
What Three Of The Biggest 2025 Tech Events Revealed About Connectivity
If 2024 explored the 'what' of generative AI, 2025 is exploring the 'how' of it. At the world's biggest tech gatherings—CES, MWC and Hannover Messe—the story wasn't just about new devices, dazzling demos or smarter machines. It was about what those innovations quietly demanded behind the scenes: a level of connectivity infrastructure that many businesses, governments and even industries aren't yet prepared to deliver. As the industrial-grade AI we're working toward becomes increasingly closer, the need for near-instantaneous data transfer across geographies is also becoming more acute. Life at the network edge, where these applications need to be, is making one thing crystal clear: Connectivity is no longer just an accessory to innovation. It's either the bottleneck or the breakthrough.
Among the many aspects of connectivity, latency has emerged as the most visible constraint. It's also the least tolerable. Whether it's an agentic AI system designed to 'think' instantly about a customer query, a robot that relies on millisecond coordination across a production line, or a self-driving vehicle with sensors that are rendered useless without the network feedback to act on their output, a lack of 'responsiveness' is now a deal-breaker. Low latency is no longer a luxury for high-performance applications—it's the new baseline for the plethora of AI applications coming our way.
This has been the breakout theme of some of the biggest tech events on the calendar in 2025; as we build smarter systems, we also need to reimagine the architecture that connects them. Not as a patchwork of nodes and endpoints, but as a living, scalable ecosystem designed for intelligent workloads and data transfer. What follows are three snapshots from CES, MWC and Hannover Messe that illustrate this turning point.
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025: Visible Expectations, Invisible Strain
The year kicked off in Las Vegas, where CES 2025 went all out to demonstrate the remarkable impact AI is about to have on everyday life—from smart homes and cars to wearables and entertainment systems. Voice assistants now hold contextual conversations, while extended reality (XR) platforms deliver adaptive, AI-driven gaming experiences that blur the line between the real world and the virtual world. These applications rely on more than raw compute power—they demand fast, stable, low-latency connectivity between users, edge infrastructure and AI models running in far-off data centers, where even slight delays can dispel immersion or break the carefully modelled illusion of intelligence.
The event also featured AI-enabled healthcare wearables, hearing aids and autonomous mobility solutions, all of which depend on dynamic, location-aware data. Yet most residential and public networks weren't designed for this level of complexity. The smarter the service, the more sensitive it becomes to latency and jitter. CES made one thing clear: The infrastructure behind our digital lives needs to evolve fast, or risk holding back the very innovations it's meant to support.
Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025: The Cloud Gets Crowded
In February, Barcelona set the stage for another reality check—this time about where AI actually runs. At MWC, booths weren't just showing off new handsets or 5G upgrades, they were unveiling LLM-powered humanoid robots, 'sight-beyond-sight' vehicle-to-cloud software and the world's first official AI smartphone. But more than that, industry experts were talking about the ecosystem behind the tech: telcos, hyperscalers and AI developers jostling to define the infrastructure that will power AI at scale. What emerged was a clear trend toward decentralization. AI is no longer confined to hyperscale data centers. It's moving outward—to regional hubs, colocation sites and edge data centers and to a certain extent, into the devices themselves. The shift of focus from centralized training to distributed inference is now fully underway, and it's putting immense pressure on existing cloud and network architectures.
As these ecosystems converge, so too do their limitations. Proprietary cloud environments and vendor-specific platforms were built for scale, not necessarily for interoperability. But real-time AI—whether for autonomous vehicles, smart factories or agentic assistants—requires seamless connectivity across providers, clouds and geographies. Without common standards and robust interconnection, distributed AI workloads will hit friction fast.
Hannover Messe 2025: Industrial AI Has A Logistics Problem
By April, the conversation had shifted from homes and handsets to factories and supply chains. At Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs, AI's potential was on full display—cognitive robotics, digital twins, autonomous systems and intelligent collaboration across factory floors and logistics hubs. But with every new demonstration came a familiar question: How fast can systems talk to one another?
The most revealing takeaway from Hannover wasn't necessarily the sophistication of the AI models, but the infrastructural fragility beneath them. Industrial sites often span regions with wildly different levels of network maturity. Machines outfitted with advanced inference capabilities can only operate effectively if the data they depend on—sometimes hundreds of miles away—is delivered almost instantaneously. Add to this the rise of collaborative robotics and AI-managed energy systems, and the need for deterministic, ultra-reliable connectivity becomes mission-critical. Hannover Messe made the case that the intelligence of industry isn't limited by innovation, it's limited by distance, bandwidth and latency.
Connecting The Dots
Across three of the most influential tech events of the year, the message was consistent—the ability to move data quickly, securely and intelligently across the network of networks will determine which ideas scale and which ideas stall. CES showed us a near-future where consumer experiences become dependent on real-time, AI-powered interactions. MWC revealed how the infrastructure behind those experiences must interoperate in order to reach our AI goals. And Hannover Messe reminded us that when it comes to industrial automation, the stakes are higher, the environments are harsher and the tolerance for latency is virtually nonexistent.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Bloomberg
5 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Big Take: Two Former Trade Advisers on Trump's Tariffs
Bob Zoellick and Mike Froman spent years crisscrossing the globe as US Trade Representatives for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively. They hammered out deals that accelerated an era of free trade. As President Donald Trump's August 1 tariff deadline approaches and Japan strikes a major deal with his trade team, David Gura brings the two former trade officials together to get their take on the president's efforts to reshape the global economy.


