Forrester 2026 Predictions For Ai And Tech Leadership Itwire

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 12:45 PM

forrester 2026 predictions for ai and tech leadership itwire

Forrester has published its 2026 AI Predictions, which reveals 2026 will be the age of frumpy but functional AI, and its 2026 Tech Leadership Predictions, which reveals tech organisations will choose high performance in... In 2025, AI agents were a hot topic in the data and analytics world. However, by 2026, the initial hype is expected to fade, giving way to a more practical focus on AI governance, literacy, and using agents for routine data tasks. The excitement around what's possible with AI will be replaced by the reality of its everyday applications. In 2026, Forrester’s predictions include: Enterprises will delay 25% of AI spend into 2027.

AI value is failing to land: fewer than one-third can tie the value of AI to profit & loss changes. Given this, in 2026, CEOs will pull more CFOs into AI deals in 2026. Finance-gated decisions will slow production deployments and decimate proofs of concept, leading enterprises to delay 25% of their planned spend into 2027. Vendor fragmentation will force a majority of enterprises to compose “agentlakes.” Hyperscalers and data platform and automation vendors can’t claim agentic AI dominance just yet. In 2026, vendor fragmentation will cause the majority of enterprises to build composable agent architectures. These agentlakes will manage and orchestrate fractured AI agent deployments and enable complex multiagent use cases.

2026 will not be for the faint of heart — or the faint of budget. Technology leaders are about to face a year that’s part roller coaster, part chess match, and part improv comedy. Forrester’s research says that most CIOs will get more budget but also more headaches, more volatility, and more pressure to prove that every dollar spent is worth its weight in gold-plated AI chips. Here are three of our 2026 predictions to help you chart your course: If there’s one thing tech leaders can count on in 2026, it’s that nothing will stay the same for long. Volatility isn’t just a buzzword; it is the overriding theme of the current time.

Whether you are talking about AI projects gone off the rails, budgets needing to be justified in three languages, or your best developer moonlighting as a gig worker (and maybe an AI agent on... So what’s the survival kit for this wild roller-coaster ride? First, keep your governance toolkit handy for those surprise AI rescues. Second, learn to speak fluent “business value,” because your CFO will want more than smoke and mirrors. And finally, embrace the new normal: Your workforce will be a mix of humans, bots, and gig workers. Managing this workforce mix will require an increased focus on your teams’ leadership skills.

2026 will reward leaders who treat volatility as a feature, not a bug. If you can laugh when your AI bot schedules a meeting with your office plant, pivot when your budget gets questioned, and keep your team together even when half of them are working from... The future is unpredictable, but with a little flexibility (and maybe a sense of humor), you’ll be ready to thrive. Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2026: Tech Leadership report to get more detail about each of these predictions, plus two more bonus predictions. Set up a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions with me and other key contributors of this report to plan out a 2026 technology strategy and roadmap that will set your organization up... 2026 will be a year of correction — not collapse — for artificial intelligence.

After a decade of soaring expectations, Forrester predicts a decisive shift toward value discipline, governance maturity, and renewed trust in human expertise. Budgets will tighten, talent shortages will intensify, and regulatory pressure will climb. Yet amid this friction lies the real story: AI is finally being forced to prove its worth. In this article, we examine Forrester’s key predictions for 2026 and pair them with expert analysis from our leadership team. Their commentary goes beyond the headlines, offering concrete recommendations for CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, and business executives navigating one of the most pivotal transformations in enterprise technology. 25% of AI spend by enterprises will be delayed into 2027

Despite bold investment, AI returns remain elusive — only a fraction of firms can link AI to profit growth. As CFOs tighten oversight, projects with unclear ROI will stall, shifting one-quarter of planned budgets into 2027. This slowdown will expose the gap between marketing hype and business impact, forcing organizations to prioritize measurable value and renegotiate inflated vendor costs. CFOs are stepping in because the value story no longer matches the invoices. AI programs that can’t link outcomes to the profit and loss statement will stall — and executives who don’t instrument value creation will lose budget before they lose faith. This shift isn’t anti-AI; it’s anti-wishful thinking.

