TMT Predictions 2026
The AI gap narrows but persists
Read 2026 TMT Predictions report
Deloitte’s TMT Predictions, published by Deloitte Global, explores trends shaping technology, media, and telecommunications across the world.
This year’s report focuses on five key trend areas and shows how AI is changing the way hardware, software, telecoms, and media are built and used. AI is driving new infrastructure investment, reshaping business models, and shifting how people connect and consume content. Together, these shifts are creating a more competitive digital economy in 2026 and beyond.
These insights come as New Zealand organisations accelerate AI adoption and modernise their data capabilities. Many are doing so to lift productivity, respond to public expectations, and improve their global competitiveness.
AI is rewriting the rules of search and software
AI is changing business software, creating new markets, and reshaping how people can search for information and products - trends that could speed up through 2026.
Agent-based AI systems are expected to play a growing role in how organisations connect systems, automate work, and support decision-making. Estimates suggest that the global Agentic AI market could reach US$35 billion in 2030, up from a projected US$8.5 billion in 2026.
However, Deloitte predicts that if organisations manage and govern these systems more effectively, by addressing key risks and challenges, the market could grow by up to 30%, reaching as much as US$45 billion by 2030. For New Zealand organisations facing talent constraints, agent-based automation could provide support and help speed up decision-making.
AI drives demand for tech hardware and infrastructure, and exposes risks
Global industrial robot sales could reach 5.5 million units by 2026. Over the longer term, the expansion of robot usage may accelerate as labour shortages support domestic manufacturing in developed markets and advances in computing power and AI expand what robots can do. These AI advances could push annual industrial robot sales to over a million units and US$20 billion in revenue by 2030.
Drones are also emerging as part of this shift. While most remain human-operated, autonomous functions are advancing rapidly. For New Zealand’s logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, and viticulture sectors, robotics, paired with advanced AI, may help address long-term labour shortages.
Streaming, social, and storytelling collide
The lines between TV, streaming, and user-generated content continue to blur. From AI-generated video and bite-sized micro-dramas to video podcasts and bold collaborations between public service broadcasters and creators, new forms of storytelling are changing how audiences engage and participate, including in New Zealand’s small but highly engaged media market.
European public service broadcasters face many of the same pressures as commercial TV. They are adapting by co-producing with streamers, promoting content on social platforms, licensing content, and staggering releases. These strategies extend reach, attract younger audiences, and inject local content into global platforms.
Partnerships could generate tens of thousands of additional hours of content on streaming and social platforms in 2026, translating into billions of views, hundreds of millions of viewing hours, and ad revenue shares worth millions of dollars. This offers lessons for New Zealand broadcasters and niche studios facing disruption.
About TMT Predictions
Deloitte’s TMT Predictions report, published annually since 2001, primarily authored by the Deloitte Centre for Technology, Media & Telecommunications, explores the latest long-term trends impacting the TMT industry over the next one to five years. Drawing on extensive quantitative and qualitative research analysis, the report helps TMT leaders see what’s over the horizon, and how best to prepare for it.
