2026 AI predictions
1. SaaS and agents merge completely in 2026. Every SaaS product becomes an agent platform, and every agent platform builds SaaS features. The ones that don’t adapt die or get bought for pennies.
2. Google continues to crush in 2026. OpenAI feels the heat. Doubles down into becoming a social company, lots of features that you’d think a Meta would create
3. Infinite-context entertainment kills pilot season. Netflix lets you continue cancelled shows just for yourself. AI generates new episodes of The Office or Friends dynamically based on your mood.
4. Micro-companies explode in volume and weirdness. Tiny AI-augmented businesses serving tiny online tribes become a real career path.
5. Personalized nutrient cocktails created by generative AI replace traditional OTC wellness.
6. AI agents get their own wallets. Agents transact with each other using crypto for data, API calls, and compute. T
7. The return of the invite-only web. To escape the bot-flooded “dead internet,” the best platforms become gated and reputation-scored. T
8. Search is replaced by answer synthesis. Browsers read 50 sources and give you the conclusion.
9. Hardware returns with a vengeance. Browser-based AI feels limiting, so AI pins, earbuds, and ambient devices take off. The smartphone’s decline becomes visible.
10. Google, Apple, and OpenAI accidentally build the new internet. Instead of browsing websites, people live inside model environments.
11. Personalized education unbundles the university.
12. The first agent-driven media companies appear. Daily shows, newsletters, and entire channels run autonomously, with one human editor.
13. Local LLMs become the new privacy shield. A major hack scares the world and everyone shifts to on-device models that never touch the cloud.
14. The rise of analog status. “Analog” becomes the ultimate flex. Film cameras, handwritten notes, and acoustic instruments explode in value
15. Prediction markets replace user research. Companies test product ideas on 10,000 AI personas/know the outcome before writing code.
16. Software becomes disposable. Apps are generated, used for 72 hours, and deleted.
17. A major university drops its computer science degree. It’s replaced by “agent systems,” “model psychology,” and “human interface architecture.”
18. Infinite apps replace the App Store. Micro-apps are generated inside ChatGPT or Gemini and traditional downloads collapse.
19. The first sovereign AI trade war begins. Nations ban the export of foundation models and treat foreign AI use as espionage.
20. Blue-collar trades become safe havens. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs see wages skyrocket as white-collar automation accelerates.
21. The fastest wealth creation path in 2026 is spotting assets mispriced because people underestimate AI’s speed.
22. 2026 should be an interesting year for AI. What do you think?
Note: grab a startup idea, a trend, and some prompts from ideabrowser.com and happy building.
