The 2-Z of 2026 tech predictions: B-C

The 2-Z of 2026 technology predictions continues with:

B is for browser

The browser is evolving from a tool for information synthesis into an agentic platform that executes tasks, said Palo Alto Networks, in effect becoming the new operating system (OS) for the enterprise. "This trend creates the single largest, unsecured attack surface — an AI front door operating with a unique visibility gap," the company warned in a list of 2026 predictions. 

"With generative AI traffic up over 890%, organisations will be forced to adopt a unified, cloud-native security model capable of enforcing consistent Zero Trust security and data protection at the last possible millisecond — inside the browser itself." 

"The browser itself is becoming an agentic workspace. Perplexity launched Comet, a question-centric browser; OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Atlas, a browser with an 'agent mode' that can navigate, summarise, compare, and act on the web," agreed Philip Miller, AI Strategist, Progress Software.

"For business, this opens up curated pilots: market scans with source trails, vendor due-diligence drafts with citations, compliance watchlists, and structured research notebooks, but bound by policy, sandboxed data, and red-teaming to prevent leakage. Treat agentic browsing like any third-party data feed: set scopes, log actions, and verify outputs before they touch regulated workflows."

C is for compliance

Source: Colt Technology Services.
Mizutani.

CIOs will navigate an increasingly dense regulatory environment, with 2026 bringing major requirements in AI governance, cybersecurity, data protection and digital market oversight across the EU, UK and Asia, said Yasutaka Mizutani, APAC President, Colt Technology Services.

"Global standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 will push enterprises to formalise AI governance processes, integrating responsible AI practices into procurement, architecture design and operational risk management," Mizutani said, noting that initiatives following Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) are expected to come into effect in 2026, while Japan is to see the impact of its AI Promotion Act.  

"Rapidly evolving regional policies will make compliance a critical operational priority, requiring enterprises to rapidly adapt systems, documentation and data practices to remain compliant while scaling innovation," he said.

“We’re currently seeing several significant shifts within highly regulated sectors, including government, defence, and manufacturing. For example, compliance for software/technology companies is becoming non-optional. Additionally, it’s the depth of compliance reporting that’s changing: how organisations must respond to compliance requests is becoming more and more formalised,” said Jon Scolamiero, Americas Field CISO, Mendix.

Synthetic content 

There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models, said Kaspersky in a list of 2026 predictions. "For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge," the company said.

Data residency

Board-level scrutiny of data resilience, compliance, and cyber risk has intensified, Sia noted. "Directors and executives want to know precisely how to respond in a crisis, what tools are available, and how to foster collaboration between IT and security teams. In regulated industries, leaders are under pressure from both regulators and customers to ensure robust, integrated data protection strategies," he said. 

"APJ’s regulatory environment is increasingly intricate, with organisations facing a mosaic of local laws, enforcement practices, and digital maturity levels. Hub markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea add complexity for multinationals operating across borders," Sia added. 

"In 2026, data residency will be front and centre in boardroom discussions, as businesses seek to align data flows with both local and cross-border requirements. Mastery of regulatory nuance will be essential to avoiding penalties and building trust.  

Veeam has a Data Resilience Maturity Model (DRMM) that is helping organisations benchmark readiness and unite IT and security teams around shared goals, Sia shared. "The future demands integrated platforms that break down silos – AI and cybersecurity will not scale effectively otherwise," he concluded. 

Hyperlocalisation

Asia’s regulatory landscape is becoming too fragmented and fast-moving for generic global compliance tools, said Kartik Krishnamurthy, VP Asia, Docusign. "China’s PIPL, Indonesia’s Civil Law frameworks, and Singapore’s Common Law system each impose distinct contractual requirements that make manual navigation challenging," Krishnamurthy explained.

"As these rules evolve in 2026, organisations will adopt platforms with hyperlocalised compliance intelligence — technology capable of interpreting jurisdiction-specific nuances, understanding multilingual agreements, and adapting contract language to reflect real-time regulatory updates."

"This intelligence will be powered by capabilities such as mapping national regulations to contract clauses through a regulatory knowledge graph, dynamically generating terms based on party location and transaction type, and ensuring obligations and data transfer rules align with local statutes before agreements are executed," Krishnamurthy added.

"Compliance shifts from administrative necessity to strategic capability. It becomes a gateway to growth by enabling companies to operate confidently in high-growth Asian markets where regulatory complexity has traditionally been a barrier to entry." 

PIPL is an abbreviation for Personal Information Protection Law. 

Rogue AI actions

Palo Alto Networks said that the race for an AI advantage among enterprises would "collide with a new wall of legal reality". "By 2026, the massive gap between rapid adoption and mature AI security (with only 6% of organisations having an advanced strategy) will lead to the first major lawsuits holding executives personally liable for rogue AI actions," the cybersecurity provider predicted. 

"This New Gavel elevates AI from an IT issue to a critical liability issue for the board. The CIO's role must evolve to that of a strategic enabler — or partner with a new Chief AI Risk Officer — using a unified platform to provide verifiable governance that enables innovation safely."

Confidential computing

On the hardware level, Gartner has highlighted that confidential computing could become increasingly popular.

Confidential computing isolates workloads inside hardware-based trusted execution environments (TEEs), so content and workloads remains private from infrastructure owners, cloud providers, or anyone with physical access to the hardware, the consultancy explained. Such a capability is especially valuable for regulated industries and global operations facing geopolitical and compliance risks, and for cross-competitor collaboration, Gartner said.

By 2029, Gartner predicts more than 75% of operations processed in untrusted infrastructure will be secured in-use by confidential computing.

Explore more 2026 tech predictions

D

Hashtag: #2026Predictions