Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Eoin Hinchy, CEO and co-founder of Tines
The conversation around AI in 2025 centered on capability. The demos looked great. But when enterprises try to scale AI, they hit the same wall: unclear ownership, fragmented systems and no real framework for when to let AI run, and when to pull it back.
As we close out the year, I see a gap between AI hype and AI readiness that will become painfully visible. The enterprises that moved fast in 2025 are going to reckon with the harsh reality that AI at scale exposes weaknesses in outdated workflows. And the weight of those decisions will play out at the technical, financial and operational level.
Here are three predictions for how this becomes a reality in 2026.
CFOs Will Kill More AI Projects Than CTOs Launch
Enterprises are reaching the end of the “AI for AI’s sake” era, and this will crystallize next year when finance teams stop politely nodding at AI roadmaps and start demanding P&L impact. The vendors who survive will be those who can answer one simple question: What specific expense does this replace, or revenue will this generate? A sharp divide will form between vendors offering quantifiable ROI with concrete examples and those offering buzzwords, and only one will survive procurement.
The Companies That Succeed With AI Won’t Be the Boldest; They’ll Be the Ones With Real Guardrails.
2025 was the year of experimentation. Looking ahead to 2026, curiosity will give way to commitment as enterprises start to rely on AI agents as business-critical tools. But this psychological shift – moving from testing agents to trusting them – will widen between those who succeed and those who don’t because of one defining factor: security and governance. Companies that invest upfront in defining clear controls and guardrails will unlock the transformative productivity gains that have long been marketed. Those that rush to deploy without proper oversight, on the other hand, will face public failures that damage their brand and erode trust. Flashy demos may impress, but they rarely endure. The next phase of AI maturity depends on learning to delegate responsibility. Governance is not a box to check; it is the strategy. Those who understand this will turn AI from theater into lasting impact.
The Most Valuable AI Agents Won’t Be the Ones You Ask Questions To. They’ll Alert You to Problems You Didn’t Know Existed.
The next wave of AI innovation will be defined by agents that act before they’re asked, but the real differentiator will be how effectively humans stay in the loop. These systems won’t wait for prompts; they’ll monitor markets, compliance landscapes and customer signals in real time, surfacing insights and taking action autonomously. Yet human judgment remains critical, providing the context, ethics and nuance that AI cannot replicate. As organizations scale, they must design systems where oversight is built in, not bolted on, with clear frameworks defining when and how people step in and remain accountable for outcomes. The companies that get this balance right, where humans and machines operate in true tandem, will build the trust and integrity needed to stay ahead of the curve.
Taken together, these shifts point to the same conclusion: the AI industry is moving beyond novelty and to a period where discipline, structure and accountability will determine who benefits from AI. In 2026, that means maturity, not ambition, will be the real competitive edge.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eoin Hinchy is the co-founder and CEO of Tines, the intelligent workflow platform trusted by the world’s most advanced organizations. Prior to Tines, Eoin spent 15 years leading security operations at companies like eBay, PayPal, and DocuSign. He has two engineering degrees – a Masters in Security and Forensic Computing from Dublin City University and an MBA from Imperial College London.
