Why January made one thing clear about AI in 2026

If January is any indication, 2026 will not be defined by whether AI is powerful enough, but by whether organisations are built to keep up. 

The Davos conversation this year made one thing clear. The debate has moved on. Leaders are no longer asking if AI matters or what it can do. The harder question now surfacing in boardrooms is why it remains so difficult to make AI work at scale inside organisations. 

This past month exposed a growing fault line. On one side, AI capabilities are accelerating at a pace few predicted. Agents are building full software products, AI is moving beyond the chat window and into real workflows, and credible voices are forecasting superhuman systems within one to two years. On the other, most enterprises are still measuring progress through licenses, pilots and proofs of concept that rarely change how work actually gets done. 

What stood out in January is not just the speed of technological change, but the widening adoption gap. The organisations pulling ahead are not those with the most advanced tools. They are the ones redesigning roles, workflows and decision-making so people can genuinely operate as AI-augmented professionals, rather than occasional AI users. 

At the same time, the foundations of the AI economy are shifting. Capital is concentrating at unprecedented levels. Business models are diverging. Open-source challengers are reshaping cost expectations. Energy and compute are emerging as strategic constraints, not background considerations. As AI gains traction in heavily regulated sectors like healthcare, questions of trust, governance and leadership responsibility are no longer theoretical. 

In this month’s deep dive, we unpack what January revealed about where AI is really heading and why adaptability, not strategy decks, will be the defining advantage in 2026. We explore how agents are moving from task support to workflow ownership, why copilot-first roadmaps are already outdated, and the leadership behaviours that determine whether AI becomes leverage or friction. 

If your organisation is still planning for a stable future, January was a warning. The winners will not be the ones who wait for the pace to slow. They will be the ones building the systems, operating models and cultures that can absorb constant change. 

Subscribe to unlock the full January 2026 AI Insights, including the questions every executive team should be asking now, before the next leap arrives.