For one, working on hardware projects can be very fulfilling. In contrast to software, hardware prototypes are physical. They can be looked at from multiple viewpoints, touched, and taken with you. There is something magical about seeing your creation work on an actual device, and this is even more true with internet-enabled devices. Building a device that interacts with another device wirelessly is magical × 2.
Artificial intelligence (AI)—deep learning, image recognition, natural-language processing, and neural network-driven decision-making are advancing every year, and the possibilities of combining IoT with AI open up completely new possibilities (for more information, see https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/01/04/the-internet-of-things-iot-will-be-massive-in-2018-here-are-the-4-predictions-from-ibm/#62a82b48edd3).
IoT, with all of its devices, is connected closely to the concept of big data. Many companies want to analyze all of the sensor data stored in the cloud to draw conclusions from it that can then be used to maximize their profits. Here, machine learning comes into play to make use of the data and create rules to act upon.
Combined with modern frontend tooling using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, it is possible to create, in just a couple of weeks, a working prototype of a sensing, internet-connected device in a nice case that analyzes its data using machine learning and presents its results and controls in a nice-looking web dashboard. Ten years ago, you would have needed a large budget and a lot of manpower for this task; now it can be done by only one creative technologist.