”     

    Analysis available only in the Whisper Club. Join the YouTube Whisper Club at the Whisper Club Level to get access to the video edition today.

    Related playlists and Publications

    1. Whisper Report: How can organizations implement zero-trust security without disrupting user experience?
    2. Conference Whispers: Identiverse 2025
    3. Conference Whispers: Identiverse

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    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: InfoComm 2026 IC26

    Conference Whispers: InfoComm 2026 IC26

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio

    Published: June 21, 2026               ID: TBW2202

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Enjoy the related broadcast on Computer Talk Radio.

    ABSTRACT:

    InfoComm 2026 brought together enterprise visitors focused on AV innovation and experience delivery as Las Vegas hosted production, control, and infrastructure conversations shaping how organizations scale, automate, and integrate broadcast-ready environments across operations and customer engagement while exhibitors highlighted hardware, software, and workflow solutions without revealing full implications for deployment, cost, or long-term operational impact. 

    The Conference

    • A community of over 35,000 experience economy professionals engaged with over 807 exhibitors across the  395,000 square feet of exhibition space. A total of 94 countries were represented accounting for 20% of the presence.   

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    State of the Experience Industry

    The state of the experience industry was delivered at a Press event on opening day by AVIXA’s Mike Sullivan-Trainor. Interestingly their research showed significant budget resilience in the AV space; however, it was attributed to being able to handle inflation and continued passion for technology. Most projects experience a 10% tariff cost increase with the industry growing at a steady 4% forecasted rate. Currently 65% of AV providers are using some form of AI with 70% of that usage being generative. They purported that the percentage of organizations with AI governance rose from 33% in March 2025 to 47% in April 2026. One of the more interesting aspects is the growing trend of enterprises requiring broadcast capabilities across the organization in many divisions.

    Exhibits

    Shokz demonstrates their latest headset which comes in under 1 gram of weight. Due to their bone conduction approach, accessibility features such as wearing with hearing aids or glasses are standard across their line. They even have a headset that goes behind the head. Crescendo takes bone conduction to the floor providing bass you can feel. The best part, for highly urban areas where silent dance parties have taken off, it won’t disturb the neighbors!

    One vendor from the Taiwan Excellence booth is able to overcome language barriers. GIO Optoelectronics is able to sit between your company and your guest, customer or visitor. If you do not speak the same language, no problem, it will listen to you in your language and speak and print what you said in the language of the guest. This device offers accessibility for language barriers as well as for any guest that suffers from vision or auditory disabilities. This device can provide live, real-time language translation for 26 different languages.

    Opticis leverages optical fiber to provide high-quality long-distance AV cables. They offer HDMI cables that can maintain 4k or 8k resolution without signal loss for 300 meters. Their pure optical extender USXMP32 can transfer USB signals up to 330 meters. Their portfolio also can deliver up to 100 watts of power over 10 meters of USB cable as required in many meeting rooms.

    On the control front, unRAVL is focused on enabling more organizations and venues to have the full AV experience. Democratizing access so one doesn’t need a specialized expert to just create an experience. As an AI-powered AV operating system, it leverages AI to simplify that task at hand even enabling natural language interfaces.

    If you have ever operated the controls of an AV room and wondered why switching remote cameras is separated from operating the cameras themselves, you are not alone. Meet Telycam direct from China. Not only controlling what the camera sees and records but also the white balance and focus directly from the switch. The Telycam Mix One is an all-in-one production hub for the entire live event workflow. It can support up to six video channels simultaneously. Formats include NDI, HX3, RTMP, SRT, HDMI and USB. One interesting feature is its ability to record the program simplifying distribution.

    PTZOptics is an employee-owned company out of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Like many of the exciting products we have seen on site, this also originated from AV engineers not finding what they needed. In this case, they really needed a robotic camera with advanced automation. Their latest technology can do voice tracking. Real-time adaptability is enabled through a natural language interface to communicate with the device versus scripts! Finally, this robotic camera features dual-lenses. One lens as reference, one for the actual camera action tracking. Finally, a healthcare solution that just as easily could be ripped from our coverage of HIMSS 2026 was noted.  Their partner, LayerJot, created a solution able to track tool usage in the surgical room setting.

