Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By George Tziahanas, VP of Compliance, Associate General Counsel at Archive360
As we enter 2026, the rapid deployment of AI technologies across industries has created both unprecedented opportunities, along with challenges that will define the coming year, from new and emerging regulatory schemes governing AI’s use to the deployment to the introduction of agentic AI. Here are five key predictions for what lies ahead:
AI-moderated interactions will face new regulatory scrutiny
Customer service chatbots and AI agents will become ubiquitous, handling everything from simple inquiries to complex problem resolution. However, this shift from human-to-human communications to AI-mediated exchanges has created a regulatory blind spot. Organizations will face new requirements to govern these AI-based interactions for compliance purposes, especially in heavily regulated industries. AI interactions represent an entirely new category of communications require preservation accessibility for regulatory review and broader data management strategies.
In the United States, in the absence of Federal AI regulation, states will increasingly pass their own AI and data laws, further complicating an already complex patchwork of sometimes contradictory legal landscape that companies must navigate. To the extent the Executive Branch proposes an alternate framework, it will add to the confusion.
Data sovereignty expands beyond national security
Traditionally focused on national security concerns, data protection laws will further expand to encompass broader “national interest” categories. This expansion will create a new “digital iron curtain” between nations as they seek to control strategic data assets, which have become as crucial as control over physical resources. To compensate, enterprises will need to make substantial investments in domestic AI infrastructure or seek to leverage sovereign environments. Regardless, physical borders once thought obsolete in the digital universe could re-emerge to become critical boundaries for global enterprises.
The speed versus safety dilemma intensifies
When it comes to AI investments, boards of directors find themselves caught between two equally daunting risks: falling behind competitors by moving too cautiously or exposing their organizations to governance failures and data breaches due to rushed implementations. Unfortunately, competitive pressure will likely win out in many cases, leading to hasty deployments of AI systems without adequate security measures. The inevitable consequence will be an uptick in data breaches and cybersecurity incidents stemming from poorly secured AI implementations and the vast datasets that power them.
Energy infrastructure becomes AI’s critical bottleneck
The computational demands of AI are staggering, and the availability of power for data centers will become an even more pressing constraint. Government decisions, which become hyper-local regarding energy policy and data center infrastructure, will create significant advantages for some regions while leaving others behind. Those unable to provide sufficient electrical capacity for large-scale AI operations will find themselves marginalized in the global AI race, regardless of how supportive their regulatory frameworks might be. Expect to see significant controversy over expansion of the grid and the construction of new generation plants and use of local land and water resources in the most diverse locations.
Agentic AI adoption proceeds cautiously
Despite excitement surrounding autonomous AI systems, their widespread enterprise deployment will proceed more slowly than many anticipate. The autonomous enterprise is still many years away. In 2026, AI agents will augment rather than replace existing software systems, because enterprise workflows are too complex for wholesale disruption in a single year. The infrastructure requirements alone present significant hurdles, and regulated industries face additional layers of security and compliance complexity that cannot be rushed.
What’s next?
As we look to the next 12 months, it’s clear that, across industries, we’re at a pivotal point in artificial intelligence. Now, more than ever, is it imperative that business leaders proceed strategically, rather than following the latest (re: exciting) trends. AI possesses tremendous potential to streamline the ways we work and communicate with one another, but companies should balance their strategies with regulatory and deployment complexities affixed on the horizon.
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