12 technology trends that will shape the agenda in 2026

Since the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022, the prevailing feeling has been one of constant acceleration. However, as with the Internet or the Industrial Revolution, major technological transformations rarely happen all at once. On the contrary, they are built gradually.

As Esade professor Esteve Almirall notes in a recent article published in La Vanguardia, “The reason lies not only in social adoption processes, which tend to be slow at first, but also in the need to build infrastructure. Yesterday it was internet telecommunications networks; today it is data centers and AI infrastructure.”

According to his forecast, 2026 will be the year in which AI-driven transformation begins to gain real momentum. “We will see adoption become widespread and start to look exponential,” he explains.

In this context, the professor and innovation expert identifies twelve trends that are poised to shape the agenda of a fast-paced year:

1. AI can no longer be stopped

The question is no longer whether AI will outperform humans in many tasks, but how the economy will reorganize around that fact. Models are improving at an unstoppable pace, and competition not only between companies but also between countries is turning AI into a geopolitical issue. The incentives are strong, and the stakes are high.

2. Agents will take the lead

The real breakthrough will not be AI that responds, but AI that acts. Agents are software applications that, through language models, can reason and act on our behalf in complex situations. Their ability to make decisions and execute actions enables them to purchase goods, negotiate, plan trips, or manage business processes. While adoption has so far been limited, in 2026 we will begin to see their gradual integration into everyday life, transforming the way we work and interact—almost without noticing it.

3. Autonomous mobility will reshape cities

Driverless vehicles already operate 24/7 in many major US and Chinese cities in a safe and accessible manner. Their expansion will make it possible to reduce the number of privately owned cars and rethink urban design, leading to less congested and more decentralized cities.

4. Logistics will enter a new league

Autonomous trucks and new battery technologies will drastically reduce logistics costs, particularly thanks to the adoption of sodium batteries, which are cheaper and longer-lasting. This will shorten supply chains, reduce inventories, and generate major advantages in industrial competitiveness. China is clearly leading the way in this field.

5. Robots are coming

Humanoid robots will move beyond being a laboratory promise—or so predicts Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, who expects them to begin replacing many human-held positions. Hospitals, factories, and logistics centers will start accelerating adoption. Once again, China will be the place to see them operating at their full potential.

6. Learning languages will no longer be essential

Real-time simultaneous translation will turn language into a residual barrier. Both Apple and Google already have, or have announced, systems compatible with headphones that translate conversations instantly. Knowing languages will remain valuable, but it will no longer be a universal basic skill; instead, it will become a specialized competency.

7. Many organizations will embrace radical change

Companies with fewer people but enormous operational capacity. Humans coordinating hybrid teams made up of other people, agents, robots, and autonomous systems. All of this will be supported by new management models and more flexible data architectures.

8. AI will conquer space

Space offers superior thermal and energy conditions, making it an ideal location for data centers. The recent collaboration between Nvidia and StarCloud, which resulted in the first AI model trained in orbit, has already demonstrated that this is feasible. Launching rockets remains costly, but if costs continue to fall, new projects will emerge in 2026. Space will become a new computational frontier.

9. Telecommunications without borders

We will begin to see mobile phones connected directly to satellites—as Starlink is already enabling—and 10G networks, which are currently being tested in China. The impact will be so profound that many traditional telecom operators will struggle to adapt.

10. Researchers and engineers that are not human

AI agents capable of researching, experimenting, and discovering autonomously will multiply innovative capacity in science and engineering. Competitive advantage will no longer lie in access to scarce talent, but in the ability to scale it artificially.

11. Will the successor to the smartphone arrive?

Many have tried—virtual reality glasses, smartwatches...—but so far, no wearable device has surpassed the versatility of the smartphone. The search for its successor continues, with the notable development that OpenAI has recruited the designer behind the iPhone and iPod, Jony Ive, in an effort to find it.

12. Hyperloop will take off in China

While countries such as the US and the United Arab Emirates have abandoned the project, China is pushing ahead with the goal of developing a train capable of traveling at over 1,000 km/h. Connecting major cities at such speeds will redefine entire regions and significantly enhance their capacity to compete and innovate.