Forecasts Set 2026 as the Year AI Moves From Pilots to Scale

Overview

• Experts predict generative models will be trained for specific sectors such as health, education, industry and public safety, expanding practical use cases.
• Agentic AI is expected to evolve into productive partners for programming and business workflows under human oversight, with 62% of firms already testing agents and Gartner projecting broad app adoption by 2026.
• Edge computing paired with emerging 6G is forecast to cut latency, strengthen security and support real-time decisions, enabling advances in autonomous vehicles, Industry 4.0 and smart cities.
• Retail reports point to a shift from isolated tests to scale and governance to deliver returns, as McKinsey found only 39% tied AI to direct profit in 2025 and consumer data shows trust is a decisive factor.
• Conversational and voice channels are gaining traction, with PYMNTS finding 17.9% of consumers make weekly voice purchases and Gartner projecting about 40% of digital interactions via voice or natural language by 2026.