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Hello everyone. Here is Ricardo, and this is the 5 Minutes Podcast. And today, I want to expand a little bit more on the highlights of my participation at CES 2026. Always thinking in the lens of projects and project management. And for me, CES sent me a very clear message. It was not about gadgets; it was about the structural shift in how projects are conceived, delivered, and sustained. And let me start with the new releases. One of the strongest symbols for me was Lego, a company built on physical creativity, manual play, and timeless design. At CES, Lego presented its smart bricks, connected blocks with sensors, software, and AI integration. And there is an important analogy here: Lego did not abandon what made it great. It expanded the meaning of what a brick can be. The project did not replace the past. It extended the past. And this is exactly what is happening in projects today. It's not about throwing away classical projects. It's about combining them with new data, AI, and digital capabilities to create new forms of value. And another very impressive this I was really, really impressed by. It's called Project AVA, a hologram that combines advanced language models like ChatGPT, Gemini with physical presence. And it's not just a digital interface talking to you, it feels like an entity you interact with. You see the movements. So maybe, for example, your next project, you will have Project AVA and an avatar that will be your senior advisor in project management, or maybe this avatar can be your senior advisor in some aspects of your project, and from a project perspective, this is no longer a simple product delivery. It looks much more like building an ecosystem where hardware, software design, data governance, security, and ethics all need to work together. If one piece is out of the sink, the whole experience collapses, and things like this, like an orchestra, a single instrument playing perfectly is not enough. What matters is harmony, and the project manager becomes the conductor, aligning temp, rhythm and intent. And this is something very, very important because the most repeated words at CES where artificial intelligence, AI and physical AI and they were everywhere. Massage chairs using AI to adapt to your body in real time. Smart scales analyzing health patterns over time. Humanoid robots interacting naturally with people. And there was even a lollipop that plays music through your internal sound conduction, your bones, internal bones. And something is small but playful, but do you have an idea how complex a project involving to create this lollipop? Precision engineering, sensory design, and extensive testing. And this brings me to another powerful analogy. Projects are no longer only about big constructions or massive systems. Even the smallest consumer experiences are now so sophisticated that they require a lot of technology and many strategic decisions that only good project management can provide. And I cannot miss the robotaxis here. The challenge is not only technical, it's also regulatory, social, urban, and ethical and these are projects that do not end when operation begins. They continue to be managed as long as they exist. I was very fortunate to take a ride on the new Zoox. It's a completely different car. There is no driver's seat, there is no steering wheel. It's a car that was created to be a robotaxi. It's not a car that was adapted to become a robotaxi, and this is a completely different user experience. And what does all of this mean to us, project managers? Yes, we will use AI as a tool. I do not doubt that. We are already doing that. We will manage projects that have AI in the core, so we will be managing projects where the main intent is to create an AI product. But above all, please let's not forget that we will operate in a business and consumption environment deeply shaped by technology, and this reshapes our role completely. The project manager is no longer just someone who controls scope, time, and cost. We will become translators, people who turn technology into real, meaningful value for organizations and society, and the CES show that projects are like bridges. They connect what is technically possible with what is desirable, viable, and responsible, and those who only understand one side of the bridge risk building something that no one wants to cross. Think about that. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and see you next week with another 5 Minutes Podcast.
