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Conference Whispers: AAPEX & SEMA 2026
Conference Whispers ^SM: AAPEX & SEMA 2026

Las Vegas, NV November 3-6, 2026

Published: November 7, 2026 ID: TBW2289

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

ABSTRACT

AAPEX & SEMA 2026 brought automotive aftermarket professionals, manufacturers, distributors, repair specialists, and technology providers to Las Vegas. Discussions spanned diagnostics, repair workflows, vehicle data, parts distribution, shop operations, warehouse automation, customization, and technician enablement. From precision alignment and advanced diagnostics to supply chain automation and aftermarket innovation, exhibitors showcased technologies supporting the entire vehicle lifecycle.

Computer Talk Radio Edition.

The Conference
- AAPEX & SEMA 2026 brought automotive aftermarket professionals, manufacturers, distributors, repair specialists, and technology providers to Las Vegas. The event leveraged over a million square feet of exhibition and hosted over 150,000 people.
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

Nothing is worse than one’s car not working properly but you cannot figure out what’s wrong. Pico Technology leverages high-speed automotive oscilloscopes which display voltage signals over time to get detailed analysis of electrical waveforms. Oscilloscopes are similar to a voltmeter you might be more familiar with; however, multimeters are a one-time measurement as opposed to continuous changes with graphical displays. This in turn enables observation of waveform shapes, amplitude, rise and fall times, and transient events – critical to diagnostics. The sophistication of their products enables non-intrusive mechanical diagnostics. That means no engine tear downs, which lead to lower costs, and reduced downtime.

Moving to the under belly of the car, Hunter Engineering Company is a well-known exhibitor at Joe’s Garage at AAPEX. Hunter’s HawkEye Elite alignment system leverages high-definition cameras and reflective targets mounted to tires to measure all 4 wheels. These reflective targets avoid rim contact and enable accurate measurement in under 90 seconds! To ensure the tire is truly balanced even under real-world conditions, they leverage the Road Force Elite balancer which applies a load roller against the spinning tire enabling better pinpointing of any structural tire defects and vibration issues others miss.

Getting the best fuel economy is always on everyone’s mind when gas prices are soaring! Engine management includes ECUs (electronic control unit), MAF/MAP sensors (mass air flow/ manifold absolute pressure), O2 sensors and fuel injectors. Together they maintain the air-fuel ratios to maximize fuel economy and minimize tailpipe emissions. For this critical function, quality matters. Low grade replacements will have slower response times or signal drift causing your vehicle to be wasteful as opposed to optimal. Astemo is a worldwide leader and dedicated to quality. They bring this same passion to quality to everything they manufacture spanning throttle bodies, ignition coils, MAF (mass air flow) sensors, CPS and crankshaft sensors, Showa, Nissin, Keihin carburetors, Tokico shocks.

Sometimes one is not trying to customize their vehicle or anything fancy – one just wants a simple replacement part. They don’t want the part to be cheaper and fail to function but rather desire the quality of a new car part. Intermotor produces OE (original equipment) replacement fit and calibration components. Their parts are extensively engineered and tested to ensure they match original European, and Asian import factory calibrations. These calibrations help ensure phantom trouble codes won’t appear with their aftermarket components.

Schaeffler is a Tier-1 engineering powerhouse that supplies original equipment, engineering and system-level manufacturing to major global automakers. These are distributed through brands such as LuK, INA and FAG. They also offer complete repair solutions including every nut and bolt required for successful execution.

Operating the aftermarket and ride performance business of Tenneco, DRiV is home to brands such as Monroe, Moog, Walker, and FelPro. Their dominant focus is on the evolving vehicle platforms. Their new products announced spanned electronic suspension struts, pre-assembled strut assemblies, steering linkages and EV-specific braking/chassis solutions.

Seeking a massive dataset that includes all automotive and light-duty vehicles in North America for the last three decades? Meet DataOne whose dataset is leveraged to power workflows across automotive portals, dealer management systems (DMS), insurance verification, and even warranty platforms. Including details such as trim, safety, and equipment data, their VIN decoding and vehicle specification data set is one to evaluate.

Boosting pick accuracy to reduce turnaround time and optimizing floor footprints for automotive part distributions in the industrial supply chain, Siggins was on site. Their turnkey warehouse automation, conveyor systems and automated storage retrieval systems (ASRS) for sortation lines is worth exploring.

For some, understanding the difference between a flathead and Phillips (cross-head) screwdriver is an accomplishment. For mechanics, it is not about the right tool but the quality and features of the tool. In fact, Infar tools are meant to be multigenerational lifetime tools that you can hand down generation by generation. Infar has been crafting their tools for 50 years and even have a wrench that can work if the bolt is rounded off by almost 80%. Their quality is immediately obvious by looking at or holding a piece in your hand. You might just be afraid to get them dirty!

If you are driving an older American made car, you may find yourself envious when you get a ride in a newer model because of those fancy head units in the dashboard. The new ones have so much more functionality and make the entire interior seem modern. Have no fear Dasaita is here with replacements for most makes and models.

