January always has a particular kind of energy. Everyone’s back at their desks, resolutions are still intact, and brands are clearly ready to remind us they exist and that they’re thinking very hard about the future.
This month’s billboards leaned heavily into AI, infrastructure, and the tools powering what’s next. Some played it bold. Some kept it minimal. All of them knew exactly who they were talking to.
Here’s what caught our eye out there.
Figma — Collaboration, visualized
Figma boards always feel alive. Movement, color, and energy all signal that building together is better. It’s optimistic without being naive, and playful without losing credibility.
WitnessAI — Trust in the age of AI
One of the more timely messages this month. As AI adoption accelerates, governance and oversight are finally getting their moment. This board feels necessary, not noisy.
Sigma — Welcome to AI Country
Leading with a playful illustration style that stands out, Sigma makes a complex category feel approachable. It’s confident without being technical and inviting without dumbing anything down. The line “Population: Everyone” lands as an inclusive statement. AI is no longer a niche capability. It’s becoming table stakes.
Airbnb — Experiences, not just stays
Airbnb continues to sell the feeling, not the feature. This board doesn’t overexplain or oversell. It just invites you in. Familiar, warm, and reassuring in a moment when everything else feels a little experimental.
Sometimes the smartest move is reminding people what they already love.
Canva — Creativity, everywhere
Canva’s billboards always feel like an extension of the product itself. Friendly, colorful, and effortlessly useful. This one’s no exception. It’s an open invitation to make something and a reminder that design isn’t just for designers anymore.
Databricks — Agents at work
There’s a lot happening in this message, but it’s anchored in a clear idea. Agents are here, and they’re useful. Databricks continues to speak fluently to a technical audience without sounding cold or clinical.
Vercel — Backend, back in the spotlight
Short, sharp, and self-aware. “We are so back(end)” taps into developer culture without overexplaining the joke. It’s a confident reclaiming of the backend moment, framed with just enough humor to make it stick.
Mercury — Built for modern finance
Mercury continues to own its lane. Modern, clean, and founder-first. The message feels calm and confident, like it knows exactly who’s reading it and who isn’t.
Apple — Design that speaks softly
Classic Apple restraint. Minimal copy, maximum confidence. When your brand is this strong, subtlety does the heavy lifting.
Nebius — AI inference at scale
Big claim. Clean execution. Nebius isn’t trying to explain scale. They’re asserting it. The repetition across placements reinforces the idea and makes it stick.
Baseten — Inference, front and center
Straight to the point. Baseten doesn’t waste a word explaining why inference matters. They assume you already know. This is B2B outdoor done right. Specific, unapologetic, and aimed squarely at the right audience.
Together AI — Building, together
Inference is clearly having a moment. Together AI’s take is straightforward and practical and the clarity works. No metaphors, no buzzwords stacked on top of each other. Just a direct signal to builders who are already thinking about what happens after launch.
Fireworks AI — The magic behind the scenes
A quieter take on AI power. Instead of shouting about capability, this board hints at what’s under the hood. It rewards curiosity and trusts the audience to lean in.
Salesforce — Enterprise, meeting the moment
Salesforce continues to translate complex capability into familiar language. Tying predictive insights to a real-world moment like golf makes Agentforce feel tangible, not abstract. You don’t need to understand the tech to get the value.
Graphite — Agents, without the chaos
Developer-focused and refreshingly honest. Graphite speaks directly to teams who care about workflows, not buzzwords. No extra gloss. Just a clear promise of how work gets done.
CodeRabbit — Quality, reintroduced
Return to code quality lands like a gentle critique and a promise. In a world racing to ship faster, this message feels timely and grounded. A reminder that speed isn’t everything.
PlanetScale — Database, but make it simple
Databases aren’t flashy, so PlanetScale talks straight with this billboard, leaning into clarity and trust. Two things you want very badly from your infrastructure.
ChatGPT — The future, casually passing by
These boards feel intentionally understated for something as disruptive as AI. No hype. No panic. Just a quiet nod that this tool is already part of everyday work. Confident, calm, and very 2026.
WorkOS — Enterprise, simplified
WorkOS continues to own the boring but critical space, and that’s a compliment. Clear, credible, and focused on making complex systems easier to manage.
Final thought
January’s billboards weren’t about shouting. They were about signaling. Confidence over cleverness. Clarity over clutter. A lot of brands trusting that the right audience would get it.
And honestly. We love to see it.
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