2026 IT trends: preparing your business

IT leaders preparing for 2026 face decisions about AI spending, security and software development. Building on the AI-driven transformation already reshaping IT management, this article considers where to focus planning.

Based on research from Gartner's Top Strategic Technology Trends and Forrester's 2026 Predictions, here are the forecasts to consider in your organisation's plans.

The AI spending forecast

According to Forrester's 2026 Technology & Security Predictions, enterprises will defer 25% of planned AI spending to 2027 as organisations demand proof over promises.

Fewer than one-third of decision-makers can tie AI value to their organisation's financial growth. This disconnect between vendor promises and delivered value is forcing a market correction.

What this means for your business:

• Focus on measurable AI use cases with clear ROI
• Demand evidence of value before expanding AI initiatives
• Build governance frameworks that tie AI investment to business outcomes

Prioritise projects by demonstrated value.

Agentic AI beyond chatbots

Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems that can plan and execute multi-step workflows without constant human oversight.

Gartner's Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2026 highlights multiagent systems as a key trend. These are collections of specialised AI agents working together toward complex goals.

Practical applications include:

• Automated incident response. AI agents that detect, diagnose, and remediate issues autonomously
• Complex workflow orchestration. Multiple agents coordinating across systems
• Intelligent document processing. Agents that extract, validate, and route information

However, Forrester warns that an agentic AI deployment will cause a public breach in 2026, leading to employee dismissals. Set limits on what these systems can do.

How to prepare:

1. Start with low-risk, high-value automation candidates
2. Build robust testing and monitoring frameworks before deployment
3. Establish clear boundaries for autonomous decision-making
4. Create human oversight mechanisms for critical processes

Preemptive cybersecurity

The forecast calls for more investment in preventing attacks. Gartner predicts that by 2030, preemptive solutions will account for half of all security spending.

Preemptive cybersecurity uses AI-powered security operations, programmatic denial, and deception techniques to neutralise threats before they materialise. Instead of waiting for an attack, organisations actively identify and close vulnerabilities, mislead attackers, and disrupt attack chains.

This shift is driven by necessity. Attack surfaces are expanding, threats are becoming more sophisticated, and the cost of breaches continues to rise.

Preparation steps:

• Assess your current security posture against preemptive capabilities
• Invest in threat intelligence and attack surface management
• Explore deception technologies (honeypots, decoys, breadcrumbs)
• Build security into development processes from the start

Domain-specific AI

Domain-specific language models, or DSLMs, use specialised training data for particular industries or functions.

According to Gartner, by 2028, over half of generative AI models used by enterprises will be domain-specific, up from around 1% in 2023.

The proposed benefits of DSLMs include:

• Higher accuracy for industry-specific tasks
• Better compliance with regulatory requirements
• Lower costs than running massive general-purpose models
• Reduced hallucination in specialised domains

For IT leaders, this means evaluating whether your current AI investments are fit for purpose. A generic model might handle general queries, but compliance, technical documentation and industry regulations often require specialised solutions.

Quantum security planning

Quantum computing remains years away from breaking current encryption, but the preparation window is closing. Forrester predicts that quantum security spending will exceed 5% of the overall IT security budget in 2026.

The urgency stems from "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks. Adversaries collect encrypted data today to decrypt once quantum capabilities mature. Sensitive data with long shelf lives (healthcare records, financial data, intellectual property) is particularly at risk.

Immediate actions:

• Conduct a cryptographic inventory to identify where encryption is used
• Prioritise systems handling long-lived sensitive data
• Begin planning migration to post-quantum cryptographic standards
• Engage with vendors about their quantum-readiness roadmaps

AI-native development

Software development is becoming the number one use case for AI in 2026. This includes AI-native development platforms where generative AI is embedded throughout the entire development lifecycle. As I explored in my post on vibe coding and security risks, this shift brings both opportunities and new challenges that organisations must address.

Gartner predicts that by 2030, 80% of organisations will evolve large engineering teams into smaller, AI-augmented teams.

This transformation affects:

• Team structure: smaller teams with broader capabilities
• Skills requirements: architecture and system design become more valuable than syntax knowledge
• Development velocity: faster iteration with AI-assisted coding, testing, and documentation
• Quality assurance. AI-powered testing and code review

Forrester notes that the time to fill developer positions will double as organisations seek candidates with strong system architecture foundations rather than just coding skills.

How to prepare your teams:

• Invest in architecture and design skills training
• Pilot AI development tools with measured outcomes
• Reassess team structures for an AI-augmented future
• Focus on problem-solving and system thinking over rote coding

Geopatriation and data sovereignty

Geopolitical tensions are reshaping where organisations store and process data. Gartner predicts that by 2030, over 75% of European and Middle Eastern enterprises will move workloads to sovereign or regional cloud providers, a practice called geopatriation, up from under 5% in 2025.

This trend is driven by:

• Regulatory requirements for data residency
• Concerns about foreign government access to data
• Supply chain resilience considerations
• Desire for greater control over critical infrastructure

UK organisations must consider how data sovereignty regulations will affect their cloud strategies, particularly post-Brexit and with evolving international data transfer frameworks.

A preparation roadmap for 2026

Here's how to translate these trends into action:

Q1 2026 priorities

1. AI audit. Evaluate current AI initiatives against measurable business outcomes
2. Security assessment. Benchmark against preemptive security capabilities
3. Cryptographic inventory. Document encryption usage across systems

Q2 2026 priorities

1. Agentic AI pilot. Identify and scope a low-risk automation opportunity
2. Team skills gap analysis. Assess development team capabilities for AI-augmented work
3. Data sovereignty review. Map data flows and storage against regulatory requirements

Ongoing initiatives

• Build governance frameworks for autonomous AI systems
• Develop vendor evaluation criteria including quantum-readiness
• Create change management programmes for AI-augmented workflows
• Establish metrics that tie technology investments to business outcomes

Investment decisions

Use these forecasts to question investment plans, rather than treating adoption itself as a goal.

This means:

• Require measurable outcomes from every initiative.
• Define governance requirements before deploying autonomous systems.
• Invest in people who can design solutions as well as implement them.
• Plan for foreseeable threats and changes.

Review these priorities as evidence about costs, risks and outcomes develops.

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Plan your response

Preparing for these technology shifts requires experienced guidance. My IT management services help organisations translate emerging trends into practical roadmaps covering AI governance and security assessments.

Get in touch to discuss how these trends apply to your organisation and build a preparation plan for 2026.