Crystal Ball 2026: Prediction Roundup Part 1

Our authors this year had thoughts on a lot associated with AI, as we've already seen in the Crystal Ball Series.

Here are more of their AI-related insights on democratization, ROI, marketing, go-to-market velocity and more in the first chapter of our 2026 roundup from subject matter experts:

Claudio Fayad, chief technology officer, Emerson's Aspen Technology

The next era of industrial automation is here. With industrial companies under constant pressure to drive greater throughput, production, and reliability across their products, automation has become a top priority.

In 2026 and beyond, IT and OT leaders will apply automation not just across one site or plant, but across the entire enterprise. They’ll prioritize modernization strategies that drive greater value from data and enable faster adoption of disruptive technologies like AI, without added complexity or risk.

See also: Why AI is quickly becoming essential manufacturing infrastructure

Today, the term “modernization” is still associated with costly and time-intensive rip-and-replace projects. This year, leaders will begin to see faster returns on data, AI, and digital transformation initiatives by prioritizing OT-ready digital technologies that can integrate with legacy automation investments.

We will see advancements in data management architecture, computing environments, AI orchestration, and more, that overcome common modernization obstacles, like OT fragmentation and data siloes, to provide incremental updates today, and enterprise-wide automation in the future.

Ron Thomas, chief revenue officer, Smartcat

Speed to market will become the most accurate indicator of AI ROI. Across the organizations that Smartcat supports, speed to market is the clearest test of whether AI is delivering real value. The impact does not show up in abstract efficiency metrics, but in whether teams can prepare customer-facing materials, adapt them for multiple regions, and launch on schedule.

In scientific, regulatory, and technically complex environments, even small regional delays introduce downstream risk. In some cases, they can stop a launch entirely.

These workflows leave no room for misalignment. Scientific nuance must remain intact, procedural accuracy must be exact, and regulatory expectations must be met in every market.

See also: Additive manufacturing speeds toward large-scale factory-floor utility

If AI does not shorten time to launch, it is not delivering ROI. Leaders are moving beyond incremental efficiency gains and asking a more direct question: Does AI help us meet critical launch windows without sacrificing precision?

In 2026, speed to market will be the most practical way for executives to judge whether their AI investments are working. Global demand alone no longer guarantees success. Local relevance does. A product or therapy only truly launches when every region receives accurate, approved, and locally clear communication on time.

AI matters because it can collapse complex, multi-region workflows while preserving the accuracy required for safety, compliance, and operational readiness. The organizations that can consistently shorten this path without losing precision will have the strongest evidence that their AI strategy is delivering real ROI.

AI optimism will give way to accountable commercial infrastructure. Across executive conversations, the tone around AI has shifted from optimism to accountability. Leaders are now evaluating AI with the same standards they apply to revenue systems, expansion strategy, and operating cost.

This shift is most pronounced in regulated, technically precise environments, where success depends on disciplined review cycles and authoritative customer communication. In these settings, AI only creates value when its outputs withstand financial and operational scrutiny.

AI that cannot withstand financial and operational scrutiny is not infrastructure; it’s experimentation. AI must be tuned to how work actually happens, including workflows, approvals, language requirements, and compliance obligations, rather than to generic models.

See also: AI is well out of experimental stages and into embedded operational reality in U.S., U.K., report finds

AI also has to perform in real customer decision moments. Customers often make fast, high-stakes decisions when dealing with medical information, operational guidance, or complex product behavior. These moments shape trust and directly influence outcomes.

When AI supports them well, it drives measurable commercial impact. When it does not, it becomes friction. In 2026, companies will judge AI by whether it withstands financial scrutiny, enables revenue growth, supports expansion into new markets without proportional cost increases, and shortens critical cycle times.

AI is being judged less on promise and more on performance, and that shift will define how organizations invest in it.

AI will be central to expanding global reach without increasing cost. In 2026, global organizations face a hard constraint. They want to expand into more markets without growing headcount at the same pace. Traditional, linear workflows cannot support the volume and precision required.

A single product update can trigger regulatory, technical, and safety changes across dozens of countries, from revising scientific explanations and technical specifications to securing local approvals before distribution can proceed.

See also: The strategic importance of industrial data fabrics

When organizations rely on manual processes to manage this complexity, costs escalate quickly as teams, vendors, and coordination layers multiply. No enterprise can staff its way into this future.

AI enables a fundamentally different operating model. It allows work that once moved sequentially to happen in parallel, preserving quality while increasing throughput.

This makes it possible to launch globally in close succession or simultaneously, rather than market by market. AI is becoming core infrastructure for expanding global reach without linear cost growth.

Editor's Note: The Crystal Ball Series will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.