When the world shifted to working, learning and doing everything from home for a prolonged period, timetables for future technology adoption were accelerated. After years of dragging their metaphorical feet, businesses everywhere had to finally become digital to meet the overnight shifts in customer and employee needs and expectations. With that in mind, let's take a look at 10 technology-related events of the past year that will reshape the trajectory of businesses and markets for years to come. There's a new type of consumer out there--who I call "Generation Novel"--born out of the disruption of the novel coronavirus. Due to many months of lockdown, consumers had to learn how to become digital-first in basically all aspects their lives--including the way they work, learn, buy, relax, and connect with friends and loved ones.

The global pandemic has forced all of us to go digital and online events are no longer uncommon, even when it comes to global shows such as CES. As one of the world's most influential tech events, CES is where breakthrough technologies converge, the sharpest innovators hit the stage, and the world's biggest brands do business. CES 2021 made history as the largest virtual tech event. It featured every aspect of the tech sector and covered over 40 product categories including AI, IoT and sensors, 5G connectivity, AR and VR, blockchain, digital health, drones, fintech, e-commerce, robotics, smart homes, and smart cities. Almost 2,000 companies launched their products during this event. Auriga certainly could not miss this first-ever all-digital CES 2021 and joined over 80,000 attendees from 167 countries to network with the global tech community, meet new prospects and partners, experience innovation, and discover new takeaways.

This time around we are having a Tech Event around Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. We have great speakers confirmed: Tuva Palm - CTO of Nordnet, Karol Ussher - Managing Director at Spotinst and Hjalmar Nilsonne - CEO of Watty.io. They will talk about how they've used AI and Machine Learning to create new groundbreaking services.

I got a glimpse into the future world of our robot overlords today. It was nervy at times. I watched two robots go on stage at a tech event to "debate" the future of humanity with each other. The robots in question are Sophia and Han, and they belong to Hanson Robotics, a Hong Kong-based company that is developing and deploying artificial intelligence in humanoids. The duo took to the stage at Rise in Hong Kong with Hanson Robotics' Chief Scientist Ben Goertzel directing the banter.

It's been quiet for stocks in the final trading week of the year, as is typical, but expect volatility to return early in 2017, particularly in the retail and technology sectors, Goldman Sachs wrote on Thursday. Both groups could see big moves around the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which runs from Jan 5-8 and is a "historically stock moving event," the investment bank wrote in a note to clients. Goldman, which recently warned that January could also be volatile for health care stocks, added that the options market was not pricing in the potential moves that could result from the event. "Stocks of companies that attend and that are in the food chain have historically been volatile around this event," wrote a team of researchers led by Katherine Fogertey, an options strategist. "While only a few host formal presentations, simply having a presence at CES could be a catalyst for some stocks. We acknowledge certain presentations might be catalysts for a broader array of stocks," the firm added, citing competitors and ones that might be impacted on comments on consumer demand.