Nucleus Top Ten Predictions for 2026

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Nucleus’s predictions for 2026 are, unsurprisingly, centered around evolving AI technology and its anticipated impacts and consequences. For example, as the emergence of Agents, and “Agents”, continues, organizations are grappling with how the technology can drive actual value in practice while vendors remain unclear on how to monetize it. As AI becomes a commodity, traditional per-seat software models stand to face significant shifts. Along with this, 2026 is expected to spark a reckoning when it comes to the transparency and explainability of models and algorithms. Under the hood, the financial burden of cloud inference will drive cloud repatriation to more cost-effective, on-premises hardware. The Supply Chain Planning market, among others, is transitioning towards the adoption of open data ecosystems. HR and Finance are becoming closer companions, and HCM vendors are fighting to win over the frontline workforce.

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