7 predictions on how businesses will tackle complexity in 2026
Look for organizational gains, automation for the ‘messy middle layers of work,’ more AI agents, and ‘strategic simplicity’
When we look back on 2025, one thing is certain: AI is definitely rolling out across the organization. It showed up in newly imagined teams, new job roles, and new projects…that sometimes went nowhere.
Freshworks’ Cost of Complexity report found that companies are host to more complicated processes and tech stacks than ever, with employees navigating up to 15 different software solutions every day and losing up to seven hours per week because of complexity.
Adding AI for AI’s sake only makes things messier—too often it's been bolted on rather than integrated, just another layer on top of systems already buckling under their own weight.
But things are looking up for 2026. In conversations with seven leaders across employee experience, customer experience, and AI, the outlook leaned hopeful, though not without warnings about the ways organizations could stall out. AI will assume roles in the “messy middle layer” of work, taking on things like reviews, routing, and reconciliation. New roles will emerge to eliminate other sources of friction. And the companies that break through, they predict, won't be the ones that adopt AI fastest; they'll be the ones that figure out what to subtract.
Prediction 1: ‘AI pilot purgatory’ for some, foundation-building for others
Isabelle Zdatny, head of thought leadership, Qualtrics XM: Most companies will remain stuck in “AI pilot purgatory” in 2026. For some organizations, that will mean spinning their wheels. For others, purgatory will mean mapping how processes function across teams, cleaning up data environments, aligning leadership around a strategy, and building governance. From the outside, this may look like stalling, but this is the work that makes scaling possible.
Related: 95% of AI pilots fail. Here’s a 3-stage path forward.
Prediction 2: AI will fail if companies simply view it as a production hack
Rebecca Hinds, author of Your Best Meeting Ever and head of the Work AI Institute at Glean: The organizations that avoid failure will treat AI as part of the collective work system, not a personal efficiency hack. They'll draw hard lines around where human judgment is needed, reward teams for real business outcomes (not just speed), and invest in systems that keep decisions, context, and ownership from falling apart.
Related: Why every organization needs a ‘Simplifier in Chief’
Prediction 3: Organizations will redeploy energies spent on busy work
Srini Raghavan, chief product officer, Freshworks: In 2026, we will eliminate the "middle" of work. The middle layer of work - the reviews, routing, and reconciliation—will disappear as autonomous agents negotiate outcomes end to end, before escalating to humans.
This elimination of middle work will reshape organizations. When routine coordination dissolves, organizations can crowdsource ideas from people across different roles and experiences. Freed from administrative burden, employees at every level can contribute to idea creation. They will now have the time to participate in initiatives they previously couldn't, like team hackathons. Less time spent on busy work means more energy for alignment across roles and departments on the mission of the broader organization.
Related: Don’t waste the time that AI saves
Prediction 4: Companies that simplify tech stacks will uncover unexpected outcomes
Ashwin Ballal, CIO, Freshworks: Everyone is talking about AI transformation, but CIOs are bleeding talent because legacy tech stacks have become impossible to work with.
Simplified tech stacks compound in unexpected ways. Yes, you save money on licenses and reduce integration costs. But the real ROI is velocity. Projects will ship faster when your people aren’t context-switching between tools. You get better security because there are fewer systems to patch. The irony is that complexity often comes from trying to optimize too much. In 2026, strategic simplicity will beat tactical optimization.
Related: The cost of complexity on business
Prediction 5: New roles emerge to hunt down friction
Jay Frye, senior director, IT Service Management, Division of Information Technology, Kent State University: I see the rise of the role like a "chief friction officer" or "director of flow" dedicated to identifying and smoothing invisible bureaucratic hurdles and sludge, commonly using AI to analyze large datasets to identify slowdowns and unnecessary speedbumps. This role will encourage removing barriers and getting rid of software and process rather than adding software, process, and complexity. To quote Colin Chapman, "Simplify, then add lightness."
Related: Why IT teams are reaching their breaking point
Prediction 6: AI earns trust, but humans remain essential
Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert: In 2026 more customers will accept AI-fueled self-service as a viable customer support channel, as they appreciate the speed and accuracy of the answers AI can deliver. But that won’t eliminate the need for contact center employees, which companies will continue to rely on to build deeper relationships with their customers. When a problem gets complicated or emotional, people still want to talk to a human who can listen, understand, and make decisions.
Related: Rehumanizing agent roles in the age of AI
Prediction 7: AI moves from experiment to experience
Justin Levitz, process technology leader, iPostal1: The conversation about AI will significantly change from a discussion about how AI is disruptive to an experience of it being disruptive in their own lives. That may be positive or negative; it will depend on how that individual was impacted.
Related: The AI ROI roadmap