Conference Vibe

Aftermarket Week is what the automotive industry refers to when AAPEX (Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo) and SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) take over Las Vegas. Leveraging more than a million square feet of exhibition, there is not a single hall or parking lot that is not an exhibit space. For example, the walkway from North to West Hall hosted the Battle of the Builders – talk about custom bikes. Registration is spread-out throughout the event. AAPEX held registration on the lower level of the Venetian. For SEMA one could get their badge at West Hall or at South Hall, lower level in the back just inside of the Vegas Loop Station.

Globally, most seek automotive replacement parts as good as new. In the USA however, culturally, we celebrate individuality which translates to customizing our vehicles. AAPEX rearranged exhibits from 2025; admittedly we really like how they moved things around. The standardized international booths were relocated from the beautiful Caesars Forum to the basement of the Venetian. AAPEX Forum was hosted at Caesars Forum and home to all the big engineering firms with their stunning booths under the chandeliers. These firms are just as likely to engineer things for the major OEMs as they are for aftermarket. The Venetian 2^nd story hosts the rest of AAPEX including the famous Joe’s Garage as well as training for mechanics. Venetian Bistro and all of Venetian eateries were open for those requiring a refill while the truck stop is specially created eatery just for exhibitors.

The excitement continued at the Las Vegas Convention Center where SEMA is hosted. West hall hosted vendors for restyling, trucks, SUVs, off-road, powersports and lifestyle. North Hall also hosted restyling, trucks, business services, mobile electronics, and technology! Seeking racing technology or hot rods? Central Hall was the place for you! SEMA parking lots are loaded with custom vehicles everywhere you look. South Hall Upper features collision repair, refinisher, and all related tools and equipment. Finally, South Hall Lower is the place to be if you are thinking about upgrading your wheels, Rims, need new tires or simply seeking collision repair and the tools required for those in the business of repairing vehicles. Much like AAPEX, SEMA also had all the eateries open for when you got hungry. The largest eateries are at West Hall when you first enter. South Hall largest eatery is just outside South Hall Lower. Perhaps the largest eatery is between Central and North Hall food court.

We always try to bring you fresh vendors in our coverage but you will recognize many brands in the walkabout from our prior coverage such as the AAPEX & SEMA 2025, and AAPEX & SEMA 2024 and our coverage of related events such as Advanced Clean Transportation or ACT Expo 2026 and CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026.

We once again live streamed from on site both at AAPEX and SEMA 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 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: AAPEX & SEMA 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 AAPEX & SEMA live in Las Vegas?”.

Next Year’s Conference

The AAPEX & SEMA will once again return to Las Vegas. AAPEX 2027 will run from Tuesday, November 2 to Thursday, November 4, 2027, and the SEMA Show 2027 will run from Tuesday, November 2 to Friday, November 5, 2027. It will once again be held at the Sands Convention Center, Caesars Forum, and Las Vegas Convention Center.

^*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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TBW Advisors LLC retains full editorial independence. Supporters receive credit acknowledgment only and have no role in editorial decisions, content selection, or production.

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.
November 9, 2026
Conference Whispers: HR Tech 2026
Las Vegas, NV October 20- October 22

Published to Whisper Club: ID: TBW2280

Analyst(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

Photojournalist(s): Dr. Doreen Galli

ABSTRACT

“HR Tech 2026 brought together 11,000 HR professionals in Las Vegas to explore hiring, workforce intelligence, employee wellbeing, talent development, AI-driven HR transformation and workforce automation. From candidate authentication and predictive retention to skills alignment, mental health and agentic workforce management, exhibitors showcased technologies reshaping the future of human capital management.”

The Conference
- A community of over 11,000 hr leaders, technology professionals, analysts, consultants and investors gathered in Las Vegas. Attendees including Senior HR Executives, operations leaders, systems partners, end users and client-side consultants. Investors and backers of HR Tech startups were also present.
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

In today’s world of large language models, a remote hiring process can mean you don’t know if you are getting answers from the candidate or a model. To address this concern, TrueCham leverages a dual camera setup for remote interviews: your cellphone and your laptop. Furthermore, interviewers get a live heads-up display so they can distinguish normal interview anxiety from anxiety that accompanies cheaters.

Will you stay or will you go? A question once made popular by a hit song is always on the mind from large teams with turnover issues. Fire Pit Hire seeks to solve that issue predictively before day 1. They purport a 90% accuracy rating which is assisted by feedback from earlier hiring cycles. It not only listens to the interviews but coaches interviewers on follow-up questions in critical points on the interview conversation to truly understand if this person will stick around. Better yet, will they still be an employee after day 90?

Hiring is a collaborative activity but sometimes the collaboration can be quite clunky. An effort to streamline hiring communications comes to us from Sync2Hire. The solution provides a unique dedicated workspace for each job opening. Each candidate receives a dedicated channel within that opening’s workspace.

