According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, global smartphone shipments decreased 4.1% year-over-year (YoY) to 289.7 million units in the first quarter of 2026 (1Q26). This broke the 10 consecutive quarters growth streak that the market had seen since mid 2023. We expect the first quarter slowdown to be a mild precursor for what lies ahead in 2026 as the supply constraints around memory and price increases further dampen the market growth.

Workplace safety is undergoing a fundamental shift — moving from a box‑ticking exercise in compliance reporting to a strategy centered on practical and proactive risk reduction. Artificial intelligence, combined with the strategic use of existing operational infrastructure, is enabling organizations to identify hazards earlier, train employees more effectively, and integrate safety into the broader concept of the “employee experience.”

In an executive BizTechReports vidcast interview, Sharath Tadepalli, Director & Global Practice Leader for Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at HGS, described how AI‑driven analytics are evolving beyond surveillance to become strategic tools for risk management, operational efficiency, and workforce engagement.

Organizations that report successful AI initiatives invest up to four times more (as a percentage of revenue) in foundational areas, such as data quality, governance, AI-ready people and change management, compared to those that experience poor outcomes from AI, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

According to the IDC’s Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide, AI and generative AI (GenAI) spending in Asia/Pacific, including China and Japan, is projected to grow from $73 billion in 2024 to $370 billion by 2029, representing a fivefold increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.4%. GenAI is the fastest-growing segment, expected to reach approximately $175 billion by 2029 at a 68.2% CAGR, making up nearly half (47.4%) of all AI spending in the region. This growth signals a shift from early adoption to enterprise-wide operationalization of AI.

More than a quarter of CEOs identify their chief financial officer as the biggest C-suite threat to their job security, according to new research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The finding comes as leaders also report facing heightened board scrutiny and clinically high stress levels. Together, these dynamics point to a broader pattern: the most acute pressures CEOs face often come from stakeholders closest to home, even as longer-term risks tied to turnover receive less attention.

By 2029, sales organizations with AI-driven enablement functions will achieve 40% faster sales stage velocity than those using traditional enablement approaches, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to decline 12.9% year-on-year (YoY) in 2026 to 1.1 billion units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This decline will bring the smartphone market to its lowest annual shipment volume in more than a decade. The current forecast represents a sharp decline from our November forecast amid the intensifying memory shortage crisis.

By 2028, over half of all enterprises will stop paying for assistive intelligence (such as copilots and smart advisors) and instead will favor platforms that commit to workflow results, according to Gartner, Inc. a business and technology insights company.

In this emerging model, humans move from completing work with procedural software to supervising intelligent systems that execute on their behalf. The distinction doesn’t come from whether AI is a feature, but whether it possesses delegated authority to trigger actions across enterprise systems within policy and identity constraints.

According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Monthly Wearable Device Tracker, India’s wearable device market fell 4.0% year-over-year (YoY) in 2025, to 114.2 million units, marking its second consecutive annual decline. The downturn was driven primarily by a 17.6% YoY drop in smartwatch shipments. Despite softer volumes, average selling prices (ASPs) rose 1.8% to US$20.3 in 2025, reflecting gradual premiumization and easing price erosion.

According to Forrester’s Asia Pacific Tech Market Forecast, 2026 To 2030, the region will spend over US$437 billion on acquiring new technology between 2025 and 2030. Forrester estimates that total spending on technology will grow by 9.3%, driven by investments in software, services, communications equipment, and tech outsourcing, but cost pressures (such as software inflation and hardware spikes), regulatory fragmentation, tariffs, energy shocks, uneven regional growth, and talent shortages will reduce the real impact of that investment.

In 2026, more organizations will need to reshape work as they continue to invest heavily in AI. According to a December 2025 Gartner survey of 110 CHROs, 78% agree that workflows and roles will need to change to get the most out of their AI investments.

India’s tablet market—including detachable and slate tablets—shipped 4.49 million units in 2025, declining 21.7% year over year (YoY), as a sharp contraction in the commercial segment offset continued strength in consumer demand, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. While detachable tablets grew 20.1% YoY, a sharp 34.6% YoY decline in slate tablets weighed on overall market performance. Despite a decline in the first 3 quarters, the tablet shipments rebounded in 4Q25, growing 11.3% YoY, supported by stronger consumer demand despite continued weakness in the commercial segment.

According to IDC’s latest Global Semiconductor Supply Chain Tracking Intelligence, the broadly defined Foundry 2.0 market, comprising pure-play foundry, non-memory IDM, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), and photomask fabrication, is projected to surpass USD 360 billion in 2026, representing 17% year-over-year growth.

According to Forrester’s latest report, Accelerate Your AI Voyage, most enterprises are struggling to turn growing AI adoption and investment into measurable business impact. One of the key factors holding businesses back is low artificial intelligence quotient (AIQ) — Forrester’s measure of AI aptitude — with many employees lacking a clear understanding of how to use AI. Other barriers include an overemphasis on productivity-focused use cases, difficulty measuring impact, and siloed adoption within individual functions.

According to the latest update of the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide ICT Spending Guide Enterprise and SMB by Industry, ICT spending across Asia/Pacific excluding Japan and China (APEJC) is forecast to reach $647 billion in 2026 and is projected to surpass $758 billion by 2029. The APEJC market is set to grow by 5.4% in 2026, outstripping global growth rates as the region aggressively pivots from “experimentation” to “industrial-scale execution”. This surge represents a mandatory technological overhaul—enterprises are no longer spending for growth alone, but to avoid the obsolescence triggered by the “Agentic AI” era.

Gartner with the rapid development of generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI tools, General Counsel (GC) face a dual challenge: managing enterprise risks associated with AI without stifling innovation while preparing the legal departments to harness AI for more efficient legal support.

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for AI and Data Platforms provide the rankings and ratings of 83 software providers and their products for using and managing AI models and data in an enterprise. The series includes Buyers Guides covering established and emerging providers of AI platforms, including AI agents and sovereign AI and data solutions, and Buyers Guides for established and emerging providers of data platforms. The research finds that many companies attempting to scale AI deployments struggle with siloed, inconsistent and inaccessible data that needs to be cleaned, organized and made compliant with regulations.

According to a new forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide, European spending on artificial intelligence will reach $290 billion in 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.7% over the 2025–2029 forecast period. Spending will be driven by large spending from banking, retail and software and information services, but also from accelerating industries such as healthcare. Generative AI (GenAI) solutions are already pervasive across enterprise deployments and are expected to account for nearly 54% of the total market by the end of the period.

Australian organizations will spend more than AU$7.5 billion on information security in 2026, an increase of 9.5% from 2025, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

The 2026 ISG Buyers Guides™ for Customer Relationship Management provide the rankings and ratings of 52 software providers and their products for the structured management of customer and prospect information. The series includes guides to providers of sales engagement, digital commerce and partner relationship management software, plus emerging CRM players. The research finds that CRM has expanded beyond record-keeping and sales force automation, becoming an AI-enhanced foundation for revenue operations, customer experience strategy and performance management.