Microsoft has prepared a forecast for the development of AI technologies for 2026. According to the company’s estimates, the role of artificial intelligence may change radically. The central idea is the transition of AI from a simple tool to a full-fledged partner and digital colleague that creates synergy with human expertise.
AI is entering a new phase where its impact is real and determined not only by its responses, but also by its ability to interact with people and solve complex problems.
1. AI will expand the limits of what people can achieve together
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A new era of collaboration. AI is no longer just a tool that answers questions, but a partner in creativity and decision-making.
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AI agents will act as team members, for example, enabling a team of three people to launch a global campaign in a matter of days (AI processes data and generates content, people formulate strategy).
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Tip: Professionals should focus on collaborating with AI to enhance the role of humans, rather than trying to compete with it.
2. AI agents will gain a new level of protection by joining the workforce
With the growing role of AI agents in work processes, the need for trust and security is critically increasing.
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Each AI agent must have a clear identity, control access to systems, rules for working with data, and resistance to attacks.
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Security will become embedded and autonomous.
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Defenders will use “security agents” that will respond to new types of AI attacks much faster than humans.
3. AI will help reduce the global gap in access to healthcare
AI is entering a transformative phase in medicine, moving beyond diagnostics. This is crucial, as the world will face a shortage of 11 million healthcare workers by 2030.
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New features: initial triage of symptoms, treatment planning, and provision of basic medical care.
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Accuracy: Solutions such as Microsoft AI’s Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) demonstrate 85.5% accuracy in complex medical cases.
4. AI will become a central element of scientific research
AI is becoming a full-fledged participant in scientific research in physics, chemistry, and biology.
AI will generate hypotheses, conduct some experiments, and act as a digital “lab assistant” interacting with scientists and other AI agents. This fundamental change has the potential to accelerate science and redefine the process of knowledge creation.
5. AI infrastructure will become smarter and significantly more efficient
The focus is shifting from scaling data centers to maximizing the efficiency of computing power utilization.
The year 2026 will mark the emergence of flexible global systems—a new generation of interconnected powerful AI computing clusters that will operate in tightly integrated distributed networks.
Capacity will be allocated dynamically, and AI will be evaluated based on the quality of results rather than the scale of infrastructure.
6. AI masters not only the language of code, but also its context
AI is becoming a key tool for software development, understanding not only syntax but also context.
AI will be able to analyze repositories (such as GitHub, where activity is expected to grow by 23%–25% in 2025) and identify connections, history, and system logic, rather than just individual lines of code. This will enable AI to better create and optimize software solutions.
7. The next leap in computer computing is closer than it seems
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Quantum advantage: Researchers are entering a phase where quantum systems will be able to solve problems that are beyond the reach of classical computers.
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Hybrid computing: The breakthrough was made possible by hybrid computing, where quantum systems work together with AI and supercomputers.
Quantum advantage promises breakthroughs in materials science, medicine, and other sciences. The future of AI and scientific development will not only be faster, it will be qualitatively new.
