University of Kwazulu-Natal

Evolving Thematic Landscapes And Megatrends In 2026

Bonisiwe Shabane
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evolving thematic landscapes and megatrends in 2026

This article is part of our Investment Outlook 2026: Seeking Catalysts Amid Complexity The investment landscape is being reshaped by evolving megatrends, presenting both challenges and new opportunities for strategic capital deployment. In 2026, we expect economic security to remain a priority focus for nations and corporations. This theme is being amplified by turbulent geopolitics, a new trade order, persistent inflationary pressures, and energy-intensive artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, sustainable investing is maturing with a greater focus on performance. We favor a focus on themes including renewable energy, grids, energy storage, and companies solving critical pain points, offering cost savings, or providing essential value chain links.

After a year dominated by headlines surrounding tariffs and AI capex announcements, we believe economic security will be a prominent theme in 2026, helped by continued corporate resilience as interest rates head lower. Geopolitical flashpoints, NATO defense commitments, and renewed momentum in US and European reindustrialization efforts highlight a global imperative among economies and companies to build resilient supply chains, secure critical resources, and strengthen defense capabilities. In our view, this environment creates substantial opportunities for active managers to identify and capitalize on companies strategically positioned for this shift. Tariffs are fundamentally reshaping global trade flows by incentivizing businesses to prioritize supply chain security, leading to a strategic shift towards shorter, more resilient, and reliable networks. This transformation is not a new phenomenon but has been accelerated by the imposition of tariffs and growing geopolitical tensions. In response to the increased costs, uncertainty, and risks associated with long-distance supply chains, companies continue to move away from a pure cost-efficiency model to one that values flexibility and risk mitigation.

Critical resources, including energy and raw materials, continue to gain heightened strategic importance. Vulnerabilities are starkly illustrated by current global dependencies: China accounts for ~60% of rare earth production.1 Similarly, ~90% of the world’s leading-edge semiconductors critical for AI’s future development are manufactured in Taiwan.2 We believe... Executive Summary: Which are the Global Megatrends (2026-2030)? The global mega trends overview below highlights their significant impact on the world’s economy, society, and technological landscape. It is also a roadmap to anticipate their long-term implications on your professional landscape. It allows innovators and business leaders to navigate industry shifts and ensure future success.

Industry 5.0 enables smart, human-centric production, while sustainability drives eco-friendly design. The energy sector is pivoting to renewables and carbon-neutral solutions, while logistics is evolving with IoT, blockchain, and autonomous vehicles. In construction, green materials and modular techniques respond to climate and urban pressures, and pharma leaders are accelerating drug discovery through AI and personalizing treatments. Electric vehicles will dominate roads to reduce emissions and reshape mobility infrastructure, while zero-waste lifestyles and circular business models will become mainstream. Telemedicine will be a standard healthcare service. Smart homes and cities will streamline energy use, transportation, and services.

Personalized, AI-powered education platforms will democratize learning and global digital IDs will unlock secure access to finance and government services. How can businesses leverage these megatrends? Discover the insights you need to make better decisions today, to shape the future with confidence. Private Equity Pulse: key takeaways from Q3 2025 EY helps clients create long-term value for all stakeholders. Enabled by data and technology, our services and solutions provide trust through assurance and help clients transform, grow and operate.

Climate change and sustainability services Discover how EY insights and services are helping to reframe the future of your industry. 💡 This article is featured in The Definitive Reading List: illuminem’s Recommended Sustainability Classics This introduction and overview is the first of a seven part series exploring the Global ESGT (environment, society, governance and technology) Megatrends for 2025-2026. This first article explores the meaning, reason and actionable nature of understanding the 5 ESGT Megatrends — underscoring the need for decision-makers to gain situational awareness of multiyear, global phenomena in tech disruption, geopolitical... The next 5 articles in this series will explore each of these megatrends in greater detail with a forward-looking view to prepare us for the next 1-2 years.

The final and seventh article will provide a Global ESGT Leadership Blueprint — a summary of key actionable take-aways from the exploration of the 5 megatrends to prepare decision-makers to be focused, resilient and... As some of my readers know, I have been analysing multi-year Global Megatrends around the topics of environment, society, governance and technology (what I coined “ESGT” in my 2020 book Gloom to Boom and... The purpose of these annual analyses is to provide decision makers, leaders and other concerned global citizens with a succinct framework to understand and adopt situational awareness to navigate our super complex, information heavy... The Global ESGT Megatrends are focused on where we are on five dimensions with an emphasis on preparing for what’s next. The Global ESGT Megatrends take a forward-looking view — the next 1-2 years — not so much for purposes of predicting but for purposes of becoming more ready and more resilient. Last year, I took a hiatus from writing an annual ESGT Megatrends report for 2024-2025 because I was writing a new book – Governing Pandora: Leading in the Age of Generative AI and Exponential...

However, I didn’t take a complete vacation from deploying my framework. Indeed, in the first Chapter of the book titled “The Global Tech Megascape: The Situational Awareness Imperative” I apply a tech lens to the Global ESGT Megatrends framework. See Table 1 from the as yet unpublished book below for a sneak preview. Growth-stage SaaS companies need more than traditional GAAP reporting to win investor confidence. In this article, we explore the essential SaaS metrics—MRR, CAC, LTV, NRR, and churn—that investors expect you to track, and how the right accounting infrastructure supports accurate, investor-ready reporting. US cleantech companies are well-positioned to capitalize on global climate initiatives.

This article explores key expansion strategies, including market prioritization, regulatory compliance, financing options, and strategic partnerships to drive sustainable international growth. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) represents one of the most significant tax reforms affecting technology companies in recent years.

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