– Enterprises will delay 25% of their AI spending into 2027 due to difficulties linking AI value to profit and increased CFO involvement in deals.– Vendor fragmentation will lead most enterprises to build composable... A new forecast from Forrester indicates that by 2026, artificial intelligence will enter a phase of practical maturity, moving beyond initial hype toward dependable, everyday functionality. Technology leadership, meanwhile, will pivot decisively toward high-performance strategies that prioritize measurable business outcomes over experimental projects. This shift reflects a broader industry trend where effectiveness and integration take precedence over novelty. Within the AI domain, the focus is expected to transition from speculative agents to foundational governance and literacy. Organizations will concentrate on embedding AI into routine data operations, ensuring these tools deliver consistent value rather than just theoretical potential.

Several key developments are anticipated. A significant portion of enterprise AI budgets, roughly 25%, will be postponed until 2027. The difficulty in linking AI initiatives directly to profit and loss statements means fewer than a third of companies can demonstrate clear financial returns. Consequently, chief financial officers will become more deeply involved in approving AI projects. This heightened financial scrutiny will slow down production rollouts and cause many proof-of-concept efforts to be abandoned, leading to the deferred spending. Another major trend involves vendor diversity.

No single hyperscaler or platform has yet achieved dominance in agentic AI, creating a fragmented market. This environment will push most large enterprises to construct composable “agentlake” architectures. These integrated systems will manage and coordinate disparate AI agent deployments, enabling sophisticated multi-agent applications that no single vendor can currently support. Forrester’s Predictions 2026: Tech Leadership report uncovers the shifts redefining how CIOs and tech leaders will operate in a year marked by AI acceleration and global volatility. This value-driven guide highlights what will matter most and where leaders must focus to stay ahead. Please complete this form to access the Analyst Report

Forrester’s Predictions 2026: Tech Leadership report uncovers the shifts redefining how CIOs and tech leaders will operate in a year marked by AI acceleration and global volatility. This value-driven guide highlights what will matter most and where leaders must focus to stay ahead. ©Copyright 2007-2025 Apptio, an IBM Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Cookie Settings | California Privacy Rights | Modern Slavery Act Statement Discover the 2026 technology trends that will shape IT leadership and the tech workforce.

Get expert predictions on AI, cloud, and security skills. While 2025 was full of change, our tech predictions for the year were pretty spot on. To uncover 2026 technology trends, we consulted our community of 2,500+ expert authors and 1,500 tech executives, IT practitioners, and business professionals. As an IT leader, these are the future workforce and technology trends your organization should be aware of going into 2026. Get the 2026 Tech Forecast for all of our predictions across AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and software development. LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct.

28, 2025-- According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) 2026 technology and security predictions, AI will face a reckoning next year — the gap between inflated vendor promises and the value delivered to enterprises is widening,... With fewer than one-third of decision-makers able to tie the value of AI to their organization’s financial growth, CEOs will lean more on their CFOs to approve AI investments based on their ROI in... As financial rigor slows production deployments and wipes out proofs of concept, enterprises will defer a quarter of their planned AI spend into 2027. Forrester’s Predictions reports offer forward-looking insights into trends and signals that empower leaders and their teams to think beyond the conventional and ignite bold ideas in the year ahead. Forrester’s technology and security predictions cover topics including: artificial intelligence; automation and robotics; tech leadership; cloud computing; tech infrastructure and operations; enterprise software; software development; cybersecurity and risk; and smart manufacturing and mobility. Key highlights from Forrester’s 2026 technology and security predictions include:

“In 2026, the AI hype period ends as the pressure to deliver real, measurable results from secure AI initiatives intensifies,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “As the era of volatility continues, tech and security leaders will be called upon to recalibrate investments under tighter financial scrutiny and governance while navigating increasingly complex geopolitical and economic risks. Forrester’s predictions are designed to help leaders make confident decisions by understanding the forward-looking trends that will shape their industry, function, and role in the year ahead.” Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We empower leaders in technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product functions to be bold at work and accelerate growth through customer obsession. Our unique research and continuous guidance model helps executives and their teams achieve their initiatives and outcomes faster and with confidence.

Forrester 2026 Predictions For Ai And Tech Leadership Itwire

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