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Opinion
Near-term (1-2 years)
January 8, 2026

Why this VC thinks 2026 will be ‘the year of the consumer’

6 days agoTechCrunch AI

Summary

The stall in enterprise AI adoption highlighted in this article suggests a significant opportunity for AI-powered consumer applications to take center stage by 2026. This shift implies a move from complex enterprise solutions to more readily usable and impactful AI tools directly benefiting individual consumers, potentially fueled by advancements in areas like personalized recommendations, automated financial planning, and enhanced customer service interfaces.

Impact Areas

revenue
risk
strategic

Sector Impact

Retail: AI-powered personalized shopping experiences, recommendation engines, and fraud detection will be crucial for retaining customers. Finance & Insurance: AI-driven robo-advisors, automated claims processing, and fraud prevention tools will need to become more user-friendly and transparent to gain consumer trust and adoption.

Analysis Perspective
Executive Perspective

Operational impact: Businesses must prepare to shift focus from deploying standardized AI solutions to customising AI driven customer journeys. This requires operational restructuring to support agile development, rapid prototyping, and continuous model refinement based on real-time user feedback. Specifically in Retail, Finance & Insurance, it also mean a renewed emphasis on ensuring algorithmic transparency and fairness to avoid customer dissatisfaction and regulatory scrutiny.

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