Tech Trends 2026

Last year’s Tech Trends report predicted that artificial intelligence would become akin to electricity, a foundational element seamlessly integrated into an incredibly broad range of products and services. This year’s report, the 17th annual edition of Tech Trends, confirms that hypothesis. No corner of enterprise technology is untouched by AI, as the demand for intelligent operations now informs decisions on everything from computing hardware to physical robotics.

While last year’s focus was on building proof-of-concept projects and exploring the art of the possible, this year is all about scaling. Enterprises across industries are operationalising AI-driven processes. The reason is simple: Leaders have realised that the key to competitive differentiation will be using AI to drive automation, innovation, and acceleration.

The Tech Trends report takes a deep dive into five technology developments that are reshaping how businesses operate, but there are far more than five trends impacting organizations at any given moment. Eight adjacent “signals” also warrant monitoring. They include whether foundational AI models may be plateauing, the impact of synthetic data on models, developments in neuromorphic computing, emerging edge AI use cases, the growth in AI wearables, opportunities for biometric authentication, the privacy impact of AI agents, and the emergence of generative engine optimization. Some of these signals may mature into dominant forces. Others may fade. But all of them reflect the same underlying reality: The pace of technological change has fundamentally shifted, and the organizations that recognize these patterns early will have time to adapt.