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<\/p>\n Read in app<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n This story is available exclusively to Business Insider Tech and business leaders shared their AI predictions with Business Insider for 2026. It’s been roughly three years since ChatGPT<\/a> launched and set off the AI boom \u2014 and the world hasn’t missed a beat since then.<\/p>\n What began as a novel technology has quickly become a staple of daily life for consumers and workers, showing just how large the ecosystem has grown. So what’s next?<\/p>\n As debates swirl over a potential AI bubble<\/a> and the future of work, the world is preparing for another year of sweeping transformations to daily life.<\/p>\n “The rollercoaster is going up right now and it will eventually come down and turn into an exciting ride that all ends well.” Tim Armstrong, CEO of FlowCode, told Business Insider. “But make sure your seatbelt is on \u2014 tightly.”<\/p>\n Ten leading tech figures \u2014 from billionaire Mark Cuban<\/a> to IBM’s SVP of transformation and operations, Joanne Wright \u2014 shared their predictions about what’s next for AI.<\/p>\n Blackstone CTO, John Stecher<\/p>\n John Stecher is the CTO at Blackstone.<\/p>\n Blackstone <\/p>\n John Stecher oversees Blackstone’s technology<\/a> and various parts of the investment business. He shared three major AI predictions with Business Insider for the new year.<\/p>\n His first is that there will be an “acceleration” of enterprise AI adoption. He said larger companies have been slower to adopt AI than small and medium-sized businesses, and 2026 will bring a “deepening adoption” of AI tools that enhance productivity<\/a> at larger companies.<\/p>\n “I see it driving productivity across the broader workforce,” Stecher said. “Up from where it’s at today.”<\/p>\n Stecher’s second prediction centers on data. He said data quality \u2014 and keeping it clean \u2014 will become a growing priority and that he expects companies to invest more in this area.<\/p>\n His third prediction is an increased focus on cybersecurity, as identity-based attacks grow harder to identify and intellectual property becomes more difficult to protect.<\/p>\n Cisco SVP & CMO, AI, Networking & Collaboration, Aruna Ravichandran<\/p>\n Aruna Ravichandran is the SVP and CMO of AI, Networking & Collaboration at Cisco.<\/p>\n Cisco <\/p>\n Cisco executive Aruna Ravichandran predicted that\u00a02026 will bring\u00a0“connected intelligence” in the workplace,\u00a0which she describes as people, data, and digital workers working together.<\/p>\n “In this new era, collaboration happens without friction. Digital workers anticipate needs, coordinate tasks in the background, and resolve issues before they surface,” Ravichandran said.<\/p>\n Cisco SVP and global innovation officer, Guy Diedrich<\/p>\n Guy Diedrich is the SVP and global innovation officer at Cisco.<\/p>\n Cisco <\/p>\n Cisco’s global innovation officer, Guy Diedrich<\/a>, told Business Insider that in 2026, he expects more discussion around the AI-driven economy and the interactions between humans and machines. He said there will be more attention to combining technical expertise with “uniquely human skills.”<\/p>\n “This shift will rebalance priorities, placing greater emphasis on building cognitive muscle through ethical judgment, cultural intelligence, and critical thinking \u2014 all classic humanities skills,” Diedrich said.<\/p>\n EY global chief innovation officer, Joe Depa<\/p>\n Joe Depa is the global chief innovation officer at EY.<\/p>\n EY <\/p>\n One of the key trends EY global chief innovation officer Joe Depa expects to see in 2026, is a shift toward humans overseeing more AI agents<\/a> and robots. He said people will set the vision, while AI agents and robots carry out the execution.<\/p>\n “You’re going to have to orchestrate the agents, train them, audit them, retire them as new agents come in as new robots come in,” Depa said. “And so that’s an area that I think new skills are going to be developed.”<\/p>\n Depa added that adaptability will become<\/a> the new job security in 2026.<\/p>\n “Jobs are going to continue to change super fast,” Depa said, adding that the “ability to adapt and change is going to be the most important component.”<\/p>\n FlowCode CEO, Tim Armstrong<\/p>\n Tim Armstrong is the CEO of Flowcode.<\/p>\n Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Tim Armstrong, CEO of Flowcode and former CEO of AOL, shared several AI-related predictions with Business Insider. Among them: Ad prices will “go vertical” and become “exponentially” more expensive, even as returns on investment improve.<\/p>\n He added that ads will need to evolve \u2014 mirroring the way AI has driven the search engine to evolve into an “answer engine.”<\/p>\n As for the AI companies themselves? There will be winners and losers.<\/p>\n “There will be one giant AI company wipe out,” the veteran of the dot-com bubble said.<\/p>\n In turn, another company will pick up on some of that over-investment and benefit.<\/p>\n “The rollercoaster is going up right now and it will eventually come down and turn into an exciting ride that all ends well,” he said. “But make sure your seatbelt is on \u2014 tightly.”<\/p>\n IBM senior VP of transformation and operations, Joanne Wright<\/p>\n Joanne Wright is IBM’s SVP of transformation and operations.<\/p>\n IBM <\/p>\n IBM’s Joanne Wright said that she expects companies to shift their focus from AI hype to measuring the return on investment of AI.<\/p>\n “That may sound simple, but it demands relentless focus across the business,” Wright said.<\/p>\n The executive said that AI success requires strong leadership and a workforce encouraged and equipped to rethink how they work with AI.<\/p>\n “Top\u2011down sponsorship and bottom\u2011up empowerment are absolutely essential,” Wright said.<\/p>\n Mark Cuban<\/p>\n Mark Cuban is worth an estimated $9.57 billion, making him the world’s 369th richest person, per Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Billionaire Mark Cuban predicted that in 2026, videos will become longer, with some options for character continuity. He also said he expects to see more IP siloed to protect it from being trained on.<\/p>\n That IP “will be auctioned off to the foundational models that will pay the most,” Cuban said.<\/p>\n By the end of 2026, the billionaire also predicts that “at least one of the foundational models” will warn that it could face near-term cash shortfalls.<\/p>\n Snowflake CEO, Sridhar Ramaswamy<\/p>\n Sridhar Ramaswamy joined the cloud data platform company in 2023.<\/p>\n Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
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\n Mark Cuban predicted that “at least one” foundational model will warn about a cash shortfall.
\n Executives at Visa and Blackstone predicted an increase in cybersecurity threats.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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