Part 3: 2026 Tech Boom? Bubbles, Bills, and Cyber Siege Await.

Tech executives warn: AI agents rise in 2026, but bubbles burst, cyber threats surge, and costs soar. Hype vs. reality in our series on innovation’s next act.

Technology’s first AI act was a spectacle of hype: trillion-dollar valuations, messianic promises, and spreadsheets masquerading as strategy. Now comes the hangover. This third chapter in our series—after peering into builders’ visions and AI’s unforgiving sequel—draws from five unfiltered voices across cybersecurity, martech, and innovation. Their consensus? 2026 won’t crown AI emperors; it’ll expose the pretenders. Agents rise, bubbles burst, and trust becomes the scarcest resource. Ignore at your peril: the survivors will be those who demand transparency over magic.

Three Trends Reshaping Tech: Agents, Audits, and AI’s Hidden Bills

Agentic AI emerges as the undeniable force, but not as a savior—more like a sharp-elbowed colleague demanding clean data and oversight. Andrew McCarthy, SEA General Manager at Notion, captures the pivot: “Looking ahead to 2026, the first major trend is the shift from AI model capability to end-to-end context… ensuring AI agents are grounded in a company’s unique, centralized source of truth to eliminate generic outputs and hallucinations… The real question isn’t ‘What can AI do?’ but ‘What does AI need to know?’ The second trend is the rise of agent-capable systems over siloed tools… These autonomous agents work 24/7, acting as an extended member of the team. Finally, we will see the AI fluency mandate, where the focus shifts towards empowering the non-technical workforce to build their own agentic workflows.”

Paul Wright, Former General Manager for Western Europe and MENAT at AppsFlyer, echoes in marketing: “The first [theme] is the rise of AI agents… In mobile app marketing, they’re already taking on work that once required entire departments. They can deploy campaigns, adjust budgets, test creatives and optimize performance in real time.” 

Justin Kappers, CIO at Infoblox, extends to ops: “AI-enabled automation in cybersecurity and IT operations will fundamentally change how organizations manage risk and reliability. We’re moving toward a world where autonomous agents can handle everything from patching vulnerabilities to resolving network outages.”

Yet controversy brews: this power unmasks vulnerabilities. 

Kim Larsen, Chief Information Security Officer at Keepit, warns: “AI-driven attacks will become highly adaptive. By 2026, adversaries will use AI systems that map entire infrastructures in seconds, identify weak links deep in the supply chain, and shift tactics in real time to bypass defenses… Defenders will match this only if they adopt AI with intention and transparency.” 

Kappers adds: “The hyper-personalization of cyberattacks will become a defining challenge. Attackers are leveraging AI to create polymorphic malware and highly tailored campaigns.”

Retention and reality checks counter the glamour. 

Jon White, Head of Data Solutions at Intermedia Global Ltd, insists: “2026 will see a lot more brands focusing on customer retention… acquiring new customers can cost up to five times more than retaining existing ones. Good data is requisite… We still see clients putting huge sums into data for acquisition campaigns, even when their existing data is in a right mess.” 

Anu Pillai, Chief Technology Officer at Direct Digital Holdings, drops the financial bomb: “The AI infrastructure bill will hit hard. Decisions will need to be made about whether to build in-house AI capabilities or rely on third-party APIs – the cost difference between training your own models versus API calls will become a major P&L line item. Expect GPU costs to remain high.”

The radical truth? AI’s “second act” demands audits—data hygiene, regulatory mazes, and build-vs-buy reckonings. Steve Kemish, CEO of AI Bubble and Gen-AI, foresees carnage: “2026 is set to be the year that the AI bubble bursts. There are so many new Gen AI platforms on the market that they can’t all survive… This could all mean increased cost and complexity for the martech stack, plus the potential ‘rug pull’ risk.”

Buzzwords Exposed: Smoke, Mirrors, and Clichés

Tech’s jargon factory churns distractions. McCarthy eviscerates “AI integration”: “The buzzword that often rings hollow is ‘AI integration’ when it refers to simply injecting generic AI into fragmented, siloed workflows… Enterprises investing in standalone AI tools today are building technical debt they’ll spend 2027 unwinding.” 

Wright scoffs at “‘Omni personalization’ – it is something of a fantasy. The reality is that signal loss, identifier restrictions, and aggregated data sets make this an ongoing dream. I’d rather people focus on consented first-party data-driven campaigns and incrementally based optimizations.”

In security, Kappers kills “‘patient zero’, which has become a cybersecurity cliché… In 2026, it’s dangerously reactive. AI-powered threats don’t wait for a single point of entry; they launch distributed, polymorphic campaigns… To fight AI-driven attacks, we need to abandon reactive models and embrace proactive, autonomous security.”

These aren’t nitpicks—they’re warnings. Hype shields incompetence; 2026 strips it bare.

The Lesson for Tomorrow’s Thrivers: Fluency Over Fear

Young professionals, AI won’t obsolete you—it’ll amplify the adaptable. McCarthy drills down: “The most vital lesson is to move beyond being a user of tools and focus on becoming AI fluent within end-to-end workflows… Don’t just learn how to prompt, learn how to operationalize.” 

Kappers stresses hybrid mastery: “Embracing continuous learning and adaptability… Professionals who understand how to work alongside AI, leverage its strengths and manage its limitations will be in high demand… developing a mindset that blends technical fluency with business acumen.”

Wright boils it down to resilience: “Treat change as a skill rather than a disruption. AI, data privacy, automation, and new platforms will keep reshaping roles… the professionals who stay curious, experiment often, and adapt without fear will always stay ahead.”

Provocatively, this indicts ivory-tower expertise: success favors the curious generalists who govern AI, not the button-pushers it replaces. Larsen reinforces: “The organizations that win will be those that use AI to enhance—not replace—human judgment.”

Tech’s 2026 isn’t triumph—it’s triage. Agents automate, bubbles pop, attacks personalize, and costs bite. Winners demand context, transparency, and fluency. The rest chase ghosts.