AI, ROI and Reality The hard work ahead in 2026
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After years of exuberant promises, artificial intelligence is entering a more sobering - and ultimately more productive - phase. Across enterprise, service delivery and government, 2026 is shaping up to be the year when organisations stop experimenting with AI in isolation and start doing the difficult work required to make it deliver real value at scale.
From pilots to production: the enterprise reality check
According to Ben Clark, Director of the Future Worlds accelerator at the University of Southampton, the AI industry is moving beyond hype and into execution. While investment has surged, tangible returns have yet to materialise.
This year will see billions poured into data centres, enterprise platforms, consultancies and services designed to make AI usable inside large organisations. The challenge is no longer access to models, but the "blood, sweat and toil" of wrestling AI initiatives from pilot projects into full-scale production. For many enterprises, 2026 will be the first true test of whether AI can justify the investment with measurable ROI.
Fixing broken foundations before automation can work
For Kit Cox, CTO and Founder of Enate, the lack of ROI is not a technology failure - it's an operational one. Businesses have rushed to adopt AI without fully understanding the work they want it to do or the outcomes they expect it to deliver.
As AI fatigue sets in, service-based organisations are rediscovering the importance of orchestration: understanding workflows end-to-end and fixing broken processes before layering on automation. Without this clarity, AI agents become barriers rather than enablers of efficiency. In 2026, greater scepticism around automation will push leaders to refocus on fundamentals - defining objectives, understanding work, and building the right foundations so AI can actually succeed.
Tech sovereignty and the rise of the start-up ecosystem
Meanwhile, Dr. Karim Bahou, Head of Innovation at Sister, highlights a parallel shift in the public sector: the growing importance of UK tech sovereignty. Following the Defence Industrial Strategy, government priorities are turning toward resilient domestic supply chains for technology, infrastructure and talent.
This creates a significant opportunity for start-ups. As reliance on imported technologies is reduced, early-stage companies can play a central role in building sovereign capabilities—from sustainable AI datacentre infrastructure to next-generation digital services. While the UK excels at research and start-up creation, it still struggles to scale companies domestically. Closing that gap will require stronger ecosystems, better industry collaboration and sustained investment to ensure innovation can grow on home soil.
A shared theme: foundations before futures
Taken together, these predictions point to a common truth: 2026 will not be about flashy breakthroughs, but about groundwork. Whether it's enterprises chasing ROI, service providers rethinking automation, or governments strengthening sovereignty, success will depend on doing the unglamorous work - fixing foundations, aligning objectives and building systems that can scale.
