Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By John Yoho, SVP of Partnerships & Solutions at HGS
After two years of AI frenzy, organizations are shifting from experimentation to discipline. Going into 2026, enterprises will fine-tune their tech investments to align directly with business goals and ultimately transform how they leverage automation. The focus will pivot from broad cost-cutting to optimizing costs and refining entire systems for maximum value. Rather than simply reducing costs, enterprises will aim to ensure every piece of technology, including historically ‘untouchable’ SaaS products, is tailored to the solutions that meet their business needs.
This shift is driven by a growing need for adaptable, purpose-built technology. In 2026, business leaders will begin to move away from generic tools and start shaping their tech stacks around the complexities of their organizations. AI and automation will be integrated throughout everyday operations, informing decisions and driving efficiency across all levels of the organization.
Competing on Speed
AI adoption is already the baseline for most businesses. In 2026, the pressure to continue innovating will intensify, making speed the true key to competitive advantage. Businesses will switch their focus, competing not only on product quality and market share, but also on their ability to scale quickly, which requires rapid deployment cycles, accelerated decision-making, and robust AI-driven revenue streams. The new question will be, ‘Who can launch and scale faster than their competitors?’
One way enterprises will scale in 2026 is by moving beyond incremental optimization toward architectural agility that accelerates speed-to-market. To do it, enterprises have to fully embrace AI, where autonomous intelligent assistants manage the complex, end-to-end workflows, and the real value comes from an augmented human approach. With AI handling repetitive tasks, employees can focus on vision, strategy, and judgment, and business leaders can deploy systems across new functions to capture the hyper-personalized data needed for truly intelligent experiences.
For example, on the sales side, enterprises are using speed and smart handling to improve lead conversations. Many leads never convert, resulting in lost revenue and wasted resources, with estimates suggesting that up to 80% of new leads never become customers. Human-led manual follow-up can be slow and flawed, while basic automation acknowledges leads quickly but lacks personalization. Intelligent experiences powered by conversational AI enable real-time engagement with leads and route the most qualified ones to human agents, resulting in increased conversion rates and productivity. And, speed is crucial as 82% of customers expect a response within 10 minutes, and 78% buy from the first responder.
By combining speed and intelligent automation, enterprises can improve performance not just in sales but across the entire organization. With AI embedded across workflows, employees will be able to focus on higher-value work in 2026, setting the stage for an augmented workforce that combines human insight with AI to drive strategy, innovation, and growth.
Augmented Human Insight
As enterprises push forward with automation in 2026, they will quickly realize the limits of full autonomy. While AI can typically automate up to 50-60% of high-volume, repetitive tasks, such as reporting, forecasting, and routine service interactions, human oversight remains essential.
In 2026, businesses will continue to recognize that AI works best when humans remain at the center of decision-making. That’s why leaders will start reverting to a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) design. This hybrid approach combines smart workflows with human review to manage the rest, ensuring humans step in precisely when needed.
Rather than replacing workers, AI will be designed to embed human judgment at key moments to refine automation, respond to unusual situations, and maintain both empathy and accuracy. By recognizing when to pause, escalate, or intervene, organizations can scale, adapt, and preserve the human perspective in critical decisions.
As businesses scale their digital transformation, HITL systems offer a responsible way to scale while also maintaining customer trust. These systems improve business agility by preventing automation dead ends. Smart workflows empowered by HITL design are a competitive advantage where speed, intelligence, and humanity successfully coexist.
The Road Ahead
In 2026, the push for automation will continue, prompting enterprises to adjust their focus toward more strategic and intentional uses of AI. After two years marked by heavy pushes for full autonomy, in 2026, leading enterprises will start to reintegrate humans back into workflows. This will not be about reversing automation, but about combining human judgment with the speed and scalability of AI. Enterprises that insert human judgment at key moments are refining automation, rather than resisting it. They’re building workflows that scale confidently, adapt gracefully, and serve people better.
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