Forbes
5 minutes ago
- Forbes
All-Time Highs: How BNB Is Redefining Institutional Crypto Investment
In a significant market development, BNB has shattered its previous all-time high of US$794, decisively breaking the key psychological barrier of US$800 to establish a new peak. This pushed the token's total market capitalization to US$112B, making it the world's third-largest cryptocurrency. BNB's outperformance amid positive macro backdrop. Source: Tradingview, Binance Research, as of July ... More 23, 2025 This milestone distinguishes BNB as the only major cryptocurrency, aside from Bitcoin, to hit new highs this cycle among the top 100 digital assets with over two years of trading history. The powerful, five-week rally underscores a market consensus that increasingly views BNB as more of a blue-chip asset, second only to Bitcoin in the current bull The Hype: Real Utility in a Speculative Market Although BNB's price has shown strong performance, sophisticated investors focus on more than just price performance and chasing returns - they analyze the broader risk-reward profile. Over the past five years, BNB has delivered a Sharpe ratio of 2.5, meaning for every dollar of risk taken, investors earned 2.5 dollars. BNB outperforms traditional market indices and other large-cap cryptocurrencies in terms of risk-return balance, highlighting BNB's potential for strong returns alongside a comparatively stable risk profile. BNB leads in risk-reward performance among major assets in a 5-year window. Source: Tradingview, ... More Binance Research, as of July 23, 2025 This rally was built on a healthy foundation, not short-term speculation, as Open Interest (OI) in BNB futures has not seen a commensurate spike. The primary driver of the price increase is new, real capital entering the spot market to establish long-term positions, reflecting genuine investor conviction rather than leveraged bets. BNB's value isn't merely speculative; it's anchored by a self-reinforcing "utility flywheel" that spans both centralized and decentralized ecosystems. This creates a virtuous cycle where utility drives demand, which in turn enhances the asset's value and encourages further ecosystem development. Nearly one-third of BNB's total supply has been permanently burned. Source: Binance ... More Research, as of July 23, 2025 More than theoretical, BNB Chain leads all blockchain networks in decentralized exchange volume for most of 2025, processing over US$108B in weekly volume at its peak, outpacing Ethereum, Solana and other major chains. When institutions see these numbers, they see real economic activity over speculative trading. The New Frontier: Corporate Treasury Adoption Publicly Announced Corporate BNB Treasury Adoption Strategies Following the path forged by Bitcoin, a new wave of "BNB Treasury" strategies appears to be emerging among publicly traded companies, marking BNB's transition from a primarily retail asset to an institutional-grade one. According to Binance founder CZ, at least 30 companies are actively exploring this strategy, with several already making public announcements totaling over US$1.2B in potential buying pressure. For context, while the total amount of ETH currently held in public company treasuries is US$3.7B, representing only 0.83% of ETH's total market cap, a US$1.2B reserve for BNB means that at least 1% of the supply has been recognized by public companies — surpassing ETH. The long-term impact of this trend may be profound. Most directly, it creates a new, structural source of demand for BNB that is less correlated with retail sentiment or daily trading activity. These corporate treasuries are likely to become long-term holders, effectively removing supply from the liquid market. This could create a "demand floor" for the price and potentially reduce volatility in the long run. Furthermore, this trend greatly enhances BNB's legitimacy, positioning it as a viable, institutional-grade reserve asset alongside Bitcoin. Future Vision: Web2-Level Simplicity, Web3-Level Control The official BNB Chain roadmap reveals its grand strategic focus, aiming to win the next stage of competition through achievable improvements in performance, developer support, and user experience: match or exceed transaction speeds of TradFi networks like NASDAQ; next-gen L1 architecture with native privacy features and enhanced processing power; and facilitate partner integrations to tokenize US equities, ETFs and funds to enhance liquidity from traditional markets. With this vision, the BNB Chain's team addresses the main barrier preventing mainstream crypto adoption: complexity. If they can deliver on these promises, BNB could become the primary infrastructure that finally brings blockchain technology to everyday businesses. The Bottom Line BNB isn't riding a speculative wave; it's showing a fundamental shift in how institutions view digital assets. Companies choosing BNB for their treasuries are betting on utility, not hype, and choosing an asset that powers real economic activity today while positioning for the blockchain-integrated economy of tomorrow. It reveals the best investment strategy isn't always chasing the next big thing, but recognizing value in assets already delivering results. BNB simply works. The quiet revolution is no longer quiet: Corporate America is speaking, and it's saying utility matters more than speculation. Smart investors should listen.


Bloomberg
5 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
They Advised Bush and Obama on Trade. Here's How They Think Trump's Trade War Will Play Out
On today's Big Take podcast, two former US trade representatives weigh in on the risks and opportunities created by President Trump's trade war. Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. Bob Zoellick and Mike Froman spent years crisscrossing the globe as US Trade Representatives for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively. They hammered out deals that accelerated an era of free trade.