Sometimes it’s the topics that aren’t at the forefront of conversations, the stuff covertly concealed behind months of slick product planning, that tell the real stories of M&E tradeshows and conferences. Post-show media coverage from IBC 2026—Faultline’s included—has been dominated by AI and agents. This is simply a reflection of what company executives chose to highlight and which product demos were selected to take center stage on site, bringing marketing visions to life. But like the many manual tasks being replaced by AI-powered tools, these AI-fronted briefings—some more superficial than others—replaced technology topics that would otherwise have ranked favorably on the agendas of executives across the show floor. One of the more sensitive subjects taking a backseat, or in some…