From single tasks to whole projects
Top 20 AI Predictions for the Next 2 Years
Two years out, the change moves from individual tasks to whole pieces of work, and regulation starts to shape how AI is used.
These are our own forecasts, written in November 2026. They are informed opinion, not fact, and some will be wrong. Each prediction carries a confidence rating of High, Medium or Low, and confidence falls the further ahead we look. Nothing here is career, financial or investment advice.
1
Agents handle multi-day projects
Area
AI capabilities
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Given a goal, an agent plans the work, carries it out over days and checks in with a person at decision points.
2
AI makes routine contributions to science
Area
AI capabilities
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
AI systems are credited with results in mathematics, materials and drug design, helped by automated laboratories.
3
Agents can operate ordinary software
Area
AI capabilities
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
AI reliably clicks through everyday applications and websites, which opens up automation of older systems that have no modern interface.
4
Custom models become cheap and routine
Area
AI capabilities
Confidence
High
What to expect
Tailoring a model to an organisation's own documents, style and processes is a standard service rather than a research project.
5
Live translation is close to seamless
Area
AI capabilities
Confidence
High
What to expect
For major languages, real-time translation in calls and face to face, through earbuds or glasses, works well enough for everyday business.
6
One person manages a team of agents
Area
Work
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
In areas such as marketing operations, bookkeeping and software testing, a single employee oversees several agents doing the work of a small team.
7
Professional fees move away from hourly billing
Area
Work
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
As drafting and research take far less time, clients of law, accounting and consulting firms push for fixed prices.
8
Meetings are recorded, summarised and actioned
Area
Work
Confidence
High
What to expect
Automatic notes and follow-up tasks are standard, and many status meetings are dropped.
9
Regulated industries use AI with audit trails
Area
Work
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Banks, insurers and healthcare administrators use AI in decisions with the logging, testing and human oversight that regulators now require.
10
Very small companies do much more
Area
Work
Confidence
High
What to expect
One-person and two-person businesses that use AI for bookkeeping, marketing and support become common.
11
An assistant acts across your accounts
Area
Everyday users
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
With permissions you set, an assistant manages email, calendar, bills and bookings. Trust and security, not capability, are the main limits.
12
AI tutors are widely used by students
Area
Everyday users
Confidence
High
What to expect
Personalised tutoring is common at home and in schools, and assessment shifts towards supervised and spoken work.
13
People check health questions with AI first
Area
Everyday users
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Many people use AI to understand symptoms and test results before seeing a clinician, and health services offer approved versions.
14
Driverless taxis reach many more cities
Area
Everyday users
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Services expand across the United States, China and the Gulf, with the first regular services in European cities.
15
Entertainment becomes personalised
Area
Everyday users
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
AI-generated music, video and games are tailored to the individual, and platforms begin to promote verified human-made work.
16
Support and admin roles are redesigned
Area
Jobs
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Roles in customer support, administration and junior analysis are merged, and headcount in these functions falls at large firms, mainly through not replacing leavers.
17
AI audit and compliance jobs grow
Area
Jobs
Confidence
High
What to expect
Regulation creates steady demand for AI auditors, model risk specialists and AI compliance officers.
18
A pay premium for expertise plus AI
Area
Jobs
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
People who combine deep knowledge of a field with skilled use of AI pull ahead of those who have only one of the two.
19
Trades and care work stay in demand
Area
Jobs
Confidence
High
What to expect
Jobs that need physical presence or human contact are much less affected, and shortages in these areas continue.
20
Governments begin retraining schemes
Area
Jobs
Confidence
Medium
What to expect
Pilot programmes for office workers affected by AI start, alongside early debate about tax and benefits.