Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company, highlighted the top trends that will have a significant impact on infrastructure and operations (I&O) for the next 12-18 months.
“I&O leaders must be aware of all of these trends and prepare to act on the ones that are most likely to impact their organizations, so that they’ll be able to adapt, respond effectively, and drive innovation,” said Mr. Jeffrey Hewitt, VP Analyst at Gartner. “By understanding the full impact of these emerging trends, enterprises can implement effective tactics to respond, get ahead of the curve, and maximize the value of their I&O operations in 2026.”
Gartner identified six key trends impacting I&O over the next year (see Figure 1):
Figure 1: Gartner Top I&O Trends for 2026
Trend No. 1: Hybrid Computing
Hybrid computing is an emergent style that orchestrates across diverse, and sometimes incompatible, compute, storage, and network mechanisms. It enables I&O leaders to future-proof infrastructure investments with a composable and extensible compute fabric, while maximizing the value of emerging technologies by combining their strengths.
“Hybrid computing will force I&O leaders to adopt composable business and technology architecture as part of a long-term strategy for building systems and applications,” said Hewitt.
Trend No. 2: Agentic AI
“AI is one of the top three priorities for CIO’s, and agentic AI is a very beneficial subset of that,” said Hewitt. “Agentic AI provides a significant opportunity for I&O leaders in that it enables performance gains through time savings, which will increase over time as systems evolve. It can support I&O by quickly analyzing complex datasets, identifying patterns and acting autonomously.”
Trend No. 3: AI Governance Platforms
AI governance is the process of creating policies, assigning decision rights, and ensuring organizational accountability for risks and decisions related to the application and use of AI techniques.
AI governance platforms oversee and manage AI systems by incorporating responsible AI practices. These platforms also address potential compliance and business risks, including bias, lack of transparency, data protection and privacy issues, model evaluation and validation, and security threats.
Trend No. 4: Energy-Efficient Computing
As a sort of subset of hybrid computing, energy-efficient computing is a package of technologies and practices to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of IT systems.
Energy-efficient computing enables I&O leaders to significantly impact power and environmental aspects in a sustainable way. For example, I&O leaders can create positive business outcomes by implementing tailored long-term strategies using novel and emerging technologies, such as optical computing and neuromorphic systems.
Trend No. 5: Disinformation Security
Disinformation security is a suite of technologies that can address disinformation to help enterprises discern trust, protect their brand and secure their online presence. It represents an expanding category of technologies and practices, covering deepfake detection, impersonation prevention and reputation protection.
“Given the evolving technology landscape, disinformation security will enable I&O leaders to ensure trust in communications, identity and reputation,” said Hewitt.
Trend No. 6: Geopatriation
Geopatriation is the relocation of workloads and applications from global cloud hyperscalers to regional or national alternatives due to geopolitical uncertainty.
“Geopatriation is an extension of a previous trend called ‘nationalism versus globalism,’” said Hewitt. “Arguably, it goes beyond cloud from just data sovereignty to operational sovereignty to technical sovereignty. Geopatriation empowers I&O to reduce geopolitical risks and address specific sovereignty requirements. It also enables I&O leaders to support and increase the independence of domestic economies.”
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