As CTO of Moneypenny, the world’s customer conversation experts, Pete Hanlon has a front-row seat to how artificial intelligence is transforming the way businesses connect with their customers. Moneypenny’s unique blend of brilliant people and AI technology integrates seamlessly to deliver customer conversations that unlock valuable opportunities for businesses, 24/7. Available across all voice and text channels, Moneypenny responds to and fulfils requirements clients in the UK, US and has invested heavily in AI systems capable of managing millions of customer conversations.
Hanlon believes 2026 will be a pivotal year, one where AI moves from experimental to essential in customer communication.
Here, he shares ten predictions shaping the next chapter of AI in business.
1. AI Joins the Team
In 2026 agentic AI agents, capable of taking autonomous action to complete tasks will begin to move from the sidelines into the core of business service teams. These systems will not just assist at the edges. They will begin to handle parts of financial, sales and marketing, and operational workflows. For example, managing refunds and transactions, qualifying and following up on leads, creating personalised marketing campaigns, approving credit within guardrails, and adjusting supply chains. Our AI Voice Agent is already showing how this can work in practice, acting as a valuable extension of our customers teams by handling routine conversations and freeing people to focus on higher value interactions.
The shift must be controlled and measured. Success will come from deploying AI in carefully chosen scenarios where reliability is assured, not in high-risk cases where mistakes carry too much weight.
1. Coding Assistants Become Colleagues
AI coding assistants are moving past being simple snippet generators. In 2026 they will work across the full development lifecycle from planning features and designing architectures to writing testing deploying and maintaining systems. Tools such as Claude Code, Codex and Cline point the way, assistants that can plan, build and manage workflows rather than just generate snippets. They will also support infrastructure management and live monitoring working alongside human engineers rather than replacing them. The result will be faster delivery, more resilient systems and engineering teams where AI works as a genuine member of staff.
2. Smaller Smarter Models Drive Efficiency
The era of ever larger frontier models is giving way to Micro Large Language Models also known as MLLs. Compact yet powerful, they punch above their weight delivering reasoning and performance that rivals much larger systems while consuming far less compute and energy. In 2026 MLLs will become the workhorses of enterprise AI making advanced capabilities faster, cheaper and more sustainable.
3. Energy Becomes the Bottleneck
But efficiency gains are not the whole story. Even with MLLs global demand for AI is soaring. According to the IEA and Goldman Sachs data centre electricity demand is forecast to more than double by 2030. In 2026 energy will become a strategic resource. AI will be judged not just on performance but on its efficiency footprint. Expect breakthroughs in chips, cooling and renewable integration to become boardroom issues.
4. Compliance Becomes Non-Negotiable
The EU AI Act comes into force in 2026 and it will set the tone globally. AI oversight will be treated as seriously as financial auditing. Businesses that cannot demonstrate transparency fairness and accountability will face fines and reputational damage. Moneypenny has embedded governance and auditing into our AI Assistant to ensure clients can scale responsibly.
5. Content Provenance Matters
Synthetic text, voice and video are flooding the internet. In 2026 companies will prioritise watermarking, detection and verification to combat deepfakes and misinformation. For customer communication provenance will become critical. Clients will need certainty that the person they are speaking to, human or AI, is verified and trusted.
6. ROI Over Hype
2025 was the year enterprises adopted AI at scale. In 2026 the focus shifts firmly from hype to value. Businesses will demand measurable ROI such as higher customer satisfaction scores, cost savings and improved productivity. At Moneypenny we are already seeing clients use our AI to turn customer journeys into a real competitive advantage.
The winners will be those who let AI do what it does well, not those pushing it into high-risk use cases where the stakes are too great.
1. On Device AI Takes Off
With Apple, Microsoft and Google embedding AI directly into devices, 2026 will bring a wave of hybrid architectures that run partly on device and partly in the cloud. The benefit is lower latency, stronger privacy and smoother real time experiences. For Moneypenny this unlocks even faster, more secure conversations between businesses and their customers.
2. Physical AI Joins the Workforce
AI will not remain confined to software. In 2026 robots and autonomous systems will increasingly appear in logistics, healthcare and frontline service roles. Combined with conversational AI they will enable blended human machine teams, a shift that will reshape industries far beyond tech.
3. AI Accelerates Scientific Discovery
Finally, AI impact in research will ripple outward. In 2026 breakthroughs in drug discovery, climate modelling and materials science will accelerate innovation cycles. These advances may feel far from answering a phone call, but they will create new industries, new client needs and new opportunities for companies like Moneypenny to support fast moving sectors.
2026 will not just be another step forward for AI. It will be the year businesses learn to balance automation with trust, scale with sustainability and intelligence with compliance. At Moneypenny we see AI not as a replacement for people but as a partner that amplifies human expertise. The businesses that thrive will be those that embrace this partnership.