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HCLSoftware Tech Trends 2026: Revolutionizing Autonomous Business

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, HCLSoftware has recently launched its report on Tech Trends 2026, shedding light on how autonomous intelligence is reshaping businesses. With inputs from 173 enterprise leaders and eight months of rigorous research, the report signals a significant transition in digital operations.

Key Findings

The report reveals compelling insights:

• - Prioritization of Autonomous Systems: A striking 76% of surveyed executives prioritize AI agents and autonomous systems, with 81% of organizations actively running live or pilot initiatives.
• - Governance Gaps: While many companies are adopting innovative technologies, 25% are hampered by gaps in governance, indicating a crucial area for improvement.
• - Rise of Low-Code/No-Code Solutions: 84% of respondents anticipate that AI-assisted low-code/no-code platforms will achieve widespread adoption within the next 18 months, while the Service-as-Software (SaS) model quickly outpaces traditional SaaS offerings.
• - Ethical and Infrastructure Shift: Governance frameworks for responsible AI are moving from isolated IT departments to the executive level, with 79% of leaders reporting active initiatives. Additionally, 88% are exploring the readiness for post-quantum cryptography (PQC), and 60% expect to be prepared for 6G within three years.

Importance of These Trends

As AI evolves from mere assistants to fully autonomous agents, the ability to initiate, execute, and complete tasks becomes increasingly integrated into business operations. This shift heralds the emergence of a new "self-driving" business model, where digital sovereignty becomes vital. It serves as the layer of control that enables global scaling while ensuring regional compliance, data integrity, and stakeholder trust. Companies that embed governance-by-design into their systems will scale their operations with confidence, while those who neglect this aspect may face fragmented processes and diminished accountability.

Designing Autonomy

HCLSoftware emphasizes that the primary challenge lies not merely in implementing autonomy, but in designing it integratively across experiences, data, and operations. This holistic approach is essential for ensuring that autonomy becomes a reliable system attribute rather than a disjointed array of functions. HCLSoftware's XDO design (Experience, Data, Operations) presents a unified perspective for developing systems that are intelligent, controlled, autonomous yet accountable, and scalable yet sovereign.

Leadership Perspective

Kalyan Kumar, Chief Product Officer at HCLSoftware, articulates, "Companies will be defined not by what they build, but by what they allow technology to decide, adapt, and govern on their behalf. The next 24 to 36 months favor leaders who can transform intelligence into a livelier operational model—autonomous, scalable, and sovereign by default. As AI agents shorten decision-making cycles, every aspect of the enterprise stack, from self-creating to self-executing software and perceiving to coordinating networks, must be rewritten. Therefore, governance-by-design is as crucial as innovation-by-design today."

2026 Trend Indicators

Autonomous Ecosystems

2026 is poised to be the crossover year for AI, where systems will autonomously initiate and carry out tasks, forming the operational foundation of self-driving enterprises.

Next-Generation Software

Generative AI and low-code solutions are converging to create self-evolving software, essential for agile, self-directing architectures.

Quantum-Safe Security

The shift towards quantum-resistant architectures is advanced, with 27% already engaged in PQC pilot projects, ensuring the integrity of AI-driven autonomous operations.

Sensing-Enabled Networks

LEO satellites and early 6G trials are building AI-native connectivity, providing real-time data and responsiveness critical to the operation of autonomous agents.

Looking Toward 2030

The report further outlines a vision for 2030, revealing how today's technologies are converging into trendsetting developments that will accelerate the shift from isolated pilot projects to integrated systems and enterprise-wide operational models. Leaders are encouraged to lay the groundwork now for governance, talent, and architecture, facilitating the scaling of autonomy, coordination, and speed without compromising control or trust.

Conclusion

Self-managed enterprises are expected to become mainstream, with an autonomous decision core continuously realigning sales, delivery, and resources while optimizing costs and emissions across locations. Work is evolving beyond screens into spatial operations, positioning XR co-pilot workspaces and persistent virtual locations as standards for execution, training, and remote inspection, backed by immersive impact experience labs.

The governance of outcomes is set to replace mere data collection, forging a decision structure paired with a corporate data network that renders AI explainable and compliant, linking sustainability and health through impact ledgers and insight hubs.

For access to the full report, visit HCLSoftware's website.

For more information about this report, please contact the PR team at HCLSoftware ([email protected]).