Businesses will discover that AI can become kryptonite if they do not grasp how to wield this superpower

After years of breathless hype and investment, 2026 will be the year businesses finally see AI for what it is: not a universal answer, but a technology that is transformative in the right places and value-destroying in the wrong ones.

AI is already reshaping how industries innovate, operate and grow. From scientific discovery to supply-chain optimisation, there is abundant proof of what happens when intelligent tools amplify human capability. The next wave promises even more: faster insight generation, new business models and a step change in productivity for organisations that get it right. AI is not a passing trend – it is one of the most powerful enablers of value creation we have seen in decades.

For too long, the market has been flooded with artificial information about artificial intelligence; white papers, frameworks and pronouncements that promise AI can do everything, everywhere, for everyone. With any disruptive technology, we routinely overestimate the short-term impact and underestimate the long-term potential. AI is no exception.

While investment and excitement continue to surge, the market is showing familiar signs of an overheating cycle: inflated expectations, capital chasing vague promises and valuations stretching far ahead of realised value. History tells us that such periods rarely correct overnight – but they do demand more disciplined, evidence-based thinking to ensure today’s enthusiasm becomes tomorrow’s sustainable return.

The realisation in 2026 will be this: broad AI deployments create ‘dis-synergies’. The early wave of enterprise adoption has revealed the uncomfortable truth that blanket AI deployment often slows organisations down. Instead of a step-up in efficiency, many have experienced costly misalignment, spiralling experimentation and a wave of unanticipated risks.

In 2026, leaders will recognise that:

• AI accelerates proven, carefully selected use cases (and drags performance down when applied indiscriminately)
• human intelligence remains the irreplaceable engine of critical thinking, judgement, contextual understanding and cultural navigation
• the real value lies in the interplay: where human capabilities and targeted AI create compound gains that neither can deliver alone.

AI is not replacing human capital, but amplifies those organisations that know how, and where, to apply it.

Figure 1: Breakdown of how real intelligence can create real profit

The strategic requirement: know your capabilities

To get this right, businesses need a sharp, enterprise-wide view of their own strengths, weaknesses and positioning. Specifically, they need to understand exactly what is central to how they create value, and what their differentiating capabilities are. They also need clarity about the areas that can benefit from the power of AI, and the areas where human capital is still a true advantage.

Businesses will need a rigorous, evidence-based framework to make those calls, because the selection is difficult, organisation-specific and far from obvious. Experienced guidance matters: navigating the complexity, disentangling hype from reality, and helping apply AI deliberately, where it genuinely compounds value rather than erodes it.

Supercharged profits or corporate kryptonite

The lesson of 2026 will be simple: used well, AI becomes a superpower; used indiscriminately, AI becomes kryptonite. The organisations that make thoughtful, capability-aligned choices will unlock step-change productivity, innovation and profitability. Those that chase the illusion of ‘AI everywhere’ will find themselves at risk and further behind. The brief and misguided era of indiscriminate AI is ending. The era of intelligent, targeted AI, paired with the best of human judgement, is just beginning.