    We were able to see the latest DaVinci Resolve 21 features in action with a demo on site. A major theme of the demo was the ability to do so much locally. Abilities in the demo include reshaping faces as well as deblurring and cleaning up sharpness. As one might suspect, these features also come together to enable the editor to literally change the focus of the image they are editing from one object in the frame to a different object. Natural language searching and dedicated photos are fully integrated.

    One thing universally true in AV is that microphones are frequently involved, and they eat batteries like they are going out of style. Whether your organization finds this unacceptable due to the environmental impact or the cost of batteries, KLVR has an answer. KLVR offers a 48-battery capacity recharging unit for AA or AAA batteries. Each battery can charge for 1200 cycles. Therefore a single set of batteries replaces over 90,000 batteries. To ensure enduring performance, their batteries are Lithium-Ion Tech which provide higher voltage. The entire set of batteries can charge in approximately only 2 hours of time.

    Whether you are hosting a major award show, a CEO town hall, or your own 24-hour broadcast, Broadcast Management Group is ready to help. Frequently referred to as BMG, they offer full-service live production and own their own equipment. In addition, they operate a Network Operational Center (NOC) in DC with additional studios across the country including Las Vegas. If you have your own equipment and team just short a few professionals – they also provide managed services and staffing.

    Conference Vibe

    After 40 plus videos including two livestreams and over a dozen fact checks, our coverage of InfoComm 2026 better known as IC26 closes. Over 35,000 experience economy professionals engaged with over 807 exhibitors across the 395,000 square feet of exhibition space. A total of 94 countries were represented accounting for 20% of the presence.  The event was held in the Las Vegas Convention Center West Halls, North and Central. West Hall held their education programs with registration available. West Hall’s Food Court was open. It’s always interesting to see how a given event uses the space between West Hall and North Hall. For IC26 there were event signs supporting the theme. North Hall featured audio, broadcast AV, lighting and staging. North Hall also hosted a registration site and shares a huge food court just inside Central Hall Lobby. Central Hall hosted exhibitions across conferencing and collaboration systems, command and control solutions, digital signage platforms and educational technology topics heavily covered in our IC24 coverage.

    We always try to bring you fresh technologies in our coverage. During the walkabouts you will recognize some broadcasting technology vendors from our coverage of the NAB Show. Likewise robotic and intelligent cameras could just as easily be in our ISC West coverage. Finally, there are experiential technologies like those found during our coverage of G2E.

    We once again live streamed from on site. On Wednesday from outside of North Hall. Thursday we livestreamed from inside North Hall itself. I requested assistance on your favorite videos for my syndicated segment on the June 20th nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    We conducted research for TWELVE additional forthcoming Whisper Reports. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version distributed first via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    1. Whisper Report: What room problem are you solving right now?
    2. Whisper Report: What space is your tech making smarter right now?
    3. Whisper Report: What would you fix about hybrid meetings?
    4. Whisper Report: When does your tech work best unnoticed? 
    5. Whisper Report: Where does AI add the most value in a room?
    6. Whisper Report: What do customers love most about your tech?
    7. Whisper Report: What’s your first AI decision this year?
    8. Whisper Report: What accessibility feature should be standard?
    9. Whisper Report: What AV problem still has no good solution?
    10. Whisper Report: What happens when AI runs the room alone?
    11. Whisper Report: What’s the biggest waste in AV budgets today?
    12. Whisper Report: What will meeting rooms look like in five years?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: InfoComm 2026 IC26 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    We conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a video montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the IC26 live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The InfoComm 2027 will be at its alternate location in Orlando, Florida. The event is scheduled June 12-18.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

    Corporate Headquarters

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    Special thanks to AVIXA for the press credentials.

