5 Predictions for Agentic AI in 2026 | Invisible Machines Podcast S6E11

As 2025 draws to a close, Robb and Josh look back on some of the conversations they had this year both on the podcast and advising major enterprises and government leaders to offer their predictions for agentic AI in 2026. With major disruptive forces like outbound AI in the hands of consumers and agent runtime environments allowing organizations to create scalable infrastructure for AI agents, next year could see seismic changes in the way investors look at companies, and the ways companies look at themselves. Featuring a look at the components of an agent runtime, as well as previews of upcoming episodes with returning guest Ben Goertzel of SingularityNET and Joshua Gans, co-author of Prediction Machines, this episode is required viewing for anyone charged with finding ROI with agentic AI. 00:00 – Introduction to 2026 Agentic AI Predictions01:12 – Outbound AI Arrives02:30 – Scaling vs. Inventing AI04:55 – Ben Goertzel Preview06:45 – Scrappy Innovation in AI08:20 – Invisible Work Explained10:00 – Agents Job-Hunting for You11:15 – Bottom-Up AI Adoption13:10 – Layoffs, Knowledge Loss & AI15:00 – The “Fake AI Expert” Problem16:25 – Why Runtimes Matter18:00 – What IDWs Actually Do20:00 – Canonical Knowledge for Agents28:20 – Invisible Work Demo37:10 – Simulation Becomes the Next Frontier---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported by OneReach.aiForged over a decade and proven in 10,000+ deployments, OneReach.ai’s GSX is the first complete AI agent runtime environment (circa 2019) — a hardened AI agent architecture for enterprise control and scale. Backed by UC Berkeley, recognized by Gartner, and trusted across highly regulated industries, including healthcare, finance, government and telecommunications.A complete system for accelerating AI adoption - design, train, test, deploy, monitor, and orchestrate neurosymbolic applications (agents). Use any AI modelsBuild and deploy intelligent agents fastCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEnterprise-grade security and governanceRequest free prototype:https://onereach.ai/prototype/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e11&utm_content=1 ---------- The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about succeeding with AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is available everywhere: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AIPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIAgents#DigitalTransformation#AI2026#2026Predictions#ArtificialIntelligence#FutureOfWork#AITrends#AIRuntime#IntelligentDigitalWorkers#AIInvestment#EnterprisAI#AIStrategy#AIROIStrategy#AITransformation#InvisibleMachines#AIRuntime

How did a Dutch company most people haven’t heard of come to hold the fate of AI? Marc Hijink, author of Focus — The ASML Way joins Josh and Robb to explore the insatiably precise process of producing the chips that power GPUs, and with them the AI taking shape all around us. Marc is a financial reporter and technology columnist for the Dutch daily newspaper NRC, and Focus is the result of decades of uncompromising, embedded reporting on ASML, which produces 90% of all chips worldwide. Operating out of a quiet town in the Netherlands, their extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines produce a steady stream of chips working with an accuracy of within a few atoms. The trio explores how the EUV process is as much probabilistic as it is deterministic, as well as the impact that different cultures have on ASML’s partnerships and pipeline. Relying on lenses that have to be grown from crystals, lithography is a high-stakes endeavor that requires a delicate balance of tooling and advanced engineering. We need it to power everything from smartphones to washing machines to traffic lights. With China looking for inroads into this foundational technology that has been controlled by the western world, this conversation is as timely as it is fascinating.Chapters -00:00 - Inside ASML01:12 - How ASML Makes the World’s Chips03:20 - Chip Supply Chain Fragility04:55 - Marc Hijink’s ASML Reporting07:00 - The Hidden Hardware Layer08:20 - Chips & Geopolitics11:00 - Chips Are Physical Matter12:40 - Error Correction & Precision14:30 - ASML x TSMC Partnership16:45 - ASML’s Chaos Culture19:40 - Dutch vs. German Engineering28:20 - Moore’s Law Goes 3D32:10 - ASML + Mistral AI40:00 - Why ASML Can’t Be Copied49:00 - How ASML Prioritizes Orders55:10 - Agentic AI & Complexity1:02:00 - Humans Adapting to AI---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported by OneReach.ai — creators of Generative Studio X (GSX), the first complete AI Agent Runtime Environment (V1 circa 2019). Forged over a decade of R&D and proven in 10,000+ deployments, GSX lets enterprises design, build, and orchestrate secure, scalable AI agents and systems. Trusted across healthcare, finance, government, and telecom. Use any AI modelsBuild and deploy intelligent agents fastCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEnterprise-grade security and governanceAvoid vendor lock-in.Backed by UC Berkeley and recognized by Gartner.Before you build or buy another AI solution, think about getting an AI system.Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e9&utm_content=1 ---------- The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about succeeding with AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is available everywhere: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AIPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIAgents#DigitalTransformation#Cybersecurity#AIInfrastructure#AIOrchestration#AIManagement#TechLeadership#Innovation#ResponsibleAI#AIStandards#OpenAI#Technology

