Gartner

The article outlines four foundational elements of AI architecture critical for scaling AI systems, emphasizing data preparation at scale and context engineering as key components. Poor data quality is highlighted as a major barrier to AI success, with Gartner predicting 60% of AI projects will be abandoned by 2026 if not supported by AI-ready data.

Gulf states are enhancing operational resilience due to a surge in cyberattacks, physical strikes on cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven threats. The UAE experienced a rise in daily cyberattacks from 200,000 to 700,000, with AI enabling faster, more sophisticated attacks, while cybersecurity spending in the region is projected to reach $4.07 billion in 2026.

Enterprise investment in AI is increasing, with 2026 labeled as a pivotal year for aligning AI projects with business goals. Tech teams are confident in using agentic AI for AI, data, and cloud tasks, though challenges remain in providing sufficient business context for complex tasks.

Marketing leaders are expanding beyond traditional ad creation to roles involving AI, community building, and culture shaping, despite flat budgets. CMO representation in the C-suite is declining, with companies like UPS and Reckitt merging marketing roles with commercial functions. Research shows 46% of marketing and finance decision-makers link marketing value to profitability and revenue growth.

The article discusses inefficiencies in healthcare decision-making processes, such as delays in drug coverage approvals leading to high costs and patient harm. It critiques enterprise AI deployments for failing to address systemic issues, citing MIT and Gartner research showing most AI projects lack measurable returns. The author left Dell to build a startup aiming to improve AI's role in healthcare by focusing on managing AI systems rather than just expanding their use.

The Trump administration's decision to impose export controls on Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable 5 AI models risks undermining American AI dominance by signaling unreliability to foreign governments and companies. The move, part of a shifting regulatory approach, has prompted initiatives like the European Union's 'tech sovereignty' plan to reduce dependence on U.S. AI providers.

The EU's plan to triple datacenter capacity and strengthen digital sovereignty through the Technological Sovereignty Package introduces complex requirements for public sector tech buyers, including Union Assurance Levels (UALs) to ensure control over data and supply chains. Concerns stem from reliance on US cloud providers, highlighted by Microsoft's actions under US sanctions and the CLOUD Act.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticizes frontier AI labs like Anthropic and OpenAI, claiming enterprise customers are frustrated with their focus on token consumption and lack of practical value. He highlights Palantir's AI-agnostic Foundry systems as a solution for businesses struggling to derive ROI from AI projects, citing a Gartner report showing only 28% of AI use cases meet ROI expectations.

Microsoft now allows customers to use existing SQL Server licenses for SQL Server usage on Amazon RDS, eliminating the need for additional licensing fees. The process involves verifying eligibility with Microsoft, uploading media to Amazon S3, and configuring the database in the RDS Console. AWS highlights benefits like closer integration with its AI services, while Microsoft's involvement remains unexplained.

Gartner analysts have urged organizations to strengthen defenses against emerging critical threats, including deepfakes and prompt injections, which they describe as areas where attackers currently hold an advantage.

HP estimates 30% of its PC customers remain on Windows 10, which lost standard support in October 2025, providing a financial opportunity as migration to Windows 11 lags. Regional adoption trends in EMEA and APJ now match North America, while hardware incompatibilities and EU regulations complicate upgrades. HP also highlights AI-driven edge computing as a growth area.

Qualcomm is launching the Snapdragon C platform for entry-level laptops priced around $300, but rising DRAM costs may hinder vendors from meeting this target. The platform targets budget buyers with all-day battery life and fanless designs, though details on specifications remain undisclosed. Memory price surges could eliminate entry-level PCs below $500, according to analysts.

Gartner predicts that at least half of generative AI projects will exceed budgets due to poor architectural choices and lack of expertise, with most custom model efforts abandoned due to costs and complexity. The firm's Hype Cycle for Generative AI highlights that domain-specific models may offer better results but remain immature, while applications like coding assistants show higher maturity despite IP and accuracy concerns.

Gartner reports 40% of organizations will demote or decommission AI agents due to governance challenges. The tech giant SAP promotes AI agents for business automation, but experts warn that flawed governance models—treating AI agents as either fully trusted or overly restricted—lead to operational risks and compliance failures. Legal and commercial uncertainties further complicate accountability for AI agent actions.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced a potential $300M investment in Anthropic's coding agents by 2026 to enhance AI-driven software development. The company avoided hiring additional engineers in 2025 and cut 4,000 support roles, focusing on monetizing AI agent platforms despite warnings about unpredictable costs for customers. Critics speculate about the 'SaaS-pocalypse,' where AI could disrupt SaaS markets and employment.

A Gartner study of 350 global business executives reveals that companies cutting jobs while adopting AI are not necessarily seeing better returns on investment. About 80% of organizations deploying AI reported workforce reductions, but these cuts did not translate into stronger financial performance. Companies seeing better AI returns instead invest in skills and human-AI collaboration rather than simply eliminating workers.