    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, The Answer is always in the Whispers, and One Change a Month, Vegas Convention Library; Leading Professionals, Real Questions, Real Time, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: Licensing Expo 2026

    Conference Whispers: Licensing Expo 2026

    Las Vegas, NV May 19- May 21

    Published: May 24, 2026                                                      ID: TBW2197

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio broadcast.

    ABSTRACT:

    “Licensing Expo 2026 brought together enterprise visitors focused on brand licensing, IP management, and merchandising strategy as Las Vegas hosted global retail, media, and marketing conversations shaping how brands extend, protect, and monetize intellectual property through AI, partnerships, and fan-driven experiences in an increasingly digital, connected marketplace for future growth and competitive differentiation across industries.”

    Conference

    • Licensing Expo 2026 had over 410 companies exhibit at this year’s gathering. Over 130 of the exhibitors were experiencing their first ever Licensing Expo event.
    • Over 12,500 industry professionals attended spanning retailers, manufacturers, brands, and marketers. Over 78 countries were represented among the 28% of global visitors.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.

    YouTube Fandom IRL

    Movie theaters hosting YouTube Live streams and replays? Screeny is looking to help fans of the same channel get together and enjoy content together In Real Life (IRL). If you have ever wanted to meet new friends and enjoy some really amazingly popular influencer content, the answer might just be your closest movie theater!

    Protect that Brand!

    While many licensing products have been upgraded to include AI features, MyMediabox is an AI-first platform. Designed with AI in mind at the beginning, AI is not a clumsy bolt-on within the platform but carefully leveraged for results. These results come in the form of rapid feature expansion and operational efficiency for users. Product reviews and style compliance a burden? No more. Requiring advanced natural language search? In their AI-first world, you get efficient workflows.

    If you simply need a US Agent to facilitate merchandise licensing partnerships, Creative Licensing Corporation is able to assist – globally. Working with an incredibly diverse portfolio, JRL Group was onsite with their 27 years’ experience. Featuring clients from famous motorsport brands, corporate brands, to educational brands, JRL Group is prepared to make the difference. If you view licensing as a strategic tool, LMCA would like to share their 40 years of experience with you. Their client-first strategy starts with the business needs. Those needs then turn into a strategic plan with tactical goals to execute against.

    Are you a brand owner who needs help with copyrights and patents? Need help with licensing agents, and licensees who use the brands? Dependable Solutions has all your brand needs covered throughout the lifecycle of a brand. They can assist at the copyright and patent stage of branding. Likewise they have licensing agents who can represent the brand outbound and licensees that desire to use brands. In addition, they handle the end-to-end management of the brand approvals, distribution, royalty tracking, and forecasting.

    Bringing 30 years’ experience, Octane5 describes their impact as licensing ecosystem wide. They serve the consumer, licensee and the licensor. In the management arena they cover the marketplace to contracts, approvals, royalties, and audits. No matter which direction, Octane5 believes they offer best in class in every direction.

    Conference Vibe

    Breaking all previous records, Licensing Expo 2026 had over 410 companies exhibit at this year’s gathering. Over 130 of the exhibitors were experiencing their first ever Licensing Expo event. The 12,500 industry professionals spanning retailers, manufacturers, brands, and marketers. Over 78% countries were represented among the 28% of global visitors. Interestingly over 49% of the visitors hold global decision-making power. Enjoy our video of getting to the exhibit and the walkabout in the event space. Given the complex licensing and the high value brands, we were not allowed to do an Expo Hall walkabout. The Mandalay Food Court for all to enjoy.

    We once again live streamed from on site on Tuesday requesting assistance on your favorite videos for my syndicated segment on the May 25th nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    We conducted research for additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Licensing Expo 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    The video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the Licensing Expo live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  
    The Licensing Expo will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Mandalay Bay on May 25-27, 2027.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

    TBW advisors LLC Logo

    Corporate Headquarters

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    Henderson, NV 89052

    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Vegas Convention Library, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.

