AI Trends 2026
AI Trends 2026: The keynote that prepares your organization for the future
What are the most important AI trends for 2026?
The AI revolution is accelerating. While 2024 was the year of ChatGPT adoption and 2025 was the year of the first AI agents, 2026: the year in which organizations must fundamentally redesign their operating model.
In this keynote, Remy Gieling takes you through the key developments that will transform your industry — based on research from McKinsey, PwC, IBM and Forrester, plus insights from conversations with tech leaders in Silicon Valley and China.
The 6 AI trends that will dominate 2026
1. Agentic AI goes from pilot to production
2025 was the year of the AI agent hype. In 2026, we will see which organizations also live up to the promise. According to PwC, more and more companies are following the leaders with an enterprise-wide strategy centered around an “AI Studio” — a central hub that brings together technical components, frameworks, and trained people.
What this means for your organization:
- Focus on 2-3 high-impact workflows, not dozens of experiments
- Invest in workflow redesign — technology provides only 20% of the value, the other 80% comes from redesigning work
- Measure what matters: P&L impact, operational differentiation, workforce trust
2. Smaller reasoning models become the norm
The time of “bigger is better” is making way for efficiency. IBM's Anthony Annunziata predicts that we'll see smaller reasoning models that are multimodal and easier to fine-tune for specific domains. This makes AI more accessible for organizations that do not want to be dependent on the major cloud providers.
Technical implication: Distillation, quantization, and memory-efficient runtimes enable inference on edge devices — crucial for data sovereignty.
3. European AI sovereignty gains momentum
The Wennink Commission report and initiatives such as the AI Gigafactory mark a turning point. Europe no longer wants to be dependent on US hyperscalers. The shift to smaller, specialized models also makes this technically feasible.
What this means: Organizations now need to consider their AI strategy in light of data sovereignty, compliance (AI Act), and vendor lock-in.
4. The “digital employee” becomes a reality
Forrester predicts that the top 5 HCM platforms will offer digital employee management capabilities. AI agents are no longer seen as tools, but as virtual team members who perform end-to-end tasks.
HR implication: CHROs become key players in tech decisions. Workforce data is no longer just for HR — COOs, CFOs, and Legal need it for agent orchestration.
5. ROI becomes the ultimate filter
The time of “exploratory AI investments” is over. Ecosystm research shows that in 2026, organizations will switch back from large moonshot projects to small to medium deployments with measurable outcomes.
The question that every project should answer: “What can this achieve by the end of the quarter?”
6. Physical AI and World Models
Robotics and autonomous systems are being boosted by “world models” — AI that understands and can predict the physical world. PitchBook forecasts that the market for world models in gaming will grow from $1.2 billion to $276 billion by 2030.
Who is this keynote for?
- C-level executives who want to shape their 2026 AI strategy
- Managers and Team Leaders who want to understand how AI affects their department
- HR professionals who need to do workforce planning for the AI era
- IT leaders that should determine the technical roadmap
What you bring
- Clear overview of the 6 dominant AI trends for 2026
- Concrete examples of organizations that lead the way
- Practical tools to get started tomorrow
- Insights from Silicon Valley and China that aren't in the media yet
Practical
- Duration: 30-60 minutes (customizable)
- Format: Keynote, possibly with interactive Q&A
- Target group: Broad — from management to workplace
FAQs
What are the most important AI trends for 2026?
The six dominant trends are: (1) Agentic AI goes to production, (2) Smaller reasoning models, (3) European AI sovereignty, (4) Digital employees in HR systems, (5) ROI as ultimate filter, (6) Physical AI and world models.
How does 2026 differ from 2025 when it comes to AI?
2025 was the year of experimentation with AI agents. 2026 will be the year of execution — organizations that don't deliver will lose weight.
Who is Remy Gieling?
Remy Gieling is one of the Netherlands' most popular AI experts. He is co-founder of ai.nl and The Automation Group, co-author of 7 books about AI, and performs 150+ times a year.
Interested in this keynote? Request a free quote.
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Remy takes into account the allocated speaking time and ensures a presentation that exactly meets the expectations and needs of the audience. His sessions are interactive, full of humor and full of current trends, insights and practical examples from leaders at home and abroad.
In addition, he shares handy and useful AI tools that allow participants to get started right away, so that the information is not only inspiring, but also tangible and applicable.
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With thousands of hours of experience in front of TV cameras, on the radio, in podcasts and on stages, Remy knows how to captivate every audience with a catchy and relevant story.
His background as a journalist and AI expert enables him to convey complex issues easily and in an engaging way, so that not only the participants themselves, but also their teams and organizations, get concrete value from his sessions. The many laudatory references confirm the impact and value of his lectures, in which inspiration and practical insights come together perfectly.
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