If 2024 was the yr generative AI arrived, then 2025 was the yr of the AI agent. Nearly each vendor within the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) area launched an AI-powered agent, starting the march towards agentic AI to present brokers the power to take care of context and take motion on their very own (inside guardrails).
Listed below are the 5 traits that may form the communications and collaboration panorama in 2026.
1. Agentic AI goes mainstream
The age of agentic AI is close to, in accordance with Metrigy’s “AI for Enterprise Success: 2025-26” world examine of 1,104 organizations. Metrigy defines agentic AI as “synthetic intelligence methods that may autonomously cause, plan and adapt to altering environments. These methods are designed to function with a excessive diploma of independence and repeatedly refine their actions primarily based on context.”
Whereas precise rollout of agentic AI is in its infancy, the attention of it and the advantages it could actually ship has hit essential mass. Greater than half of examine members had been acquainted with the time period, and greater than 35% of members stated agentic AI provides probably the most potential worth to their group in comparison with different AI use circumstances.
Early adopters see quite a lot of potential roles for agentic AI, together with managing IT operations, offering customer support, supporting gross sales groups and automating features associated to advertising and marketing, HR and back-office administration. AI brokers, created by workflow studios, are prone to sit side-by-side with human workers and can handle their very own duties with various levels of autonomy.
2. UCC evolves into the linked workspace
UCC distributors are quickly reworking their apps right into a linked workspace that mixes messaging, content material creation, job and mission administration, and extra right into a single, unified workspace. Examples of linked workspace companies embody Microsoft Loop, Zoho One and Zoom Office. Rising distributors on this area embody Asana, Notion, Smartsheet and Superhuman.
In all circumstances, these distributors search to cut back friction and job switching by integrating features to allow extra seamless work. These distributors are additionally integrating AI digital assistants to handle and automate workflows.
3. Safety and compliance on the forefront
The variety of organizations reporting assaults on their office collaboration platforms has elevated by greater than 300% since 2021, in accordance with Metrigy’s “Office Collaboration and Contact Middle Safety and Compliance: 2026” world examine of 307 organizations.
Safety and compliance have moved to the highest of IT and enterprise chief considerations as AI will increase potential vulnerabilities and makes it simpler for attackers to do their soiled work. AI-driven deepfake and social engineering assaults create new dangers for buyer and worker impersonation assaults. On the identical time, firms should shield their AI assets from knowledge exfiltration and immediate injection assaults which might be designed to steal knowledge or pressure AI fashions to offer false data.
4. The office continues to evolve
Organizations are persevering with to give attention to making their workplaces a magnet for his or her workers by creating areas that present superior collaboration capabilities for in-person work. Count on to see continued advances, comparable to the next:
- Broader rollouts of touch-screen units in rooms and assembly areas to foster interactive collaboration.
- Deployments of clever microphones to higher seize in-room members.
- Gadgets like center-of-table cameras to seize members no matter the place they sit.
Extra advances that may speed up in 2026 embody the usage of AI to enhance assembly participant visibility, audio high quality and assembly room system administration. Count on to see rising adoption of workspace administration and reservation platforms to streamline desk reservations, present utilization analytics and help options like digital signage and simply accessible workspaces for groups.
5. Worker expertise boosts communications
Worker expertise platforms, comparable to these from Appspace, LumApps, Microsoft and Zoom, bridge the hole between team-focused collaboration apps and worker communications platforms. These instruments convey a Fb-like functionality to the enterprise, enabling workers to uncover and share data primarily based on position, comparable to gross sales and advertising and marketing, and to facilitate communications.
Coupled with digital signage and cell units, these platforms allow firms to strengthen communication, worker schooling and tradition whereas additionally fostering worker engagement and social well-being.
Editor’s word: This text was up to date to mirror new traits and know-how within the unified communications and collaboration market.
Irwin Lazar is president and principal analyst at Metrigy, the place he leads protection on the digital office. His analysis focus contains unified communications, VoIP, video conferencing and staff collaboration.
