2026 is the year of operationalization. The era of technological experimentation is over; companies are now focusing on solutions that generate tangible ROI, integrate with existing infrastructures and comply with increasingly stringent regulations.
According to studies such as Gartner's, the focus is shifting towards orchestrated intelligence and domain-specific innovation, where AI not only assists but is deeply integrated into how industries think, decide and operate. Organizations that act now will capture competitive advantage; those that lag will face operational obsolescence.
But in which areas and systems can you make a difference?
1. Multiagent Systems and Specialized Models
Multi-agent agentic systems are the real AI revolution in 2026. Unlike traditional chatbots, these agents can access real data, execute tasks automatically and continuously improve.
The specialized language models (DSLMs) are gaining ground over massive general models. They are smaller, faster, cheaper and-crucially-more accurate for specific business tasks. Tasks that today require human analysts-report processing, supply chain analysis, security incident response-will be performed by autonomous agents.
Paradoxically, however, one of the greatest benefits of such multi-agent systems is enterprise rehumanization: as agentic AI automates repetitive tasks, it also frees up the human team to focus on tasks with more responsibility, creativity, strategy and genuine human connection. It is estimated that HR leaders expect a 30% boost in productivity per employee, using 23% of the workforce transitioning to completely new positions.
However, most organizations are not yet «ready for this type of AI".«The investment was not enough, because in spite of the investment, still lack of AI-ready dataData that is reliable, governed, contextualized and aligned with specific use cases.
In 2026, this preparedness gap becomes leading cause of AI project failure or the biggest driver of them. Organizations that recognize this will be aggressively investing in:
- Automatic data pipelines: Automated orchestration and deployment.
- Online governance: Automatic compliance using policy-as-code.
- Data quality: Cataloging, cleaning, continuous validation and regression testing.
2. From Cloud-First to Distributed Computing
Centralized cloud architecture is giving way to distributed systems. Organizations adopt multi-cloud architectures with compute on the edge to solve latency, cost and data sovereignty issues.
Controlling electricity and water consumption edge computing is no longer just a concept, but operational infrastructure. Data is processed locally (in cell towers, manufacturing plants, IoT devices) and only the insights are sent to the cloud.
Its practical impact? In smart manufacturing, local anomaly detection reduces unplanned downtime by as much as 40% through predictive maintenance.
3. Safety: From Prevention to Proactive Defense
Static defenses are now obsolete. The new paradigm is the Continuous Exposure Management (CEM): assume that the compromise will occur, but maintain real-time visibility and remediation, making the Zero-Trust policies as an obligation.
Every access and request must be verified, even on internal traffic. Every machine and user needs verifiable identity with explicit permissions because of the rise of potential AI-driven intelligent threats, such as synthetic phishing with deepfakes, automatically mutating malware or automated API attacks.
4. Data Sovereignty: Regulation That Binds
The DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), NIS2 and the EU Data Act are rewriting the rules. It is no longer just about where the data is stored, but who controls it and how those controls can be demonstrated to regulators in real time.
Organizations need to migrate to hold your own key« architectures (HYOK) where sensitive data is never located in a single jurisdiction.
6. The Post-Quantum Threat Today
A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break even the RSA and ECC algorithms that today protect our banking data and trade secrets. Although it is not expected until the next decade that such cryptographic breach potential can be unlocked until the 2030s, the time to act is now and most international governments are already investing billions to boost their defense systems.
But what can companies do today?
- Auditing where vulnerable algorithms are used
- Transition to post-quantum cryptography
- Inventory data «harvest now, decrypt later».»
7. Sustainability: Beyond Compliance
The IA is the most powerful amplifier for optimizing energy use. The digital twins (exact virtual replicas) make it possible to simulate thousands of scenarios to identify potential risks or measurements. The companies that have implemented them have achieved through their simulations a CO2 emissions reduction of 15-20% without changing hardware, just by optimizing its use, for example.
8. Development: Low-Code, Open Source and APIOps
Low-code/no-code platforms accelerate development dramatically. applications that would historically take 12-18 months are now delivered in 4-8 weeks, compressing ROI from years to quarters.
Open source has now also become a business strategy.: the 96% of organizations increased or maintained their open source usage in 2025, with more than 25% increasing significantly.
APIOps (DevOps applied to APIs) is the new standard. Policy-as-Code automates rate limits, authentication and validation. Continuous security testing detects vulnerabilities formerly of the deployment.
Conclusion
2026 is not a year to wait. Organizations that act now on operational artificial intelligence, proactive security, regulatory compliance and resilient infrastructure will gain a competitive advantage. Those that lag will face costly downstream operations and growing risks.
A change of mentality is key. The technology is no longer about possibilities, but about operational realities. such as Agentic AI, data regulation and sovereignty or Physicial AI and its convergence in the IoT.
The question is no longer «How does AI work and how will it change the future?» but «How fast can I adopt it and see how it transforms my present?»