EXPERT COLUMN

BY ALIX PRESLEY OUR DIRECTOR OF

STRATEGIC CONTENT

While the acceleration of Digital Transformation driven by AI has been the dominant cross-regional trend this year, the recognition of data as a strategic asset and cloud-first modernisation have remained at the forefront of change.

AI is no longer a differentiator; it’ s swiftly become a baseline expectation for competitiveness. Everything else – including cloud investment, 5G, Edge Computing, cybersecurity, sustainability tech – is orbiting around AI adoption as it is deeply embedded into core business processes.

David Crawford, Chairman of Bain’ s Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice, refers to AI as the‘ defining disrupter of our time’ and it’ s difficult to disagree. In Bain & Company’ s Technology Report 2025, he makes a great point about AI having had a much broader reach compared to any recent tech wave, reshaping business strategy, politics, trade, defence and even social justice.

The heavy focus this year on mastering and adopting AI could mean organisations are well-positioned to start 2026 on the front foot; equipped to make smarter, more informed decisions.

An interesting notion by Wim Stoop, Director, Product Marketing, Cloudera, is that AI governance agents will make data oversight continuous and autonomous.“ In 2026, we will see the emergence of specialist AI agents dedicated to data governance,” he said.“ These digital colleagues will continuously

monitor, classify and secure data wherever it resides, ensuring governance becomes an always-on function embedded into daily operations.”

Stoop believes governance will no longer be something people do, but something they oversee.“ Rather than manually enforcing every rule, humans will instead‘ govern the governance’ – shaping the process as it runs. As trust in these systems grows, we’ ll be able to step back and let continuous governance take over, delivering cleaner data, stronger compliance and AI-ready insight that drives real business value,” he concluded.

And that’ s the ultimate shared goal – driving true business value through intelligence. Clear ROI and business outcomes will become the keys to AI projects being greenlit, says Joao Silva, VP, EMEA, at Pure Storage.“ We will see strong consolidation of AI estates as organisations test projects quickly and bring workloads back on premise,” he believes.

Interestingly, Silva notes that due to the sheer number of cyberattacks that have occurred this year, data should get peak protection.“ Cyber-resiliency will be a key business driver in 2026 with boards realising they need multiple protections to ensure it,” he said.

I guess we’ ll have to wait and see what 2026 has in store for the global tech landscape, but for now, I’ d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I’ ll be back with the next instalment in January 2026. p

18 INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA www. intelligentcio. com