Forrester’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies For 2026: AI Is No Longer Confined To Digital Workflows

Forrester today released its  The Top 10 Emerging Technologies In 2026 report, which highlights a pivotal shift in AI from digital experimentation to real-world transformation. AI is moving beyond software into physical environments — powering robots, vehicles, and ambient experiences that are already changing how consumers communicate, work, and buy.

As the pace of AI innovation continues, agentic software and physical AI will shape what consumers experience next, while technologies such as frontier models and AI security will be foundational to fueling future innovation. The research categorizes the top 10 emerging technologies by their impacts over short-term, medium-term, and long-term benefit horizons to help enterprises and leaders prioritize their investments. Key findings include:

Short-term emerging technologies that are quickly moving from trial to real use, delivering benefits to early adopters with solid business cases within the next two years:

• Agentic commerce. Businesses will soon see ROI in owned environments such as ...