Their decision intelligence platform is available on mobile and desktop. The goal is to leverage unstructured team conversations using natural language processing to detect and eliminate candidate stalling. They are also able to detect criteria drift.

In the age of generative AI busting into the business world, business transformations frequently include M&A or mergers and acquisitions activity. Sometimes a company is acquired for its product. Sometimes they are acquired for their talent in that pressing new space. Sometimes it is for both. Regardless of the reason, one cannot deny they are in fact mass hiring activities. If hires are risky for a culture in general, that mass hiring event like an M&A can add an entirely new dimension of risk. Enter Blue John, human capital intelligence for the M&A space. An exciting and valuable aspect is its focus on the potential of key personnel and their fit within the potentially new workplace culture.

While many are familiar with the Equifax brand, many do not realize their workforce solutions are the largest portion of the business. The core focus of workforce solutions is the end-to-end employer lifecycle management. Their support spans onboarding, I-9 verification, tax credit screen, ACA compliance to a massive unemployment administration business. After 45 years in the business, Equifax can boast that they administer over 1/3 of all unemployment claims across the US. The benefit to the businesses includes lower tax rates and lighter administrative burdens.

How are you doing? While frequently used as a generic greeting in the U.S. culture, knowing the actual answer can be beneficial for an organization. eekee is a proactive, AI-driven employee mental health support tool that integrates into your existing workplace communication tools. This 12-minute HIPAA/SOC 2-compliant Socratic AI tool engages in conversations based on clinical guidelines. That conversation can triage crisis-adjacent workers into existing employer assistance programs. Imagine an employee stressing out over their babysitter quitting, not realizing your company has a benefit that can help in such a crunch.

It is often said tap into someone’s natural motivation and performance naturally comes in an almost magical way. But how do you find out what truly satisfies your employees to leverage this organizational performance hack? An industrial behavioral scientist once spent his lifetime studying that exact question. That lifetime of work was picked up by his son and son-in-law and became Tru. Featuring their unique Tru Workforce Alignment Index, the platform breaks job descriptions into core components. Each component is given a quantitative and qualitative value that is then matched against existing staff. A current benefit is easy identification of which human roles thrive alongside AI automation.

Heard about category 5 hurricanes? Familiar with the new heat index categories? One of the major drivers is worker safety, particularly those with outdoor jobs. That said, many industrial spaces also worry about the health and safety of their workers, including overheating scenarios. If only there was a cost-effective scalable way to monitor 10,000 employees’ status to prevent such overheating and related scenarios. Polar USA thought the same thing 2 years ago so they solved the problem. While you may wish to use their free Polar Flow application, it also enables custom integrations via developer APIs/SDKs. In all, it currently measures skin temperature, heart rate, sleep and recovery.

In changing times, ensuring your talent is keeping pace is critical. Trainery provides a unified, modular platform for the talent development lifecycle. We have all been there ourselves. From performance review cycles, setting goals, coursework to achieve those goals, education certification and tracking, surveys, pay equity, compensation, total rewards it has it. In today’s times what may be most valuable is the identification of internal skills gaps before commencing external recruiting.

If your focus is on evolving your HR in the day of AI, Deloitte may be just who you are looking for. First, Deloitte focuses on unique data points and data science. The second, grounded in each industry’s nuances, they bring their capabilities to the broader organization. Finally, regardless of your model they can assist. Whether your desire is to set yourself up for success or run it in a fully outsourced model or anything in between. Their innovative model results in two products announced at the event. One is Benefits IQ with a million and a half different worker users enrolled. Second, frontline workforce management solution for shift workers is now available across all industries with Delta Airlines serving as a reference deployment.

isolved was in expo hall having just coined the term Workforce Capital Management (WCM) for managing HCM (human capital management) and the agent workforce. WCM is about managing HCM and autonomous, AI agents side-by-side on a single platform. It treats AI agents like human personnel. Specifically, it ensures structured onboarding, role-specific training, human-in-the-loop oversight and ongoing performance metrics.

Conference Vibe

Over 11,000 HR professionals spanning technology, vendors, investors, analysts, consultants and operators gathered in Las Vegas Nevada for the annual HR Tech. While it may e one of the largest dedicated HR technology events in the world, registration was quite smooth and efficient. Furthermore, the start-up village was a quaint neighbourhood gathering of minds that networked at a notably higher level than we had previously observed. Interestingly, they seemed to have learned about each other and were regularly directing people they met to other relevant start-ups they may also benefit from meeting. 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 HR Tech 2025.

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 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: HR Tech 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 the HR Tech 2026 live in Las Vegas?”.

Next Year’s Conference

The HR Tech 2026 will once again return to Las Vegas and will be held at the Mandalay Bay on October 25028, 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, 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.
October 25, 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 1/10^th 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.
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

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.
September 5, 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.
August 22, 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.
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.
August 9, 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 9^th annual Ai4 event. Attendance grew by over 50% at the 9^th 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.
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.

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.
August 9, 2026