When CES gets underway Tuesday morning in Las Vegas, Nevada, it will mark the first time in more than 30 years that the world’s largest celebration of innovation will take place under the direction of somebody other than Gary Shapiro.
Earlier this year, the Consumer Technology Association, which owns and produces CES, installed 17-year veteran of the association Kinsey Fabrizio as its new president, with Shapiro elevated to the role of CEO.
Having started at CES in 2008, Fabrizio previously served in several capacities, including vice president of membership, before being named senior vice president in 2022.
For those who have attended CES during the Shapiro era, the one constant throughout the years has been change — continual change; as the show has reinvented itself time and again to reflect the shifting landscape of technology and innovation.
Under Fabrizio’s leadership, that trend will most certainly continue.
“The beauty of CES is that it’s constantly changing, growing and evolving,” Fabrizio said. “For many years, it was all about hardware but now it’s much more about software. But what I really love — and it’s an evolution that I’m proud to have been a part of and happy to see with CES — is in digital health. I think health technology is amazing.”
What really excites Fabrizio is the fact that health care technology has truly given customers and end users the ability to quantify — and become advocates for — their own health care in ways that were previously unavailable.
“To empower the consumer with information about themselves, to use technology to deliver health care into underserved areas for hospitals and doctors and to be able to use technology to treat and improve the lives of more patients than ever before, I think that’s absolutely transformative and I love that,” Fabrizio said.
But this year, Fabrizio said, you’ll see some new things, such as beauty tech, which began last year when L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus keynoted at CES 2024.
“You’ll see fashion tech and all kinds of amazing categories that I love, but also the traditional tech categories where we got started,” Fabrizio said. “The Samsung, Sony, LG and the home entertainment experience and the smart appliance and connected living experience; all of that. But we will continue to shift and evolve as the industry evolves.”
Not only is Fabrizio a CES success story, but she’s also a D.C.-area success story.
Having grown up in Winchester, Virginia, Fabrizio graduated from George Mason University with a double major in Government and International Politics and Spanish.
She completed her MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2022.
“I had a great experience growing up in the area; especially going to George Mason University, where my undergrad years were phenomenal,” Fabrizio said.
To Fabrizio, her roots in the D.C. region have a little bit of extra special meaning.
“As a company, we’re based in Arlington, and it’s no secret that there’s a lot of great innovation in the Arlington area,” Fabrizio said.. “Amazon just moved up the street from us and we’re very close to the Northern Virginia Technology Council, which is a partner organization to CTA, run by my really good friend Jennifer Taylor.”
In fact, Fabrizio said, both Taylor and George Mason University President Gregory Washington will be speaking later this week at CES.
Did Fabrizio have anything to do with those invitations?
Well, let’s just say she smiled when asked that question but wouldn’t confirm nor deny.
CES runs through Friday with exhibition halls, seminars, keynotes and workshops taking place at various convention halls and hotels throughout Las Vegas.
Steve Winter and Kenny Fried are WTOP contributors who work for Brotman|Winter|Fried, a division of Sage Communications.
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