#11: Generative realities
The shift to real-time, AI-generated gaming and entertainment will place unprecedented strain on bandwidth, necessitating robust edge computing and network upgrades to deliver flawless experiences.
The Future 100: Telco Trends & Insights 2026
VML's Future 100 vertical cut reveals our top 10 trends to navigate the dual pressure of massive AI demand and the human retreat from digital saturation
In 2026, the Telecommunications industry faces a fundamental conflict: the urgent need to build for huge growth in AI while simultaneously backing a human retreat from digital overload.
How do you invest in a future that’s pulling in two opposite directions, where standing still means becoming obsolete?
The "Future 100: 2026" Telco vertical cut provides the strategic clarity you need – revealing 10 trends that will define your success, offering a roadmap to build the robust infrastructure required for the AI era while delivering the human-centric services that foster digital wellbeing and customer loyalty. With our Telco vertical cut, learn how to master both sides of the new network reality.
Top trends in Telco from our Future 100 report include:
#14: Digital intent
A consumer backlash against "doomscrolling" is driving demand for "dumb phones" and minimalist connectivity – challenging Telcos to offer plans and devices that prioritize digital wellbeing over constant engagement.
#68: Acommerce
The rise of AI agents that autonomously negotiate and purchase goods signifies a shift toward machine-to-machine commerce, requiring networks optimized for high-frequency, automated data exchanges.
Download our 2026 Future 100 Telco vertical cut
AI is creating unprecedented demand for network infrastructure. Trends like Acommerce, Commercial humanoids and Generative realities require ultra-low latency 5G/6G connectivity, edge computing, and networks optimized for machine-to-machine data exchanges.
Consumers are actively seeking to reduce screen time and digital distractions. This trend, called Digital intent, drives demand for minimalist connectivity and devices, forcing telcos to innovate around digital wellbeing to retain customers.
The future of hardware is split. AI-powered devices like Commercial humanoids and technology for Sensory augmentation will demand more powerful network support. At the same time, a growing segment of consumers is demanding simpler "dumb phones" that help them disconnect.
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.
Download our 2026 Future 100 report
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