Each year, Thoughtworks’ Looking Glass report looks beyond individual technologies to examine the forces reshaping how organizations build, run and evolve their technology estates. The aim is not to predict the future, but to help leaders make sense of the changes already underway — and to understand which of them will matter most in practice.
This year’s trends reflect a moment of transition. Long-running shifts around platforms, data, security and experience design are converging with rapid advances in AI. The result is not a single disruptive technology, but a reconfiguration of how technology creates value across the enterprise. Systems are becoming more adaptive. Interactions more intent-driven. Governance more embedded in day-to-day delivery.
Across the Looking Glass, we explore what this means in concrete terms: how enterprises are rebuilding their core foundations, rewiring workflows to support greater autonomy and reimagining the role technology plays in customer experience, decision-making and operations. AI features prominently, but always in context — as one of several forces accelerating change, rather than a solution in isolation.
As ever, this report is grounded in what we see working with clients around the world. It is intended as a practical guide to navigating the year ahead, with a focus on technologies that deliver real, durable value.
Rachel Laycock, Chief Technology Officer, Thoughtworks
Key industry themes to help you explore tech's impact
In each lens, we present opportunities for implementing technology in your business and signals to gauge how fast something is approaching. We categorize each of the 90+ trends in two dimensions: the prevalence across enterprises — seeing now, beginning to see or on the horizon — and our recommended strategic response — adopt, analyze or anticipate.
You'll find each of Looking Glass 2026's five lenses below. Start exploring to begin formulating your response to the trends that will shape your industry's and your organization's future.