Agentic AI will hit global mass-market consumer adoption in 2026, with everyday uses ranging from personal scheduling to data-privacy management, health monitoring and automating errands. That’s according to the latest survey by IEEE, or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Ninety-six percent of technology leaders across six countries expect agentic AI innovation to accelerate next year, and 91% say its expanding data-analysis role will spur a hiring boom for data analysts to validate accuracy and security. The shift is also reshaping required skills, with rising demand for AI ethics, data analysis and machine learning.
Respondents see AI heavily influencing robotics, extended reality and autonomous vehicles in 2026, while industries expecting the most transformation include software, finance, healthcare and automotive.
Nearly half predict that 26% to 50% of jobs worldwide will be augmented by AI next year. Most leaders expect it will take five to seven years to build out the data-center capacity needed to support accelerating AI demand.