As enterprises look toward 2026, AI is moving from experimentation to operational reality. The focus is no longer on adopting AI tools, but on building the integration, data, and automation foundations that allow AI to deliver sustained business value at scale.
In these predictions, four shifts will define the next phase of enterprise transformation. First, AI agents will emerge as a new class of enterprise "user," operating autonomously on behalf of employees, customers, and partners. Second, enterprises will recognize that AI's greatest constraint is not the model, but the quality of incoming data. First-Mile Data-the raw, inconsistent information entering from external and legacy sources-will become a strategic focus as organizations work to normalize and enrich data before it reaches AI workflows.