  • Conference Whispers: ACT Expo 2026

    Conference Whispers: ACT Expo 2026

    Las Vegas, NV May 4- May 7,

    Published:  May 9, 2026                                           ID: TBW2184

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Enjoy the related Computer Talk Radio broadcast.

    The Conference

    • The event featured over 12,000 transportation stakeholders, 2400 fleet operators and over 400 exhibits.

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.
    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.
    • Just because a technology can do something in general doesn’t mean it will work in your environment or in a governed fashion. It is critical to validate a technology including its false positive and error rates.

    Intelligence Behind the Power

    Voltra enables end-to-end energy management via a software solution. This solution integrates into your charging infrastructure, cellular connectivity, battery storage, and solar generation. The data from this integration is leveraged for advanced diagnostics and streamlined deployment.

    FractalEV charges and optimizes your fleet. You no longer have to use an unintelligent charging station for your fleet. FractalEV integrates asset management tooling directly into the charging hardware station. This integration enables management of power loads and data across multiple units. As a Level 2 hardware manufacturer, your fleets will be fully charged overnight as is required at the enterprise level.

    Infrastructure Comes First

    If you are moving to electrification, it is not just your fleet that needs updating. You must update your facilities. That update will require the assistance of a professional engineer. Fortunately, ACT Expo had professional engineering firms on hand such as Colliers Engineers. Colliers Engineering specializes in local coordination including the critical steps of coordination with the local municipalities and jurisdictions, an often-forgotten step.

    Total cost of ownership of your fleet weighing you down? Burns & McDonnell would like to help you through any power transition to maintain business advantages. With 130 years as an engineering construction firm, they are a top power contender across the USA. From coast-to-coast they have worked with utilities leveraging offices in all 50 states and across Canada.

    Vehicles Built to Fit You

    Triz Engineering is offering what they call, “Engineering Certainty” through an OEM vehicle designed for you from the ground up. This customized commercial vehicle is designed to fit your needs and processes. The resulting product is designed to meet your requirements as opposed to imposed requirements. This enables the vehicle to simply slip into your fleet issue-free.

    If you are a smaller to mid-size OEM or even a start-up and in search of an electrification control unit, Ecutron was in Expo Hall. Ecutron was excited to share that their flexibility in terms of cost and timelines enables them to even serve the start-up market. To top it off, their support assists customers in successfully moving through the entire process.

    Not All Roads Are Electric

    In need of a natural gas fuel system? Hexagon was excited to share their system for heavy-duty trucks. Specifically, the range enables most sleeper cab use cases with travel up to 1200 miles or 1900 kilometers on a single fill. With flexible installation, Hexagon can go behind the cab OR on the rails depending on the exact truck leveraged. We were also able to capture an exclusive summary of when Hexagon discussed leveraging the right fuel for the right applications.

    Conference Vibe

    After 40 videos including a livestream and over a dozen fact checks, our coverage of ACT Expo 2026 closes. ACT Expo featured over 12,000 transportation stakeholders including 2400 fleet operators and over 400 exhibits. Registration and badge pick-up was quite efficient even as Expo Hall was ready to open. The event was hosted in West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Enjoy the walkabout to and through expo hall. ACT Expo made the choice to allow one of the few rooms with an overhead view of the entire expo hall to be used as the press room. Enjoy the View!

    Those at the booth excitedly shared, there was no fluff at the event. Everyone who they met and spoke with was there to do business. While no details specific attendance numbers were shared at press time, the hosting organization excitedly shared there were a lot of people. The body language seemed to indicate a lot more than expected. Perhaps, recent historical events creating a surge in demand for fleets to consider advanced clean technologies. One of the more interesting features was the ride and drives. Located around the LVCC West Hall Vegas Loop Drive, it was fascinating to watch with all the huge truck cabs driving around in circles.

