Precision Data, Decision Velocity & the Humanoid Robot Hype: ConstellationTV Episode 121
January 14, 2026
CRTV kicks off 2026 with Episode 121, focusing on the reality of enterprise AI, decision velocity, and the hype vs. value of humanoid robots at CES. In this episode:
AI, M&A, and Precision Data
Martin Schneider and Larry Dignan break down recent AI-driven M&A and why the real competitive edge is shifting toward secure, precision data and job-to-be-done–focused agents rather than generic AI.
Decision Velocity
Larry talks with Mike Ni, Constellation’s analyst for Data to Decisions, about:
- What decision velocity really means
- Moving from POCs to proof of value
- Why context engineering is replacing prompt engineering as the AI pressure point
- How culture, architecture, and governance must evolve for decision-centric enterprises
Humanoid Robots: Hype vs. Reality
Esteban Kolsky joins to explain why humanoid robots are mostly a bad business idea:
- Inefficient, expensive, and usually optimized for a single function
- Why function-specific robots (UPS, Walmart, Amazon-style warehouses) deliver real ROI
- How CES and the “humanoid bubble” are accelerating the reckoning
00:56 – News & AI Trends with Martin and Larry
09:50 – Decision Velocity with Mike Ni
15:56 – Humanoid Robots & Robotics ROI with Esteban Kolsky
About Larry Dignan:
Dignan was most recently Celonis Media’s Editor-in-Chief, where he sat at the intersection of media and marketing. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of ZDNet and has covered the technology industry and transformation trends for more than two decades, publishing articles in CNET, Knowledge@Wharton, Wall Street Week, Interactive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning.
He is also an Adjunct Professor at Temple University and a member of the Advisory Board for The Fox Business School's Institute of Business and Information Technology.
<br>Constellation Insights does the following:
Cover the buy side and sell side of enterprise tech with news, analysis, profiles, interviews, and event coverage of vendors, as well as Constellation Research's community and…
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Martin Schneider has had a unique career that has spanned both analyst and marketing practitioner roles, focused on high technology and related industries. The unifying factor has always been both a keen analysis of go-to-market trends, while also having achieved success as a marketing leader.
Schneider started his career as a journalist covering B2B technologies, and quickly transitioned into a leading analyst covering application software for the 451 Group in NYC, where he specialized in CRM, marketing automation, and business intelligence/analytics technologies. After analyzing various go-to-market strategies of dozens of technology vendors, Schneider made the move to the vendor side, where he led successful go-to-market teams for several startups and established tech providers,…
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Michael Ni is Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, covering the evolving Data-to-Decisions landscape—where CDOs, CIOs, and CPOs must modernize data infrastructure, integrate AI into decision-making, and scale automation to improve business outcomes.
Ni’s research examines how enterprises operationalize AI, automate decision-making, and integrate data management and analytics into core business processes. He focuses on the challenges of scaling AI-driven decision systems, aligning data strategy with business goals, and the growing role of data and decisioning “products” in enterprise ecosystems.
With 25+ years as a product and GTM executive across enterprise software, AI platforms, and analytics-driven technologies, Ni brings a practitioner’s perspective to…
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Esteban Kolsky spent the first part of his professional career working on the customer service front line and in management roles, culminating in early implementations of first-generation CRM tools. In 2000, he became a research analyst at Gartner, focused on CRM, customer service, customer experience management, enterprise feedback management, and voice of the customer, among topics that later became the basis for the current field of CX. During his tenure at Gartner, Kolsky assisted vendors and Global 2000 organizations with their customer strategies.
He left Gartner to focus his career on strategic advisory services and influenced all the major software vendors, as well as many smaller vendors, in the CX industry and advised executive leadership teams across industries and countries…
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Published
January 14, 2026
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