How should executives think about AI in 2026?

This post is a very short summary of the last three Enterprise Technology Intelligence Briefing books. This monthly report tracks enterprise technology topics that are important to executives and boards of directors, with a recent focus on AI. of course.

Much has been discussed, but briefly, the situation today can be summarized in four points:

1. Generative AI is reaching (and one could argue has reached) its natural limits. It’s both about economic viability and the possibility of addressing an increasingly small number of use cases.
2. Agentic AI holds promise if it only solves the core issues of governance. The most important ones are cybersecurity, privacy, autonomy, and availability.
3. The current corporate infrastructure in place is not ideal. After decades of growing technical debt and ongoing repair work, digital integration has become a top issue.
4. With the right combination of data models and technology infrastructure that can be rapidly scaled and adapted to a myriad of diverse use cases, AI in the enterprise has a bright future.

Although the answer to this conundrum will take much longer than 12 months to reach a conclusion, this is, after all, a transformative event in the same vein as the Internet, cloud infrastructure, and digital transformation. There are several things businesses can do today to prepare for the coming AI transformation.

1. Digital compatible
   1. Technology managers must understand and ensure that appropriate data flows are available across all data stored.
   2. Determine which tools have the appropriate permissions and access to the necessary resources, and how the company, rather than the host vendor, can maintain control.
   3. None of this matters if the results are unsustainable. Monitor and enforce the economics of accessing, using, updating, and storing data and processes.
2. AI optimization
   1. There is no single AI model or tool that can do it all. Explore alternative models and solutions for generative and agent AI and redesigned use cases and processes.
   2. Explore cutting-edge technologies such as edge computing to assess the potential for sustainable operation of AI and reduce operational costs.
   3. When Agentic AI and Generative AI are the right solution, the goal is to automate while ensuring proper human oversight to optimize economics and outcomes.
3. Infrastructure maturity
   1. Audit your technology stack. We will update the documentation to focus on how to create a private platform and determine what else is needed.
   2. Understand the current contracts and economics of all cloud providers (vendors, providers, hyperscalers). Create a master private and public cloud strategy.
   3. Document everywhere you need privacy, access, rights, roles, and compliance and centralize it in one common policy location. This is the base of the private platform.
4. strategic thinking
   1. As with all transformations, technology is secondary to strategy. Create 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and long-term plans for your AI and digital needs.
   2. Determine the talent available and required to execute these strategies. This is the most often overlooked item when creating a strategy: how to make it happen.
   3. In recent surveys, in fact, in some of them, the most shocking finding was that executives do not believe that their fellow executives or boards of directors are sufficiently knowledgeable about technology and AI. Understand your company’s situation.

If you’re wondering how my organization will be able to do all of this over the next 12 months, the good news is that the next 12 months (basically, 2026 as of this writing) are a period of long-term preparation for all of these outcomes, rather than achieving them. Auditing, documentation, strategic alignment, and long-term planning will be built on top of these blocks that companies will begin laying out this year. And perhaps by then, the direction and consequences of geopolitical and economic uncertainties that have prevented large corporate investments will be clearer.

The North Star for companies is that a focus on AI in 2026 means taking a private platform approach to the cloud, internet, data, AI, and all other technologies and processes. Private platforms, a combination of private and public cloud components that allow enterprises to leverage cloud providers and hyperscalers while maintaining control and governance, are the core model underlying AI (and the evolution of quantum, robotics, and other technologies in the coming decades).

What’s your biggest concern? Create the right strategy and ensure your executive technology know-how is up to date. Secondary? resources and talent.

Want to dig deeper into these topics? We will continue to do so throughout the year with this blog and ETIB reports. Please contact us. We will help you.

Looking forward to a wonderful 2026! May your strategies match.