India, Dec. 2 -- In 2025, the buzz about agents was to the world of data, analytics, and AI what the engagement of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce was to the world of entertainment -undeniably sexy. Yet, just as that power couple will inevitably fall into a routine of quotidian domesticity, so too will AI lose its sheen, trading its tiara for a hard hat in 2026.

Hype and hyperbole will give way to dowdiness and drudgery as the AI bubble begins to burst, companies prioritize AI governance and literacy, and agents take on data grunt work. In 2026, the art of the possible will succumb to the science of the practical as we predict:

* Enterprises will delay 25% of AI spend into 2027. AI value is failing to land.

Only 15% of AI decision-makers...