Al: From Hype to Regulation

After two years of exuberant experimentation, 2026 will be the year artificial intelligence (AI) globally is judged by performance. The focus shifts from eyecatching demos to compliance, cost control and measurable business outcomes, as regulators, boards and chief information officers ask harder questions about accountability and return on investment.

- Naini Thaker

A defining development will be the move to agentic AI systems—tools that can initiate actions, execute workflows and make limited decisions autonomously. While these systems hold the potential to raise productivity across sectors—from banking to back o