Organizations that will thrive in 2026 are those that will align human creativity with AI, delivering software that is not only faster and smarter, but also more transparent, more intuitive, and more human-centered than ever before, according to the new 2026 Outlook: The Transformation of Software Development trends report released by Infragistics.
“We will face unprecedented pressure to strengthen privacy protections and data governance frameworks in the coming year,” says Jason Beres, COO. “In 2026, the winners in SaaS will be those that offer transparency, user control, and integrated governance tools while maintaining agility. Customers will increasingly favor software that can prove compliance and demonstrate ethical stewardship of personal data.”
Key takeaways:
· Developer tools and UI libraries will evolve from being flexible building blocks to intelligent, opinionated components that enforce UX best practices out-of-the-box. In 2026, component ecosystems will encode layout rules, accessibility patterns, and interaction standards automatically, reducing design-debt and eliminating entire categories of rework.
· Software is moving from reactive interfaces (those that wait for user input) to predictive and adaptive experiences that anticipate needs, adjust in real time, and continuously evolve based on how people think, work, and make decisions.
· Analytics is shifting from something users open to something that is a core part of the user experience. By 2026, embedded BI will move from dashboard-driven experiences to contextual, conversational, and insight-on-demand interactions.
· Generative AI, natural language querying, and predictive suggestions will unlock analytics for everyone, not just data specialists. Insights will appear organically within the workflow, surfacing exactly the right metric or recommended action at the moment it matters.
· Despite early fears, data from the 2025 Reveal Software Development Challenges survey shows that AI is creating more jobs, not eliminating them. Among companies already using AI, 55% reported new job creation, with 63% adding up to 25 new roles.
· In 2026, the line between human and digital work will blur as AI becomes a true teammate within work management platforms. Instead of simply automating tasks, AI will orchestrate workflows, anticipate roadblocks, coordinate resources, and be an active collaborator in seamless work management.
· Low-code platforms of the future will fully merge conversational AI with design-to-code workflows, creating a new generation of “co-pilot” environments that deliver enterprise-grade apps at unprecedented speed and reliability. This eliminates boilerplate setup, repetitive UI wiring, and data binding, freeing teams focus on app logic, performance, and UX.
· The report predicts that the next generation of SaaS platforms will be deeply personalized, highly contextual, and predictive, using AI to tailor workflows, anticipate needs, and automate insights.
· Software is no longer just a product; it’s a living ecosystem of intelligence. Across every domain, AI is not replacing people, it is enhancing them.
