Three key themes will dominate IT industry developments in the coming years:
- Orchestrating a sustained expansion in AI agent use across the enterprise
- Navigating major tech sector transformations driven by the IT industry’s own Agentic AI pivot
- Taking early advantage of the fast-maturing technologies in quantum computing, next-generation connectivity, and physical AI devices to boost resiliency and business reach.
For CIOs, these converging forces signal a new leadership mandate.
The role of IT is shifting from building and maintaining systems to orchestrating intelligent ecosystems that integrate human, digital, and autonomous capabilities to deliver resilience and innovation at scale.
IDC’s 2026 IT Predictions highlight ten developments that every enterprise should track closely. Together, they outline an ambitious yet attainable roadmap for the next five years.
1. From AI models to composite intelligence
By 2026, a renewed focus on explainability and reliability drives 70% of organizations to adopt composite AI, blending generative, prescriptive, predictive, and agentic technologies.
CIOs will need to integrate these diverse AI capabilities into cohesive systems that are transparent, auditable, and trustworthy. Building an AI governance foundation that tracks model lineage, set ethical guardrails, and ensures accountability is critical for scaling enterprise AI responsibly.
2. Orchestrating the agent explosion
By 2027, G2000 agent use will jump 10x and token/call loads 1,000x, making agent vetting, orchestration, and optimization essential IT responsibilities
The era of agentic orchestration is here. CIOs must prepare for exponential growth in autonomous agents that are interacting with individuals, critical data, and other agents. These agents will also be learning tasked with making more decisions, making continuous agent-vetting a vital task. Managing this complexity requires robust monitoring, explainability, and lifecycle control to prevent “agent sprawl” and ensure outcomes remain compliant and aligned with business goals.
3. Agents as the new interface
By 2028, 45% of IT product and services interactions will use agents as the primary interface for ongoing operations.
Agents are becoming the face of IT products and services, redefining how organizations consume technology. Procurement, service delivery, and user experience will be mediated by intelligent agents, transforming how value is assessed and measured. CIOs will need to lead on redefining enterprise architecture and user experience for this new agent mediated IT environment.
4. Measuring collaboration over productivity
By 2029, organizations that measure AI-human collaboration will have margins up to 15% higher than those focusing solely on productivity.
The leaders of tomorrow will not be those who automate the most, but those who collaborate the best. CIOs must foster environments where effective combined human creativity and agentic intelligence is critical. The leaders will those that prove best at defining collaboration metrics that quantify augmentation and innovation rather than simple cost savings.
5. Services become modular and autonomous
By 2029, 30% of global IT services will be delivered as modular, platform-enabled products, driven by demand for speed, transparency, GenAI, and Agentic AI-enabled autonomous service orchestration.
The services landscape is undergoing its own agentic transformation. Platform-enabled IT ecosystems with sophisticated AI orchestration will replace static service contracts with adaptive, API-driven delivery models. CIOs must evolve governance, procurement, and budgeting processes to support continuous, autonomous service improvement.
6. The cloud modernization imperative
By 2027, the massive computational and data demands of AI will compel 80% of organizations to modernize legacy cloud environments by shifting to new platforms specifically designed for AI workloads.
Legacy cloud environments—public or private—won’t sustain agentic scale. CIOs must migrate to AI-optimized infrastructure with GPU-rich, heterogeneous compute capacity and agile workload placement. The winners will be those who modernize their cloud strategy not just for scalability but for AI-driven elasticity and efficiency.
7. Data collaboration as the new competitive edge
By 2028, 60% of enterprises will collaborate on data via private data exchanges or clean rooms on a broad variety of use cases, including data federation for generative and agentic AI.
In the AI era, data sharing is no longer optional. It’s the foundation of competitive advantage. CIOs must identify and take full advantage of trusted data ecosystems from their tech partners. Prioritize solutions that balance sovereignty and privacy with the need for cross-industry innovation.
8. Quantum rediness becomes urgent
By 2030, quantum-accelerated supercomputing will be used by the US, EU, and China governments for solving 50% of complex defense and science-related problems, including breaking encryption schemes.
Quantum’s arrival will reshape the security landscape. CIOs must invest early in post-quantum resilience. Focus on testing hybrid encryption, revisiting identity and key management, and developing contingency plans for quantum-era threats.
9. Next-generation connectivity extends enterprise reach
By 2029, 75% of enterprises will adopt LEO satellite connectivity to complement terrestrial networks, enabling critical satellite D2C, D2D and highspeed broadband as part of a unified digital fabric.
Multi-orbit connectivity will define the next generation of connectivity for the distributed enterprise. CIOs should view LEO and 5G as strategic enablers of global edge-to-cloud integration—building network architectures that can adapt to dynamic workloads, accelerate geographic expansion, and reduce risks in a time of geopolitical instability.
10. Edge intelligence accelerates local decision-making
By 2030, 50% of enterprise AI inference workloads will be processed locally on endpoints or edge nodes, reducing cloud traffic and latency while supporting greater control over sensitive data.
As AI moves closer to the user, CIOs must rethink infrastructure, governance, and security models. Edge intelligence will reduce latency, enhance privacy, and create new opportunities for real-time, autonomous decision-making at the organization’s operational front line.
The CIO as navigator
These ten predictions reinforce a simple truth: the CIO is now the chief orchestrator of the intelligent enterprise. From agent governance to quantum readiness, success in this decade hinges on mastering the balance between innovation and integrity, automation and collaboration, scale and sovereignty.
The path ahead is complex but navigable. With a deliberate strategy, a modernized tech stack, and a workforce ready to collaborate with AI, CIOs can transform today’s turbulence into tomorrow’s advantage.
Join us for IDC’s FutureScape 2026 IT Industry Predictions webinar and read the full report to learn how your organization can orchestrate the agentic future with confidence—and turn the coming decade of transformation into a decade of growth.