Research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc. has announced its list of top strategic technology trends for 2026, spotlighting the rapid convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and digital trust in what it calls a “pivotal year” for technology leaders.
“Technology leaders face a pivotal year in 2026, where disruption, innovation, and risk are expanding at unprecedented speed,” said Gene Alvarez, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “The top strategic technology trends identified for 2026 are tightly interwoven and reflect the realities of an AI-powered, hyperconnected world where organizations must drive responsible innovation, operational excellence, and digital trust.”
“These trends represent more than technology shifts; they are catalysts for business transformation,” added Tori Paulman, VP Analyst at Gartner. “What feels different this year is the pace. We’ve seen more innovations emerge in a single year than ever before. Because the next wave of innovation isn’t years away, organizations that act now will not only weather volatility but shape their industries for decades to come.”
Gartner’s 2026 technology trends include:
- AI Supercomputing Platforms: integrating CPUs, GPUs, neuromorphic chips and orchestration tools to deliver performance for AI, simulation, and analytics workloads. Gartner predicts that by 2028, over 40% of leading enterprises will adopt hybrid computing paradigms, up from 8% today.
- Multiagent Systems (MAS): networks of AI agents collaborating across environments to automate complex business processes and enable human-AI teamwork.
- Domain-Specific Language Models (DSLMs): specialized AI models offering greater accuracy and compliance than general-purpose LLMs, with over half of enterprise GenAI models expected to be domain-specific by 2028.
- AI Security Platforms: unified systems to secure AI applications and counter risks like prompt injection or data leakage. Gartner forecasts that by 2028, over 50% of enterprises will use these platforms to safeguard AI assets.
- AI-Native Development Platforms: GenAI-powered development environments that enable small teams or even domain experts to build software faster, with Gartner projecting that by 2030, 80% of organizations will evolve into smaller, AI-augmented teams.
- Confidential Computing: protecting data-in-use via hardware-based trusted environments, expected to secure over 75% of untrusted infrastructure operations by 2029.
- Physical AI: embedding intelligence into real-world machines and robots, driving automation gains across industries but also requiring new cross-disciplinary skills.
- Preemptive Cybersecurity: shifting from reactive defense to predictive protection using AI-powered security operations, expected to make up half of all security spending by 2030.
- Digital Provenance: verifying the origin and integrity of software and data through watermarking, software bills of materials, and attestation databases to reduce compliance risks.
- Geopatriation: the shift of data and applications from global public clouds to local or sovereign alternatives amid growing geopolitical risks. Gartner predicts that by 2030, more than 75% of European and Middle Eastern enterprises will repatriate workloads into sovereignty-focused solutions, up from less than 5% today.
“These capabilities are reshaping industries — from healthcare and financial services to energy and infrastructure — as organizations rethink how to innovate responsibly and sustain trust in an AI-first economy,” Gartner noted.
