As we close out 2025, Peter and Dave are making predictions about what's coming in 2026, especially around AI, organizational change, and how teams actually work.
They cover five key predictions:
- AI moves from tools to organizational capability: Organizations that invest in literacy, governance, and data foundations will pull ahead of those just sprinkling AI on top and hoping for the best.
- Critical thinking beats prompt engineering: The real competitive advantage won't be writing clever prompts. It'll be knowing when to pause, think through the problem, and decide if you even need the AI in the first place.
- Product delivery becomes non-negotiable: After 20 years of pushing Agile principles, AI might finally force organizations to actually adopt them (even if they're reluctant to call it "Agile").
- Businesses return to fundamentals: Just like the dot-com bubble, we're heading toward a moment where the market will care more about revenue, customers, and sustainability than hype.
- Reskilling becomes a structural investment: Organizations will need to figure out what roles actually look like in an AI-enabled world and invest in growing their people, not just replacing them.
At the end, Peter and Dave pick which prediction is hardest to measure (spoiler: it's critical thinking) and commit to revisiting these in March to see how wrong they were.
If you've been wondering where all this AI stuff is actually heading, this episode cuts through the noise with grounded, practical predictions you can actually use.
Related episodes:
- AI and Knowledge Management with Derek Crager: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1643821/episodes/17360635
- Product vs. Process Innovation: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1643821/episodes/7953100
- There Are No Safe Bets in Business Anymore: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1643821/episodes/17433034
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