Automation Priorities for 2026

Putting automation to work in the age of AI

How IT leaders can move past hype to connect intelligence to action

For years, the IT industry has talked about AI and automation as if they are one and the same. While the pairing paints an exciting picture, it is rarely grounded in reality. What is commonly labeled as AI seldom extends beyond sophisticated data analysis. 

Likewise, even when informed by AI, automated actions often fall short of being automatic. People still need to make sense of correlations, decide what actions to take and manually trigger predefined rules. 

That model, however, is beginning to change.

As we move through 2026, AI is increasingly driving automated actions rather than simply informing them. This shift is most visible in the emergence of common interfaces that connect AI systems to operational tools and workflows, along with agent-based approaches that can reason, decide and act within defined guardrails. 

In 2026, the challenge isn't adopting more AI or more automation. It's understanding how IT can bring the two together in ways that work in practice and deliver real value.

At the same time, not every automation initiative requires AI. Proven, rules-based automation remains essential for demonstrating the value of automation concretely and sustaining executive buy-in.

This year's automation priorities report moves past labels and hype to show IT leaders how to put automation to work in the age of AI.   

Here are your automation priorities for 2026.