My 4-Year Gartner Anniversary and the Future of AI Strategy

🎉 I’m celebrating my 4-year anniversary with Gartner with the publication of two priority research notes:

1.     Top Strategic Predictions for 2026

2.     Beyond and Predicts 2026: AI Transforms Software Engineering Teams, Talent and Metrics

🧠 Top Strategic Predictions for 2026

My colleague Ran Xu and I contributed research on Sovereign AI, which is featured prominently in the Top Strategic Predictions for 2026, Gartner Symposium presentations, and multiple research notes.

What is Sovereign AI? Sovereign AI refers to the development, deployment, and governance of AI systems in a way that ensures a nation’s control over its technology, data, and strategic capabilities. It is aligned with each country's unique political, economic, and security interests.

Our analysis shows that AI will evolve beyond a simple U.S.–China competition. 🔮 By 2027, 35% of countries will be locked into region-specific AI platforms built on proprietary, contextual data.

I was honored to coauthor this research, which was led by Daryl Plummer with contributions from an outstanding team: Alexander Curry , Rita Sallam Nader Henein Joe M. Mariano Janelle Hill Nate Novosel David Smith Gene Alvarez Philip Walsh, PhD Garrett Astler Andrew Frank Lauren Kornutick, CIPM Christophe Uzureau David Furlonger David Pidsley Svetlana Sicular Lydia A. Clougherty Jones Michael Silver Ran Xu Whit Andrews Mike Ramsey Leigh McMullen Rishi Sood Frances Karamouzis , Don Scheibenreif and Ilona Hansen

📌 Notably, Accenture featured this prediction in their recent publication: Sovereign AI: Own Your AI Future

🤖 Beyond and Predicts 2026: AI Transforms Software Engineering Teams, Talent and Metrics

This note explores how AI will reshape software engineering over the next four years, focusing on three dimensions: team structures, talent pipelines, and success metrics.

💡 By 2027, 40% of software teams will shrink to 3–5 members, empowered by AI and platform engineering to deliver with speed and autonomy.

I was excited to coauthor this note led by Frank O'Connor alongside Annie Hodgkins Brent Stewart Thomas Murphy and Akriti Kapoor

Thank you to my incredible colleagues and mentors. I am grateful to be part of such transformative work. Here’s to shaping the future of AI and software engineering!

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