#11: Generative realities
Move beyond static content. Leverage AI to create personalized, adaptive experiences that evolve in real time, respond to individual needs and drive an unprecedented pace of innovation
The Future 100: Consulting Trends & Insights 2026
VML's Future 100 Consulting vertical cut unlocks top trends and insights on AI, trust and agile operating models to drive growth in 2026
Navigate the shift to an intelligent, automated and human-centric marketing ecosystem with our Future 100 Consulting vertical cut for business leaders.
The marketing landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Rapid technological shifts, from agentic AI to generative realities, demand more than just tweaked campaigns – they require a fundamental operational rethink. In an era of AI-generated content and eroding trust, connecting with consumers requires unprecedented innovation, authenticity and the ability to quickly adapt.
Our "Future 100: 2026" vertical cut on the top 10 trends in Consulting for 2026 provides the strategic framework to master four factors defining success. Learn how to build an intelligent and automated ecosystem, establish your brand as a beacon of trust, design dynamic human-centered experiences, and implement the agile operating models necessary for sustained growth in a volatile world.
Top trends in Consulting from our Future 100 report include:
#68: Acommerce
Prepare for a new commercial disruption. As AI agents increasingly handle buying decisions, you must innovate your product discoverability and customer journey design for automated interactions.
#95: Coded empathy
Transform your customer relationships. Utilize AI that can sense and respond to emotion to create highly personalized and emotionally resonant interactions, turning service into a true differentiator.
Download our 2026 Future 100 Consulting vertical cut
AI is becoming the pervasive intelligence across the marketing stack, enabling the creation of dynamic, personalized content at scale (Generative realities) and automating buying decisions (Acommerce), which requires marketers to master AI literacy.
In an era saturated with AI-generated and misleading information, establishing your brand as a beacon of reliability is paramount. Truth literacy is about demonstrating authenticity and building trust, which has become a non-negotiable for consumers.
This trend represents a shift from static content to immersive, interactive narratives where consumers are active participants. It’s a commercial disruption that forces rapid innovation in experiential marketing and deep brand engagement.
Watch our Future 100 video
Welcome to the 12th edition of “The Future 100” – VML’s unparalleled research report examining key global trends. This report features our latest projections, interviews with top industry experts, exclusive statistics and global consumer insights for 2026 from a proprietary 16-country survey.
About The Future 100 report:
After another year marked by economic upheaval, polarizing political currents and environmental setbacks, 2026 will be a year for building resilience, courageous creativity and redrawing the boundaries of what’s possible. From the personal to the planetary, from human engineering to geoengineering the climate itself, a new class of creators and collaborators is multiplying potential in ways we are just beginning to imagine.
Helping to shape these worlds are AI tools that democratize world building and new economic models for building empires. As both creativity and AI go global, voices from Buenos Aires to Busan are challenging Western dominance and creating tools that reflect their own cultures.
Amidst this “metamorphic” current, the desire for human connection remains unmistakable. In the year ahead, human impulse will shape brand strategies, influencing the top marketing trends in 2026, and draw people back to immersive, high-impact experiences that demonstrate the value of authenticity and unlock infinite possibilities.
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