For the past two years, artificial intelligence has dominated boardroom conversations and investment planning.
Many companies have been experimenting with new features, and as we head into 2026, we will see a shift from experimentation to execution.
Will the AI bubble burst?
“The challenge of 2026 will be cutting through the noise,” said Bruce Martin, CEO of Tax Systems, as warnings about an “AI bubble bursting” stemming from high stock market valuations continue into the new year.
“The AI bubble may ‘pop’, but it only means that companies will be clearer about where AI truly adds value and where it is just an expensive distraction. This is a positive point that will ensure that organizations avoid over-engineering their operations in the rush to adopt new tools.”
He believes a disciplined approach is far more important than chasing the latest model. “Organizations that adopt AI thoughtfully, remove unnecessary complexity, and equip their teams with effective tools will emerge stronger on the other side of this cycle.”
Across the infrastructure ecosystem, the market itself is starting to stabilize. Terry Stoller, Managing Director of Leaseweb UK, said: “The trajectory of AI is moving from initial explosive hype to practical growth.
“While the initial surge and surge in investment built expectations, next year will see a shift in focus from speculative hype to more tangible value. This means businesses will reassess their goals and focus on prioritizing AI initiatives that enhance efficiency and customer engagement, such as applied machine learning and agent automation.”
Susan Odle, CEO of StorMagic, adds that many organizations are intentionally pacing their investments into 2026. “Companies are moving slowly on their IT modernization efforts to ensure their systems and vendor choices are flexible enough to withstand financial pressures.”
She sees a shift towards a more strategic and considered approach to AI. “Now more than ever, leadership means showing up, explaining decisions, being willing to listen, and engaging customers and their trusted channel partners as part of the process,” she added. “The companies that stand out in 2026 will be led by people who communicate clearly, act consistently, and build relationships that last through change.”
Ultimately, buyers are becoming much more discerning. Jay Hack, vice president and general manager of eMaint at Fluke Corporation, says expectations are solidifying. “AI alone is no longer the differentiator. It has a proven track record. The demonstration phase is over. Curiosity has replaced expectations. Buyers no longer want a tour of what AI can do. They want proof of what AI has done.”
Expanding intelligence, not experimenting
For supply chains and manufacturers, AI is moving beyond pilots and proofs of concept. “After years of disruption from crises, tariffs and climate change, businesses have realized that resilience is not just about surviving shocks, it’s about building systems that learn, adapt and anticipate,” explains Simon Bowes, European corporate vice president of manufacturing strategy at Blue Yonder.
“The argument in favor of using AI to improve supply chain performance and resiliency has already been won on many counts. Blue Yonder’s Supply Chain Compass survey found that 74% of industry leaders believe AI is already transforming their operations. The challenge now is to move from experimentation to large-scale deployment, integrate data, connect processes, and help teams integrate AI. It’s about being able to act confidently on the insights you lead.”
“Today’s organizations need systems that can adapt in real time, autonomously solve problems, and deliver a seamless customer experience,” agrees Nicola Kinsella, chief strategy officer at Fluent Commerce. “Agentic AI will continue to enhance these capabilities and help provide companies with the flexibility and scale they need to compete on the global stage.
“Retailers, for example, will benefit from using agent AI to monitor factors such as unexpected weather events, market changes, and port delays, and use historical data to predict risks. This technology can monitor vast datasets in seconds, flag delays, and recommend alternative fulfillment locations. Leveraging this intelligence, teams can automatically take steps to minimize customer impact and deliver on customer promises.”
Data storage needs continue
Data storage will continue to be a top priority in 2026 as AI usage continues to skyrocket. “Generative AI is driving significant growth in unstructured data, creating storage demands that exceed traditional IT budgets,” explains Carlos Sandoval Castro, IBM Worldwide Tape Offerings Manager for the LTO program. “Object storage used to be a single-layer HDD solution, but it needs to evolve.
“The future is layered and consolidates tape and other low-cost long-term media as deep archive targets. This approach provides significant savings compared to cloud archiving while maintaining flexibility. Cloud is still part of a hybrid strategy, but adding tape provides a scalable, affordable, and future-proof architecture for petabyte-scale environments.”
Accelerating security arms race
The need for thoughtful application has become particularly evident in cybersecurity and data protection. Martin Gittins, Commvault’s Vice President Northern Europe, asserts, “In the age of AI, traditional approaches to resilience are no longer sufficient. With data being generated at unprecedented rates and agents making decisions with little human oversight, security, identity, and recovery are too often treated as separate issues and divided across teams and must be integrated.”
“This approach creates a new category called Resilient Operations (ResOps), which will define 2026 as a new discipline for redesigning resilience in modern enterprises and managing resilience across increasingly complex emerging AI environments,” he added.
Agent AI is set to be one of the most important areas of development, but the amount of data passing through these servers will make them an attractive target for cybercriminals. Mark Skelton, chief technology officer at Node4, cautions: “It’s important that businesses don’t fall for the hype and get the foundation in place to effectively implement these AI platforms.”
“By 2026, enterprises are aiming to achieve true artificial general intelligence (AGI) with human-level cognitive capabilities. This is becoming a reality much faster than previously thought. So as artificial agents become more pervasive, enterprises cannot afford to delay putting in place guardrails to maintain proper governance.”
“AI will deepen the arms race and the need for ‘proactive security,’” adds Laurie Mercer, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at HackerOne. “Theater attackers are already weaponizing known vulnerabilities using LLMs like DeepSeek. Capabilities that once required nation-state capabilities can now be accessed by teenagers using jailbroken models.”
“Defense teams must ‘fight fire with fire’ and equally aggressively incorporate AI into triage, detection, and response. Momentum is real, but speed is survival. Hesitation is the new vulnerability. By the end of 2026, more than 70% of enterprise security teams will have deployed AI-based tools for triage, detection, and response.”
Man versus machine – who will win?
As AI becomes more integrated into everyday tools and workflows, the skills needed to use it effectively are also changing. “2026 will be the year that a new kind of technology literacy becomes essential,” explains Charis Thomas, Chief Product Officer at Aqilla.
“Remember when we once had to learn how to effectively search the internet by narrowing down our queries, determining sources, and understanding how information surfaced? We now have to learn how to interact with AI in the same way. This rapid literacy is less about tricks and shortcuts and more about the modern equivalent of learning how to properly research.”
She warns, “The line will not be between organizations that use AI and those that don’t. It will be between organizations that apply AI thoughtfully and those that unquestioningly let AI guide them.”
Chris Lloyd, chief solutions and technology officer at Syspro, agrees: “AI is only as reliable as what it learns, and bad data undermines the confidence leaders need to help their teams grow. AI adoption reflects the speed of trust in executives, and when leaders embrace AI as a partner, businesses will not only move faster, but also evolve smarter with technology.”
As 2026 approaches, the message from industry leaders is clear. The next chapter in AI will not be defined by bold claims or rapid deployment, but by reliability, control, and clear outcomes.
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