    We always try to bring you fresh vendors in our coverage. Given we always lean towards the enterprise,  you will recognize many brands in the walkabout from our coverage of other events that had some related technology such as the Manifest 2026, SEMA AAPEX, and even CES. For research on really-large vehicles, we recommend our coverage of CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026.

    We once again live streamed from on site. On Tuesday requesting those attending to find me to answer future Whisper Report Questions, to introduce all to TBW Advisors LLC, and requesting assistance. Specifically, I requested assistance on your favorite videos for my syndicated segment on the May 9th nationally broadcast edition of Computer Talk Radio.

    We conducted research for four additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: ACT Expo 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition.

    The video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question, “What’s the best part about attending the ACT Expo live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    The ACT Expo will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on May 17-20, 2027.

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

    Corporate Headquarters

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  • Conference Whispers: Fintech Meetup 2026

    Conference Whispers: Fintech Meetup 2026

    Las Vegas, NV March 30 – April 1

    Published:  April 4, 2026                                                      ID: TBW2170

    Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

    Abstract

    Fintech Meetup 2026 in Las Vegas filled the show floor with live discussions between banks, fintechs, and platform providers. Demonstrations clustered around fraud controls, identity and onboarding, data context, lending infrastructure, payments flow, and applied AI. Across booths, emphasis shifted from point tools toward systems designed for scale, speed, and operational continuity.

    Stay tuned for future coverage on Computer Talk Radio

    The Conference

    • Fintech Meetup featured over 50,000 meetings, with over 1,000 CEO’s and Founders, and over 700 Financial institutions

    Cautions

    • Friendly reminder: this research provides examples of what was shared with us at the event, not an evaluation, validation, or recommendation of the given technology.
    • To fully enjoy this event, be sure to meet the deadlines for filling out your profile, requesting and accepting meetings. One should also pre-register for the table talks.

    Fraud and Trust

    Fintech is not a simple space to secure. Security isn’t a single tool but rather it’s a system. That system starts before money moves and ensures the sender and the receiver of the transaction are known. Deploying separate technologies to manage fraud, compliance, and risk in your organization?  Sardine AI likes to pack all that functionality into one tidy platform to stop fraud BEFORE the payment is made.

    While most Financial Crime investigation tools only see and investigate the tip of the iceberg, Unit21.ai would like to change that. Garnering the most attention are high risk alerts which the most sophisticated criminal organizations know how to avoid triggering. This leaves many Financial Crimes such as human trafficking undetected. But what if you had unlimited trained agents to investigate? By leveraging agentic AI, Unit21.ai enables an organization to conduct an in-depth review of every single alert. No hiring backlogs. Just results.

    Growth in Fintech often means getting additional clients. Such growth comes with risks. Is this new client really who they say they are? Getting this wrong is very, very, expensive. Sumsub would like to simplify this risky onboarding task. Their unified solution combines identity verification and fraud prevention. Enabling quicker decisions without increasing the risk profile. This opens the door to growth, in real-time.

    Identity & Intelligence

    Enabling frictionless, seamless access, Alcatraz is a vendor in the identity and access space and the physical cyber space. Knowing your customer and knowing your business or KYC and KYB are risk areas that get a lot of attention. To conquer this space, Alcatraz leverages facial authentication to ensure security without compromising privacy.

    Banking and Fintech, like many industries, still suffer from siloed data. While identity creates signals, data gives those signals context for action. Real-time precision is a constant requirement. tacnode shared their unified data platform to provide a single source of truth. This next-generation data infrastructure platform provides a common context for your heterogeneous regulated data environment.

    Effectively applying metacognition with a GPT over all customers channels for the benefit of the organization in a unified brain has arrived. Meet BankGPT by interface.ai. BankGPT enables lessons learned on customer voice interactions to improve interactions on chats or mobile applications. Whether you are seeking an employee co-pilot or a smart collections AI agent, interface.ai supports 148 languages.