SAP customers are warned about potential spiraling costs due to the company's new commercial model for AI agents, which charges based on the value of actions completed by the agents. Gartner has raised concerns that the costs could quickly increase if SAP defines an 'action' too broadly. The company is introducing Autonomous Domain Blueprints to help estimate costs.

The London Stock Exchange Group has signed a five-year agreement with Broadcom to use VMware's Cloud Foundation private cloud platform. This deal is significant as many customers have been complaining about rising licensing costs since Broadcom acquired VMware. The partnership will support the stock exchange operator's private cloud and provide flexibility for new services and workloads.

SAP has announced a new vision for GenAI integration across its enterprise apps and analytics portfolio, introducing Joule Studio 2.0 with features to create and manage AI agents. The company is also partnering with Anthropic to bring the Claud model into its SAP Business AI Platform. However, critics argue that SAP's API policy may control access to capabilities inside the platform.

Organizations that quit VMware may end up with more complex and less capable infrastructure, according to Paul Delory, a research vice president at Gartner. Broadcom's licensing policies are driving users to consider alternatives, with options including public cloud and HCI vendors. However, migration projects can be significant engineering undertakings.

According to Gartner analyst Douglas Toombs, it's not possible to operate a completely sovereign cloud outside of China or the USA. US-based cloud vendors have created products that can meet the needs of organizations requiring a cloud without legal entanglements, but their American ownership means complete sovereignty is uncertain. This may cause issues for European organizations worried about US-based cloud operators leaving the continent.

AMD expects its PC CPU shipments to decline in the second half of the year due to a memory supply crisis, but hopes that expanding corporate sales will pick up the slack. The company's revenue from its Client and Gaming segment is up by 23 percent compared to the same period last year. However, AMD expects second half gaming revenue to decline more than 20 percent compared to the first half.

Research by Gartner found that companies cutting staff to boost margins using AI are not seeing meaningful returns on investment, and instead, layoffs are creating vacancies. Companies investing in new skills and roles are seeing better results. The analyst firm expects autonomous businesses to start creating jobs by 2028 or 2029.

Analysts have confirmed that AI agents are being deployed faster than enterprises can govern them, with enterprise adoption accelerating and outpacing governance policy controls. This has been stated in Gartner's inaugural Market Guide for Guardian Agents. Enterprise leaders can request access to the guide.

IBM has updated its Db2 database with AI-based management features, including support for Google Vertex AI and Intel Gaudi, to automate routine tasks and improve performance. The update aims to reduce management costs and manual intervention, while keeping human judgment at the core. This move is part of IBM's push towards more autonomous database operations.

Gartner Vice President Analyst Alessandro Galimberti suggests that moving to an IBM mainframe can be cheaper than adopting Broadcom's new licenses for VMware users. This is particularly relevant for serious Linux VMs, which may enjoy the benefits of big iron despite lock-in risks and skills challenges. The alternative could lead to cost savings for those considering a new home.

Gartner Vice President Analyst Alessandro Galimberti suggests that moving to an IBM mainframe can be cheaper than adopting Broadcom's new licenses for VMware users. Mainframes are suited for mission-critical applications and Linux applications, offering features like data synchronization and high availability. This comes as Gartner advises assuming 75 percent of vendors offering mainframe exit services will change their businesses or vanish by 2030.

The average Global Fortune 500 enterprise is projected to operate over 150,000 AI agents by 2028, up from fewer than 15 today. Analyst firm Gartner warns that without proper governance, these AI agents could multiply uncontrollably and cause chaos.

U.S. states issued $3.45 billion in privacy-related fines to companies in 2025, driven by stronger state laws, interstate enforcement partnerships, and focus on AI's privacy impacts. California's Privacy Protection Agency enforced the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) across diverse industries, signaling a shift from dormant enforcement to aggressive penalties.

Companies are spending more on AI than employee salaries, with rising compute and token costs straining IT budgets. Examples include Uber's exhausted 2026 AI budget and Swan AI's publicized Anthropic bill. Global IT spending is projected to reach $6.31 trillion in 2026, driven by AI infrastructure growth.

Gartner raised global IT spending growth forecasts by nearly three percentage points, driven by cloud and AI infrastructure investments, despite the International Energy Agency warning of a severe energy crisis linked to the US/Israel/Iran war.

Gartner's DBMS Market Share Ranks report indicates Oracle is gradually losing its dominant position in the database market. The 2011-2025 data shows a slow but clear shift in vendor dominance, though the changes remain incremental.

Gartner warns that AI-powered mainframe exits are a bubble likely to burst, with 70% of projects failing and 75% of vendors disappearing. Mainframe users adopting AI for legacy code migration to alternative platforms face significant disappointment.

A survey reveals only 28% of AI infrastructure projects achieve full return on investment (ROI). ITSM (IT Service Management) is highlighted as the area most likely to deliver positive outcomes. Gartner research underscores the challenges in realizing AI's financial benefits for IT infrastructure.