LightSource CEO Reveals His Biggest Goals for CES 2026

In a featured interview with Ashley Mastronardi, co-founder and CEO Spencer Penn shared a first look at the company’s ambitious plans for CES 2026 and its mission to modernize the "missing system of record" for global manufacturing.

Redefining Procurement: "Salesforce for Sourcing"

Penn described LightSource as "Salesforce for procurement," shifting the function from tactical execution to a strategic advantage. Drawing on his experience leading the Model 3 program at Tesla, Penn highlighted the critical gap LightSource fills: moving beyond fragmented spreadsheets and emails to a unified system that manages everything from initial design specifications through scaled production—a process the company calls "Spec-to-Scale".

"Traditionally, [procurement] happens on spreadsheets and emails... and digital systems don't show up until payment. LightSource changes that." – Spencer Penn, CEO of LightSource.

CES 2026 Preview: Multi-Agent Systems for NPI

At the upcoming CES conference in Las Vegas (January 6–9, 2026), LightSource will unveil a groundbreaking multi-agent system for New Product Introduction (NPI) sourcing.

This new technology aims to automate the most complex challenges in manufacturing, including:

• BOM Management & Design Iteration: Effortlessly handling thousands of line items as engineering revisions occur.

• Tariff & Cost Calculation: Providing real-time intelligence for complex global trade environments.

• Benchmarking: Automating competitive analysis to ensure optimal sourcing outcomes.

"AI Native" vs. "AI Washing"

Addressing the industry trend of "AI washing," Penn defined LightSource’s AI-native foundation. Unlike legacy systems that layer chatbots over old applications, LightSource is built from the ground up with AI woven into its data model and business logic.

Penn clarified the distinction between the two core technologies powering the platform:

• Generative AI (Gen AI): Reactive systems where user prompts generate text or data summaries.

• Agentic AI: Proactive systems where prompts result in actions. These agents exhibit agency, accessing tools and communicating with one another to complete multi-step processes autonomously.

A Bold Strategy for Las Vegas

Breaking from traditional trade show norms, LightSource is adopting a "meet them where they are" strategy for CES 2026. Instead of a static booth, the LightSource team will be on the ground across the event, meeting customers directly at their own exhibitions.