University of Kwazulu-Natal

The 2026 Ai Decision Why Measurement Matters More Than Adoption Forbes

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the 2026 ai decision why measurement matters more than adoption forbes

Kentucky’s junior U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green, has introduced the Health Marketplace and Savings Accounts for All Act, to make all Americans eligible for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). I’ve lived in the same spot for 30 years, but lately, my Social Security check is gone before the month ends. I was literally eating toast for dinner to save money. Then a friend at the senior center showed me Food Radar. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes.

The map showed five different spots within 2 miles of my apartment giving away food today. I drove to the closest pin—a local church pantry. They filled my trunk with fresh vegetables, milk, and canned goods. I didn't know this help was right under my nose the whole time. If you have ever looked up at the grab handle above your car window and noticed a tiny hook on the side, you are not alone if you had no idea what it was... Here is the short version: that little hook is a coat or clothes hook, designed so you can hang garments without wrinkling them or having them slide around the car.

Automakers actually label it that way in their owner manuals. CALIFORNIA — In a sudden move, Howard's Appliances — a nearly 80-year-old appliance chain, has closed all its retail locations in Souther California, leaving employees and customers scrambling with little warning. In a striking sign of change across the American food and beverage landscape, two of the world’s most iconic beverage companies — Coca-Cola and PepsiCo — have recently announced multiple plant closures and major... Artificial intelligence has moved through waves of enthusiasm, experimentation, and skepticism. Many organisations have tested AI in small pockets of their operations, yet few have managed to translate that potential into wide scale impact. The challenge has never been a lack of ambition.

The real hurdle has been deploying AI safely, affordably, and consistently in environments that demand reliability. Now, the landscape is shifting. Several long awaited developments are converging at the same time, positioning 2026 as a possible breakthrough year. Regulations are becoming clearer, infrastructure is maturing, and industries that once approached AI cautiously are beginning to show early, measurable results. Together, these shifts suggest that AI is finally moving from promise to practical progress. One of the biggest changes shaping 2026 is the emergence of clearer global regulatory frameworks.

The European Union’s AI Act, which began rolling out in 2024, enters more substantial enforcement stages by 2026. This gives companies a firmer understanding of what responsible AI adoption requires, reducing the uncertainty that previously slowed investment. Well defined rules often have the opposite effect of what people fear. Instead of stifling innovation, they provide guardrails that make innovation safer and more predictable. Research from groups such as the OECD points to a recurring pattern: when expectations are clear, organisations move faster because the risks are easier to manage. AI’s momentum over the past two years owes a lot to improvements in hardware, model engineering, and the efficiency of training methods.

Chips designed specifically for AI workloads, more affordable computing power, and smarter techniques for scaling models allow businesses to run sophisticated systems without breaking budgets. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. The AI hype fueled by the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 has only accelerated. Organizations, however, have yet to see much ROI on their mounting investment in the technology -- but experts say that wait may be over in the new year. Based on promises of AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations through new developments in the space, including models that are smarter, cheaper, multimodal, better at reasoning, and even autonomous, business leaders have funneled money... Global corporate AI investment reached $252.3 billion in 2024, and US private AI investment hit $109.1 billion, according to Stanford data -- it's safe to assume those numbers will only continue to grow.

Also: Why AI agents failed to take over in 2025 - it's 'a story as old as time,' says Deloitte But a look back at 2025 reveals a common thread: AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations has not yet been realized across the board. Most memorably, a now-infamous MIT study found that 95% of businesses weren't seeing an ROI from their generative AI spend, with only 5% of integrated AI pilots extracting millions in value. While the criteria for returns are narrowly defined, which partially explains the high percentage, it is still indicative of a wider trend. Executive leadership hub - What’s important to the C-suite? Only a few companies are realizing extraordinary value from AI today, things like surging top-line growth and significant valuation premiums.

Many others are also experiencing measurable ROI, but their outcomes are often modest—some efficiency gains here, some capacity growth there, and general but unmeasurable productivity boosts. These results can pay for themselves and then some. But they don’t add up to transformation. The picture’s starting to shift. It’s still hard to use AI to drive transformative value, and the technology continues to evolve at speed. That’s not changing.

But what’s new is this: Success is becoming visible. We can now see what it looks like to use AI to build a leading-edge operating or business model. From mature systems to emerging tools like AI agents, examples of impact are multiplying—across strategy, operations, workforce, trust, tech stacks, and sustainability. Companies now have enough evidence to build benchmarks, measure performance, and identify levers to accelerate value creation in both the business and functions like finance and tax so they can become nimbler, faster-growing organizations. Why, then, has this kind of success—the kind that drives revenue growth and opens up new markets—been concentrated in so few? Too often, organizations spread their efforts thin, placing small sporadic bets.

Because AI feels easy to use, early wins can mask deeper challenges. The era of AI evangelism is giving way to evaluation. Stanford faculty see a coming year defined by rigor, transparency, and a long-overdue focus on actual utility over speculative promise. Readers wanted to know if their therapy chatbot could be trusted, whether their boss was automating the wrong job, and if their private conversations were training tomorrow's models. Readers wanted to know if their therapy chatbot could be trusted, whether their boss was automating the wrong job, and if their private conversations were training tomorrow's models. Using AI to analyze Google Street View images of damaged buildings across 16 states, Stanford researchers found that destroyed buildings in poor areas often remained empty lots for years, while those in wealthy areas...

Using AI to analyze Google Street View images of damaged buildings across 16 states, Stanford researchers found that destroyed buildings in poor areas often remained empty lots for years, while those in wealthy areas... OneTrust Named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™ for Privacy Management Software, Q4 2025 OneTrust’s annual predictions report says governance must operate as infrastructure — not administration. What once relied on policies, reviews, and manual oversight is now happening in milliseconds inside distributed systems and automated workflows. As AI becomes embedded in every product and decision, one pattern is clear: the organizations that will lead in 2026 are those that treat governance as infrastructure — always-on, automated, and built into the... That’s the focus of the new OneTrust 2026 Predictions Report: Into the age of AI — Lessons from the future.

The report brings together insights from global practitioners and regulators to map what responsible innovation looks like in the next phase of AI adoption. Across industries, AI adoption is accelerating faster than governance maturity. According to the OneTrust 2025 AI-Ready Governance Report, which surveyed 1,250 governance-focused IT decision-makers: As we step into 2026, enterprises worldwide are facing a pivotal moment: artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a “nice-to-have”; it is fast becoming a baseline capability for competitive survival. For many organizations, the seismic shift from pilot AI experiments to enterprise-wide deployments will be decided this budget cycle. This article lays out a comprehensive, actionable roadmap for how enterprises should plan and allocate AI budgets in 2026, from strategic assessment to scaling, governance, and measurement.

It draws on the latest industry data, real-world case studies, and expert frameworks to guide CIOs, CTOs, and decision-makers toward high-impact, sustainable AI adoption. According to a 2025 forecast from Gartner, total global AI spending will reach nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025, with expectations to surpass $2 trillion in 2026. (Gartner) That growth covers everything from AI services and infrastructure to semiconductors, servers, and devices with embedded AI capabilities (smartphones, PCs, etc.). (ETEnterpriseai.com) For enterprises, this means AI will no longer be a fringe project; it will be a core line item in IT and business-technology budgets in 2026. Delaying AI investment may leave companies scrambling to play catch-up.

A 2025 survey by McKinsey & Company finds that 78–88% of organizations globally now use AI for at least one business function. (McKinsey & Company)

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