    Financial Stack

    The credit lifecycle is critical to Financial Institutions. From lead generation to evaluation and credit decisioning or simply educating lenders, CRS Credit API offers a comprehensive solution. Their platform covers the entire lifecycle for business-to-business or direct-to-consumer. They were also excited to share their new authentication and evaluation products with attendees.

    LendAPI introduced their holistic ecosystem enabling comprehensive functionality spanning loan origination, loan management, and loan core. This compliance-ready solution provides all-in-one features enabling all the tools including consumer communication.

    Placing its differentiation on its order of operations, World Connection Outsourcers focuses on using AI to ensure first contact resolution. They prioritize AI, then journey mapping, the outsourcing. From their perspective, this enables the right answers at the right time.

    Payments & Velocity

    If your desired platform would be to unite the entire payment stack in one place, Sokin heard your request. Sokin handles cross-border payments, FX, treasury management, and checkout solutions. Not stopping there, on and off-ramps for Stablecoin to USDT and USDC are now also available.

    Conference Vibe

    After 48 videos and over a dozen and a half fact checks, our coverage of Fintech Meetup 2026 closes. Fintech Meetup featured over 50,000 meetings, with over 1,000 CEOs and founders, and over 700 Financial institutions.

    Registration was quite efficient. Pastries and snacks were scattered throughout expo hall. Mandalay Bay Food Court was also open. Enjoy the walkabout to and through expo hall*. One of the most unique aspects of Fintech Meetup is the networking! Beyond the talks and expo hall, Fintech Meetup is known for their one-on-one meeting schedules. Attendees must be on the look out to fill out their profile, request meetings, and accept meetings in order to participate. In addition, this event holds round tables break out rooms ensuring a true capability to build your network while you are there.

    We always try to bring you fresh vendors in our coverage but you will recognize many brands in the walkabout from our coverage of other Fintech events such as the Money 20/20 USA 2025, or our coverage of Fintech Meet-up both in 2025 and in 2024. Likewise in the cybersecurity and anti-fraud space you will recognize vendors from our coverage of ISC West, Identiverse, and Black Hat USA 2025.

    We conducted research for six additional forthcoming Whisper Reports for our clients. The playlists are unlisted but available with the video version to be distributed via YouTube Whisper Club upper tier membership area on our YouTube Channel.

    1. Whisper Report: What fintech problem are you solving in 2026?

    2. Whisper Report: How are you using AI to improve Financial Services?

    3. Whisper Report: What fraud risk are you tackling this year?

    4. Whisper Report: How are you advancing real‑time payments?

    5. Whisper Report: How are you improving lending decisions?

    6. Whisper Report: What digital‑asset tech are you building now?

    Readers and viewers wishing to experience the entire event are encouraged to view the Conference Whispers: Fintech Meetup 2026 Playlist in its entirety. The playlist will be sited in the end screen, description, and as a pinned comment of the video edition. Be sure to monitor the syndicated broadcast of Computer Talk Radio for additional coverage of Fintech Meetup. All related syndicated links will be shared in the Whispers membership area of our channel.

    The video edition will conclude with gratitude towards those that contributed and a montage of responses to Bonus Question “What’s the best part about attending the Fintech Meetup live in Las Vegas?”.

    Next Year’s Conference  

    *When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.

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    ©2019-2026 TBW Advisors LLC. All rights reserved. TBW, Technical Business Whispers, Fact-based research and Advisory, Conference Whispers, Industry Whispers, Email Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Whisper Reports, Whisper Studies, Whisper Ranking, Whisper Club, Whispers, The Answer is always in the Whispers, Vegas Convention Library, and One Change a Month, are trademarks or registered trademarks of TBW Advisors LLC. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without TBW’s prior written permission. It consists of the opinions of TBW’s research organization which should not be construed as statements of fact. While the information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, TBW disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. TBW does not provide legal or investment advice and its research should not be construed or used as such. Your access and use of this publication are governed by the TBW Usage Policy. TBW research is produced independently by its research organization without influence or input from a third party. For further information, see Fact-based research publications on our website for more details.