Synthetic Minds | Ten Tech Trends for 2026

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2026: Why a Human‑Only Workforce Won’t Cut It Anymore

Every January I sit down, pull together all the signals I’m seeing, and try to answer one simple question:

What will actually matter in the next 12 months?

Last year I called 2025 the Year of Reckoning. A year where deepfakes, AI regulation (and deregulation), humanoid pilots and political turbulence all collided at once. A lot of that has now played out, and in many ways it was only the warm‑up.

For 2026, the picture is much clearer:

2026 is the Year of Augmented Intelligence

We’re crossing a line where intelligence is no longer something humans “own” and computers merely “support”. It’s becoming a shared space between people, models, robots, wearables and even early brain–computer interfaces.

Across the trends, one sentence keeps coming back:

A human‑only workforce is no longer viable.

That doesn’t mean “robots take all the jobs tomorrow”. It means that, in every serious organisation, the real competitive line is now between humans with AI and humans without it.

That is why I coined 2026 the Year of Augmented Intelligence.

It’s the 14th year in a row I’ve done this work, but this one feels different. The trends don’t sit neatly in separate boxes anymore, they stack and collide. So I’ve organised them into four big stories:

The global reordering of intelligence
When intelligence becomes embodied
The friction of an augmented society
The human frontiers of AI

And inside those, the ten specific trends I think every leader should be watching:

China overtakes the West in technological capabilities
SLM: The shrinking of language models (intelligence spreads to the edge)
A data warehouse in a box (supercompute moves on‑site)
The AI‑enhanced metaverse returns (simulation as strategy, not escapism)
The rise of Humanoids‑as‑a‑Service (HaaS)
AI‑driven crime reaches every corner
Growing unrest over privacy‑breaking pervasive hardware
Brain‑computer interfaces move into consumer life
Dramatic healthcare discoveries increase our healthspan
AI‑powered job losses hit escape velocity

Each trend is built around my WAVE framework from my award-winning book Now What?: Watch, Adapt, Verify, Empower. That’s deliberate. At this pace of change, you don’t need more hype, you need a decision lens.

Very briefly, here’s what that looks like in practice:

Watch: Spot the weak signals early (for example: small language models and edge supercomputers quietly changing the economics of AI).
Adapt: Shift strategy with a long‑term north star, not just a new pilot project.
Verify: In a world of hallucinations, deepfakes and weaponised noise, trust has to be earned, not assumed.
Empower: Make sure employees, customers and citizens benefit from augmented intelligence, instead of being steamrolled by it.

Why I wrote this (and who it’s for)

This report isn’t aimed at “AI tourists”. It’s for people who actually carry responsibility:

You run a business unit or a whole organisation.
You’re accountable for people, budgets and risk.
You have to make calls on automation, jobs, security, health, education or public services, often with incomplete information.

If that’s you, you’re sitting in the middle of what I call a permanent storm. You don’t get to opt out of AI, robotics or neurotech; you just get to choose how intentionally you respond.

My goal with this year’s trends was simple:

Cut through the noise.
Show you where the real tectonic plates are moving.
Give you practical prompts so you can start redesigning strategy, not just running more “experiments”.

A few questions to sit with

As you read, I’d encourage you to keep a few questions in the back of your mind:

Where am I still assuming a “human‑only” model, in a world that’s clearly moved on?
Which of these ten trends is a direct risk to my organisation… and which is a once‑in‑a‑decade opportunity?
Am I using AI purely for efficiency, or to create new value we couldn’t touch before?
Who inside my organisation needs to be empowered, not just informed, to shape our response?

If a couple of those land uncomfortably, that’s good. Discomfort is usually a sign you’ve found an edge worth exploring.

Grab the report

If you’d like the full story, including data points, examples and concrete actions for each trend, you can download the PDF here:

👉 Read “Ten Technology Trends 2026 – The Year of Augmented Intelligence”, and grab the full 43-pages report.

I’d love to hear which trend surprises you most, or which one you’re already seeing on the ground. Hit reply and tell me in one line: “The trend I’m most worried/excited about is #__ because…”

I read every reply.

Onward into the Year of Augmented Intelligence,

Mark

(Feel free to forward this newsletter to a colleague who’s wrestling with their 2026 strategy.)

'Synthetic Minds' continues to reflect the synthetic forces reshaping our world. Quick, curated insights to feed your quest for a better understanding of our evolving synthetic future, powered by Futurwise:

1. In China, a social credit system has been implemented to promote trustworthiness, but is it a tool for oppression or a means to promote good behavior? (Spotify)

2. A breakthrough in brain implant tech! Scientists have developed tiny chips that can be injected into veins. These implants, smaller than cells, are powered by near-infrared light and can generate small electrical zaps to target inflammation in the brain. (SingularityHub)

3. The music industry is on the cusp of a revolution with the partnership between Warner Music and Suno, but what does this mean for the future of music? (SiliconANGLE)

4. The future of work is expected to be significantly impacted by AI agents, which will enable and complete tasks, potentially making traditional software applications obsolete. How will it impact your job? (ZDNET)

5. In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists claim to have found the first direct evidence of dark matter, a mysterious substance that has been shrouded in mystery for nearly a century. (The Guardian)

If you are interested in more insights, grab my latest book Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change and learn how to embrace a mindset that can deal with exponential change.

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Thank you.
Mark