Recruiting and retaining skilled technology talent has emerged as the single biggest business challenge for 2026, cited by 50 percent of respondents to a new survey. This highlights a widening gap between the pace of AI adoption and the availability of experienced professionals who can implement, govern, and scale these technologies effectively.
The latest annual Reveal Top Software Development Challenges Survey from Infragistics, released today, finds a technology landscape defined by tension: strong momentum from AI-driven productivity improvements on one side, and growing constraints from talent shortages, budget pressure, and global instability on the other. While most organizations reported positive outcomes in 2025, many are entering 2026 with a more cautious, execution-focused mindset.
“The Reveal survey shows that AI is clearly delivering productivity gains, but today’s economic reality is raising the bar for every technology investment,” says Casey Ciniello, Reveal and Slingshot senior product manager at Infragistics. “The data signals a decisive shift from experimentation to disciplined execution, as talent shortages, tighter budgets, and global instability force tougher choices about where — and how fast — to scale. The organizations that win will be those that focus AI investment on clear, near-term business results.”
Technology-driven initiatives were the primary drivers of productivity gains in 2025. Two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents credit AI adoption, while similar percentages point to embedded analytics (62 percent), automation of repetitive tasks (62 percent), and investments in skills development (63 percent) as the engines behind rising productivity. The data confirms a clear shift with productivity increasingly achieved through smarter systems, not longer hours.
However a quarter of organizations plan to cut spending in 2026 due to a weakening economy. Inflation (60 percent), rising costs (58 percent), economic instability (53 percent), tariffs (50 percent), and higher interest rates (40 percent) are among the top pressures influencing planning decisions. This creates a growing disconnect between the technologies that drive performance and the budget constraints that may limit further investment.
AI is of course a factor but the challenge is no longer whether to use it, but how to integrate it safely and effectively. 57 percent cite AI integration into the development process as their top challenge, up from 44 percent in 2025. Security threats (49 percent) and data privacy and regulatory compliance (48 percent) closely follow, underscoring the increasing risk and governance complexity associated with AI-driven systems.
Embedded analytics and business intelligence continue to gain momentum. Today, 76 percent of organizations use embedded analytics internally, and 84 percent expect their BI focus to increase in 2026. The emphasis is shifting from visualization to action: organizations cite better decision-making, faster trend identification, productivity gains, and automated analysis as top priorities.
“The surge in embedded analytics adoption signals a turning point for enterprise intelligence,” Ciniello adds. “As economic uncertainty raises scrutiny on technology spend, CIOs and CTOs are redefining the value of analytics. Embedded BI is increasingly favored because it shortens the path from insight to action, reduces manual effort, and delivers ROI by driving faster decisions and unlocking productivity at scale, all within core applications.”
You can get the full report from the Reveal site.
Image credit: ALLVISIONN/depositphotos.com
