Improvements in context windows and memory will drive agentic innovation
With improvements in foundation models slowing, the next frontier is agentic AI. In 2026, the focus will be on building intelligent, integrated systems that have capabilities such as context windows and human-like memory. While new models with more parameters and better reasoning are valuable, models are still limited by their lack of working memory. Context windows and improved memory will drive the most innovation in agentic AI next year, by giving agents the persistent memory they need to learn from past actions and operate autonomously on complex, long-term goals. With these improvements, agents will move beyond the limitations of single interactions and provide continuous support.
Self-verification will start to replace human intervention
In 2026, the biggest obstacle to scaling AI agents—the build up of errors in multi-step workflows—will be solved by self-verification. Instead of relying on human oversight for every step, AI will be equipped with internal feedback loops, allowing them to autonomously verify the accuracy of their own work and correct mistakes. This shift to self-aware, “auto-judging” agents will allow for complex, multi-hop workflows that are both reliable and scalable, moving them from a promising concept to a viable enterprise solution.
English will become the hottest new programming language
The single most important proving ground for AI’s reasoning capabilities is in coding. An AI’s ability to generate and execute code provides a critical bridge from the statistical, non-deterministic world of large language models to the deterministic, symbolic logic of computers. This is unlocking a new era of English language programming, where the primary skill is not knowing a specific syntax like Go or Python, but being able to clearly articulate a goal to an AI assistant. By 2026, the bottleneck in building new products will no longer be the ability to write code, but the ability to creatively shape the product itself. This shift will democratize software development, leading to a tenfold increase in the number of creators who can now build applications and do higher-value, creative work.
