What’s shaping the tech conversation in 2026?

By Scarlett King – Senior Account Director

With this year’s predictions already published by brands, analysts and the media, our tech team has created a definitive list to highlight the themes and trends likely to be high on the agenda in 2026.

After reviewing more than 20 prediction reports – from Gartner, Deloitte, IDC, Forrester and Omdia, as well as media like The Guardian, Reuters, WIRED, TechCrunch and Computer Weekly – we’ve uncovered clear patterns for comms teams to track. While each organisation uses different language, they are largely pointing to the same underlying trends and the technology themes that matter most this year.

AI is still front and centre, but the focus has shifted from excitement and experimentation, to whether it delivers real value. For instance, Forrester predicts that companies will delay around a quarter of their planned AI spending until 2027 because leaders want clearer returns.

Many also highlight that strong data foundations and cybersecurity are becoming essential for making AI work at scale. Our client Freshworks notes that in customer and employee experience, offering ‘uncomplicated service’ will be a key competitive advantage as organisations aim to simplify rather than overwhelm.

Alongside this, there is growing attention on the infrastructure that makes AI possible – particularly data centres and energy. Deloitte expects most of the computing demand in the coming year to come from running AI models, which requires enormous power. The Guardian’s predictions highlight rising concerns from communities around energy use and local impact related to the new data centres spreading quickly around the globe. Meanwhile, Reuters adds that there is a risk of companies overbuilding this infrastructure if demand slows. Together, these concerns show that power, space and environmental pressure are becoming central to the AI story.

Another major theme is the growing importance of multiagent AI, i.e. systems where many AI ‘agents’ work together to complete tasks. IDC and Deloitte both expect 2026 to be the year when organisations start preparing for these more advanced systems. Investors speaking to TechCrunch also believe adoption will begin to accelerate. Added to this, our client BlackLine notes that CFOs will play a bigger role in governing automation, ensuring AI projects deliver measurable outcomes and follow clear rules.

With AI-generated content now widespread, trust and verification are becoming ever more critical. Gartner highlights digital provenance – proving where content comes from – as a top priority for 2026. Reuters and WIRED warn that misinformation and political manipulation could increase unless organisations improve their ability to check and verify content. Our client Trusted Tech expects responsible AI rules, verified data pipelines and role-based controls to become standard.

Other themes appearing across multiple predictions include rising interest in data sovereignty, i.e. keeping data under national or organisational control. We expect to see a shift towards using AI inside existing platforms rather than adopting countless new tools; earlier planning for quantum secure systems; more real world uses of AI combined with robotics; and the growing recognition that connectivity is a critical foundation for AI performance and resilience.

For communications teams, the message for 2026 is clear: Audiences now want evidence, clarity and practical value, not just hype.

To read our full paper click here.