BGD Outlook: Harshul Asnani

2026 will not be defined by a single breakthrough technology. It will be defined by something far more consequential: the moment enterprises stop treating technology as a set of tools and start treating it as a set of behaviors.

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Technology becomes the catalyst, but the real shift is organizational metabolism

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For the past decade, digital transformation has been a procurement exercise - buy platforms, migrate workloads, and run pilots.In 2026, that model breaks. The organizations that pull ahead will be the ones that redesign how decisions are made, how workflows, and how accountability is distributed. Technology becomes the catalyst, but the real shift is organizational metabolism.

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In 2026, AI becomes a test of leadership nerve

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AI is the clearest example. The question is no longer “What can AI do?” but “What are we willing to let go of so AI can deliver value?” In 2024, we experimented. In 2025, we hesitated. In 2026, AI becomes a test of leadership nerve: can boards and executives redesign processes, incentives, and governance fast enough to capture returns?

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I believe three structural changes will define the year:

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1. Agentic systems replace task automation. Not chatbots, not copilots - systems that can take goals, make decisions, and execute across workflows. This moves AI from “assistive” to “accountable,”forcing enterprises to rethink risk, trust, and control.

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2. Industry platforms become the new competitive frontier. Telecom operators behave like software companies. Manufacturers behave like data companies. Banks behave like infrastructure providers. The boundaries blur, and value shifts to those who can orchestrate ecosystems, not just optimize operations.

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3. Governance becomes a performance metric. In Europe, especially trust, auditability, and regulatory readiness stop being compliance overhead and start becoming differentiators. The winners will be those who can prove - not claim - that their AI is safe, secure, and economically justified.

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The real story of 2026 is simple: technology is no longer the bottleneck

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The real story of 2026 is simple: technology is no longer the bottleneck. Organizational courage is. And the companies that embrace this will turn AI from an experiment into an engine of compounding returns.