Tech industry enters a hyper-velocity AI moment, unlocking new opportunities for 2026

• Enterprise-wide AI value creation, next-generation agentic ecosystems and a focus on outcome-based models emerge as top priorities
• Opportunistic transactions, sovereignty-by-default and borderless talent strategies drive new AI-first operating models
• New technical roles, such as forward deployed engineers, and focus on AI ROI will be critical for success in 2026

The technology sector is accelerating into 2026, propelled by a hyper-velocity artificial intelligence (AI) moment that is redefining competitive advantage. According to the annual EY Top 10 Opportunities for Technology Companies in 2026, the pace of AI innovation and adoption is driving companies to act with urgency to position themselves for the next wave of transformation. Executives are shifting to operationalizing AI-native strategies that help to ensure safe and reliable practices while capturing value through agentic-driven solutions.

Velocity will be the defining factor of success in 2026. The lightning-fast pace of AI innovation makes it the top priority for how companies scale and capture advantage. Organizations that move fast - without sacrificing interoperability or governance - will be better positioned to seize winner-take-most scenarios.

James Brundage, EY Global and Americas Technology Sector Leader, says:

"In this hyper-velocity AI moment, leaders can win by making concrete moves - seizing accretive joint ventures and acquisitions to secure data and capabilities, embedding sovereignty-by-default all while designing for agentic interoperability and physical AI at the edge. And it's not just in the front office; technology companies are turning Finance into the ROI engine through AI FinOps, as AI is helping overcome longstanding challenges around quote to cash workflows and creating new levels of interoperability, enabling companies to collaborate more effectively and unlock value across platforms and ecosystems."

By embedding governance and aligning incentives across their ecosystems and partnerships, companies will build resilient, adaptive systems that deliver differentiated value and maintain the agility to thrive amid rapidly evolving geopolitical, regulatory and technological landscapes.

Against this backdrop, the EY organization views these top 10 opportunities for technology companies to take advantage of in 2026:

• Scale faster with M&A and joint venture (JV) ecosystem plays in this hyper-velocity AI moment
• Design for agentic interoperability and physical AI
• Enable functional leaders to operationalize safe, reliable AI - especially as deployments mature and scale
• Rethink commercial strategy for the agentic era
• Enhance for flexibility in model selection
• Design sovereignty by default and run a borderless talent model
• Deploy embedded technical professionals to navigate AI platform complexity
• Rethink your tax strategy for the digital infrastructure and AI era
• Institutionalize AI FinOps to make Finance the ROI engine
• Redefine enterprise security for AI, identity and nation-state threats

The full article with the top 10 opportunities can be found here.

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About Top Ten Opportunities for Technology Companies in 2025

In compiling the annual Top 10 Opportunities for Technology Companies in 2026, a balanced view has been provided of the potential actions for tech companies across various growth and operational improvement opportunities. This year's article features an analysis of desk research that was then supplemented with additional insights and recommendations from EY global technology partners and tech industry specialists.