Unily’s latest whitepaper on the future of the workplace highlights a reality that CIOs are increasingly living: employee experience has become the new business operating system. The systems employees use, the clarity of information they receive, and the ease with which they take action now directly influence business performance.
In this context, IT trends aren’t just about modernization – it’s the foundation of organizational velocity.
Here are three key IT trends for 2026 and beyond.
IT trend 1: AI moves from enhancement to engine
The most important IT trend ahead is the move from AI-as-feature to AI-as-foundation.
The superficial adoption tactics of the past – such as stand-alone chatbots – will no longer deliver competitive advantage. These quick wins offer moments of efficiency but rarely change the operating rhythm of the business.
CIOs at forward-thinking enterprises are embedding AI into the digital workplace itself – so employees engage with intelligence natively and automatically. This also ensures that C-suite ambition is actually matched by workforce usage. Unily’s study, revealing that 32% of employees have never used an AI tool at work, shows that adoption is still an area of lag.
Examples of this in practice could be onboarding journeys where an AI agent inside your employee experience platform (EXP) guides new hires to the right resources, or an internal comms hub that automatically summarizes news for different audiences.
The launch of Unily Futures, the world’s first AI-native EX platform, embodies the principle further. Instead of simply bolting on an AI tool, this new approach places it at the center of the platform; enabling experiences to be built in minutes rather than months, and employees to make decisions faster than ever before.
Historically, the digital workplace was a destination: employees went there to find information. The AI-native workplace will turn that model inside out, with intelligence coming to employees.
This marks the rise of the intuitive enterprise: where digital workplaces that are proactive can enable greater productivity.
Unily’s whitepaper features insights from Ateet Jayaswal, Chief Employee Experience Officer at global professional services firm Wipro. He offers a glimpse of the future, stating:
“In the next few years, AI will possibly become the owner of our employee experience platform – assisting human owners. AI will lead the experience ownership, serving as a control tower. The platform will sense what associates are conversing on, prompt content and orchestrate engagement. It is the natural next step in the evolution of EX platforms.”
The takeaway for IT leaders is simple: AI success isn’t about adding another tool. It’s about weaving intelligence into the very fabric of your digital workplace. This will enable employees and leaders to move from intent to experience and information to action at the speed the modern world demands.
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IT trend 2: The push for friction-free enterprises
Technology proliferation has reached a tipping point. What was intended to streamline work has ended up creating more inefficiencies and a digital drag.
Unily’s study shows nearly 60% of employees saying digital tools increase workplace stress. For CIOs, this is a wake-up call: the digital workplace must be designed for ease, not just access.
Productivity is drained by micro-moments of friction throughout the day: the hunt for information or people, the uncertainty about who owns what, the time wasted switching between apps and channels just to complete a simple task.
High-performing organizations are the ones who obsess over removing barriers like these. They understand that when work and collaboration is seamless, performance accelerates.
Examples of digital friction reduction includes:
- Integrated systems that surface answers instantly
- A unified identity and access across workflows
- AI-powered search that eliminates platform-hunting
- Intelligent automation that removes repetitive tasks
The push to eliminate friction will also lead to ease become an enterprise metric. Simplification will be measured, tracked, and celebrated in the same way output once was.
IT trend 3: Moving from tech stacks to platform ecosystems
The whitepaper reveals that the average enterprise now runs over 100 apps; large companies exceed 240. This sprawl introduces complexity, fragmentation, and major maintenance overheads.
The next evolution – one CIOs are already driving – is the move from tech stacks to connected ecosystems.
True innovation will now happen between platforms, not just within them. This is a partnership approach where enterprises and their technology providers develop and iterate on new capabilities together. This contrasts with the traditional customer-vendor relationship based purely on features.
For enterprises, the benefits of this model include:
- Speed to value: Integrations can accelerate deployment and reduce IT overhead.
- Scalable governance: Shared frameworks for things like AI ethics and data reduce risk, while still enabling speed.
- Future readiness: Ecosystem roadmaps ensure technologies evolve in sync with business needs.
In practice, this means IT leaders can deliver faster without constantly rebuilding.
Reimagining the digital workplace
Historically, EX was seen as a purely people initiative. But that model can no longer keep up with the pace of transformation. Today, EX is deeply intertwined with the digital workplace.
When employees can’t find what they need, collaboration slows, decisions stall, and innovation weakens.
Technology has always been a catalyst for transformation. But what’s different now is the speed at which strategy must turn into execution. To outperform, organizations must minimize friction and embed intelligence everywhere.
CIOs are uniquely positioned to deliver this, but 2026 will need to see a reimagining of digital infrastructure – as both the backbone and the enabler of performance.
IT trends 2026: Get the full breakdown
Unily’s Future of Work report – featuring insights from leaders at global enterprises – offers an in-depth look at the IT and EX trends shaping the workplace.
Packed with insights and predictions on everything from governance to workflow redesign – as well as a look at the innovations set to define EX – this is your blueprint to succeeding in 2026 and beyond.
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