Devoteam’s TechRadar: Six technologies disrupting business and society in 2026
Technology is no longer just an enabler of bus – it is the force redefining how organisations grow and compete. From the boardroom to the front line, digital capabilities are reshaping decision-making, operations and value creation at every level. In this rapidly evolving landscape, Devoteam’s 2026 TechRadar report spotlights the six key technologies poised to shape the year ahead.
The report is the fifth edition of the company’s annual technology guide for CIOs and senior technology leaders. It features insights from over 100 experts across EMEA and maps out over 100 technologies that are making a difference in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Artificial intelligence
AI is now present in almost every sector, yet the path to delivering actual value is not always clear. While generative AI has gained massive attention, it is often viewed as a universal fix rather than a specific tool for targeted problems.
There is now a clear trend toward agentic AI, which involves systems capable of acting, making decisions, and collaborating across different platforms. This advancement brings new layers of complexity to how these systems are governed.
One of the pressing challenges in this field is maintaining digital trust. Because AI systems interact using natural language rather than rigid code, their outputs can sometimes be unpredictable. Organizations need to implement multiple layers of validation – sometimes even using one AI to test another – to ensure that results stay safe and compliant.
The TechRadar points to the progress made by a wide range of different applications from the top tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, Salesforce, and others, all of which already offer or are working on agentic AI solutions.
Data-driven intelligence
Many companies describe themselves as data-driven because they have invested in modern storage platforms, but centralizing information is only the first step. True data-driven intelligence is more than just storing data – it also calls for interpreting and embedding it into daily workflows. When information is difficult to understand or inaccessible, companies rely on specialists to extract meaning, which often leads to dashboards that go unused.
In a major shift in how teams approach data, analytics is moving from being a separate activity at the end of a process to being a core part of execution. Users can now ask questions and trigger actions without needing to navigate complex reports. However, this only works if there are clear shared definitions and governance in place.
Most of the offerings in data-driven intelligence analyzed in the TechRadar report are already in the adoption phase. Those include Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Fabric, and even some open-source options like Airbyte or Apache Iceberg. Several other tools, like NVIDIA’s Omniverse, are still in the trial phase.
Cloud
Cloud technologies are increasingly seen as critical infrastructure and companies are asking tougher questions about resilience, control, and long-term costs. A common misconception is that moving to a hyper-scaler environment is inherently cheaper. In reality, shifting old architectures without modernizing them often creates new inefficiencies and can actually increase expenses.
The financial benefits of adopting cloud tools only appear after companies embrace consumption-based design and rethink their scaling models. Because of this, cloud maturity is now considered inseparable from financial discipline.
In 2026, the ability to understand usage patterns and evaluate return on investment will be a defining capability for any digital leader. AI is also serving as a stress test for cloud strategies, demanding more rigorous engineering discipline to ensure that systems are flexible enough to evolve as priorities change.
Product development
When it comes to product development, complexity is moving down the technical stack. Tasks that once required deep expertise are now accessible through simpler interfaces and high-level platforms. AI is accelerating this change, allowing non-specialists to build solutions that were previously handled exclusively by IT departments. This leads to more products being created at a faster pace, though often with shorter lifecycles.
While speed is a dominant force, it can also amplify existing weaknesses. Without strong standards and governance, rapid delivery can lead to inconsistent user experiences and fragmented systems. The cost of losing technical context is often invisible until the moment change becomes slow and fragile. Successful organizations are finding that a human-centric approach – prioritizing user experience and intuitive design – can boost adoption and streamline operations far more effectively than technical features alone.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has evolved into a contest between competing intelligent systems. Attackers are now using AI to super-charge their efforts, meaning that static defenses are no longer sufficient. Organizations are shifting toward adaptive, automated systems that can detect and respond to threats in real time. While AI helps reduce alert fatigue and improves pattern recognition for overstretched teams, it also introduces new risks.
A major challenge for many buses is the presence of blind spots caused by tools that are not fully integrated. Without a complete inventory of assets and clear visibility into how systems connect, even the most advanced security technology can only really provide limited protection.
Resilience going forward will mean properly balancing tools, processes, and people. While automation provides the capability to act quickly, skilled human teams are still essential for interpreting context and adapting when conditions shift unexpectedly.
Managed platforms and sustainable IT
Managed platforms are seeing a major shift as agent-native capabilities become central to how they function. These agents are no longer just optional assistants; they are embedded into the platforms to solve issues before anyone even opens a dashboard.
While AI is a transformative force, organizations are increasingly expected to weigh the environmental and financial costs against the actual bus value it creates. True progress involves directing energy toward tangible results rather than following every new trend. By using standard, configurable platforms instead of building bespoke systems from scratch, companies can reduce unnecessary complexity and ensure that their technical efforts translate into meaningful, sustainable growth.
From technology to adoption
Devoteam’s report highlights that navigating these six pillars requires a shift in mindset where technological adoption is treated as a strategic choice rather than a mandatory race. Organizations that prioritize internal readiness and clear objectives will be the ones best positioned to use this emerging tech and achieve long-term success.
“If technology is more powerful than ever, why do so many organizations still struggle to realize value? Maybe the constraints aren’t in Al or cloud tools, maybe it’s clarity, intent, and disciplined execution,” said Gert Jan van Halem, Chief Technology Officer at Devoteam.
Organizations that truly excel in digital – not just in ambition but in adoption – are those that combine strategic clarity with the right talent, move beyond legacy operating models, embrace tech-enabled ways of working, and and establish a strong command of their data.
