Innovation

2026 promises to be a long strange trip

JK Galbraith once quipped that: “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” In that spirit, I'm communing with the machine gods to offer up some tech trends for 2026. It looks to be a particularly fun year for prognostications. The frenzy around AI alone should result in some wild and wacky outcomes. Here are some words that I may be dining on this time next year.

Let’s begin with the $5tn elephant in the room: AI. Regardless of whether the obvious stock market bubble bursts (I'd give 1:2 odds on it happening in 2026), the excitement around AI's ability to completely change the world on a weekly basis will definitely hit some speedbumps.