Having made it through the new year celebrations it is now time to take stock and turn out focus on just what will happen this year.
There is of course no shortage of punditry and armchair opinion online, however here are some links to some of the more reputable, better ones, and a couple that are not.
- Goldman Sachs – Overall there is Global Growth
- KPMG – The UK economy however is expected to cool
- McKinsey – AI remaining a top priority for many firms
- Gartner – and AI continues to develop and evolve. AI Supercomputing and AI Native!? (via Forbes)
- Saxo Bank – Quantum Computing, could it happen quicker than expected… (Outrageous predictions are a personal favourite)
- Ipsos – 71% of the public think 2026 will be better than 2025 (58% in UK)
… and there are some interesting tech predictions too (Technology magazine)
Of course we should not forget the prediction markets and futurist firms too
- Quantumrun – an interesting list here – take your pick – I liked “90% of online content will be artificial intelligence (AI)-generated. Likelihood: 60 percent”
- Polymarket – waiting to head into the year
And then of course there is Nostrodamas and Baba Vanga who are always there to cheer us up.
From RO-AR.com, here are some trends to watch
- Arrears levels – economic structural issues are likely to continue to impact arrears, making existing arrears sticky and solutions harder to find. Expect focus on manner of communication and customer contact
- Regulatory Data – Data will become even more important with ever increasing transparency. Consumer duty is increasingly shifting to evidence and outcomes
- BNPL collections – with BNPL falling into the FCA remit, expect an increase in scrutiny and complaint levels
- Energy debt relief – With focus from the regulator on debt relief schemes and high levels of arrears the utilities sector will accelerate their continued modernisation of collections journeys
- AI gets practical – A movement of AI pilots increasingly into production. Greater emphasis on governance and control.
- Digital and Assisted humans – Self-Serve and Omnichannel is already here, but will be increasingly supplemented with AI tools, including AI Voice.
- Quantum Computing – We need to watch quantum computing, this could be an earthquake for many of our exiting digital processes
Of course, some or indeed none of these may come to pass… and something we will need to monitor throughout the year.
Best wishes for 2026 everyone.
