Partners spill on the tech to watch in 2026

AI, sovereignty and security are set to dominate as partners help customers turn innovation into real-world transformation.

In 2026, technology will drive disruption, innovation and risk.

For partners, the challenge is to help customers harness technology as the catalyst for transformation.

Several strategic technology trends will shape this next phase of transformation, according to Gartner.

Local industry leaders tell CRN Australia how they expect these trends to play out.

1. Domain-specific language models (DSLMs)

DSLMs, trained or fine-tuned on specialised data for a particular industry, function or process, will become more commonplace. They provide higher accuracy, lower costs and better compliance.

Guy Danskine, MD, Equinix Australia, says proprietary data creates unique competitive value, and local data centres play a critical role by enabling sovereign, scalable compute.

“To build these models, organisations require access to high-performance, interconnected infrastructure,” he says.

AI will move from experimentation to real-world applications through micro-innovations, according to Dave Stevens, MD, Brennan.

“These will help businesses establish strong data governance foundations, clarify the strategy and ownership of AI and realise use cases that provide real outcomes with real ROI,” says Stevens.

2. Multiagent systems

More multiagent systems are on the way, helping automate complex processes, upskill teams and enable humans and AI agents to collaborate.

Multi-agent systems help accelerate AI adoption and improve decision-making, according to Srini Gutta, technical practice director, Adactin.

His advice: start small, test ideas through pilots, learn, and then scale.

“Any approach should be agile and practical.”

As AI matures, Stevens anticipates the creation of new services for partners.

“We expect to see the rise of managed AI services, where AI agents are continuously monitored, retrained and governed, rather than being deployed and left to run unchecked,” he says.

3. AI security platforms

AI security platforms will be needed to secure third-party and custom-built AI applications, Gartner predicts. They centralise visibility, enforce usage policies and protect against AI-specific risks, such as prompt injection, data leakage and rogue agent action.

Ensuring accountability and trust will also make AI trust, risk, and security management (AI TRiSM) paramount, according to Robin Long, field CTO - APAC, Rapid7.

“As organisations widely adopt AI, they must demonstrate responsible governance and enhance trust with customers,” said Long.

4. Preemptive cybersecurity

Preemptive cybersecurity will grow as threats multiply across networks, data and connected systems, Gartner predicts.

AI is already being used by cybercriminals to launch more sophisticated and widespread attacks, and it will continue to expand the potential scale of attacks.

“In 2026, there will be an even greater shift from defence to staying steps ahead by using AI and automation to predict and prevent attacks before they even happen,” says Stevens.

As this plays out, Rapid7’s Robin Long says security will evolve from reactive to predictive, changing the nature of security services.

“Such capabilities will be enabled by unified security operations systems and automated exposure management, supported by predictive and actionable threat intelligence,” Long says.

5. Geopatriation

Gartner says more organisations are turning to geopatriation and sovereign cloud, data centres and AI as geopolitical tensions, data residency, compliance and governance concerns mount.

Customers increasingly want sovereign services from a sovereign provider, says Brennan’s Dave Sevens.

“While data may be held locally, they fear that if it’s managed by an offshore provider, they’re still potentially exposed to regulatory risks,” says Brennan.

Guy Danskine predicts that AI regulation, critical national infrastructure and financial services will fuel the trend.

“Geopatriation provides more control over data residency and compliance, but operational complexity must be carefully orchestrated across legal and IT departments,” he ended.