Omar Santos is a Distinguished Engineer directing AI Security at Cisco. He’s here for a frank conversation about the realities of security in the agentic era. As more software is created on-the-fly by AI agents at the request of humans, security has to become an ever-present layer. Security will be built into complete agent runtime environments and will require constant human oversight and intervention, augmented by the ability to simulate outcomes to avoid risk. Omar is also the Co-Chair of the Coalition for Secure AI, and these are the things he’s thinking about on a daily basis. He sits down with Robb and Josh at the end of a travel blitz that included work surrounding OpenAI’s Stargate Project, a four-year $500b plan for new AI infrastructure in the United States. The trio discuss how the ongoing training of models and the rising demand for inference continue to push the demand for security across burgeoning technology ecosystems. ---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported by OneReach.ai — creators of Generative Studio X (GSX), the first complete AI Agent Runtime Environment (V1 circa 2019). Forged over a decade of R&D and proven in 10,000+ deployments, GSX lets enterprises design, build, and orchestrate secure, scalable AI agents and systems. Trusted across healthcare, finance, government, and telecom. Use any AI modelsBuild and deploy intelligent agents fastCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEnterprise-grade security and governanceAvoid vendor lock-in.Backed by UC Berkeley and recognized by Gartner.Before you build or buy another AI solution, think about getting an AI system.Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e9&utm_content=1 ---------- The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about succeeding with AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is available everywhere: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5Chapters - 00:00 - Intro and episode setup00:33 - Meet Omar Santos and his role in AI security01:00 - Security as the new programming02:20 - Coalition for Secure AI and security as a new language04:45 - Identity, access, and AI agents06:09 - Scaling models and mega data centers09:04 - Training vs inference and the compute explosion12:54 - Budgets, compute, and hybrid human–AI security teams15:16 - Checklists, guardrails, and spec-driven development20:00 - From IDEs to agent swarms and background agents25:19 - CodeGuard, rules for coding agents, and secure SDLC32:00 - Why doing nothing is the biggest AI security risk39:30 - Validating AI, AI safety levels, and open source dilemmas46:00 - Private networks, insider AI agents, and embedded security51:00 - Simulation, digital twins, and business-wide risk modeling#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AIPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIAgents#DigitalTransformation#Cybersecurity#AIInfrastructure#AIOrchestration#AIManagement#TechLeadership#Innovation#ResponsibleAI#AIStandards#Cisco#OpenAI#StargateProject#AISecurity#Technology

As the CEO and Co-founder of Apollo GraphQL, Matt DeBergalis has a lot to say about the ways that organizations can confront their inherent complexity and build reliable systems for AI to flourish. He joins Robb and Josh to talk about how GraphQL has made it easier for developers to build meaningful, AI-powered solutions.As an open-source language for APIs, GraphQL makes data fetching more precise and flexible. When utilized within an agent runtime environment, GraphQL gives organizations the ability to build their own tools. As Matt explains, this gives orgs an enormous edge with agentic AI, and helping teams move light on their feet, experiment, and adjust quickly.The trio also reminisces about the early days of the internet and agrees that ChatGPT was the mother of all demos.Looking for the Agent runtime episode - https://youtu.be/CddjTUWSaHA?si=86dSwjyE3uZGYY8FHere is recent news Apollo announced at Summit last week :https://www.apollographql.com/newsroom/press-releases/apollo-expands-platform-to-power-the-agentic-future-at-graphql-summit-2025Chapters - 00:00 - Intro and episode setup02:10 - Unsung hero moment for GraphQL and agent energy03:12 - GraphQL basics for APIs in an agent runtime04:36 - Why GraphQL won - types, tooling, developer velocity05:20 - API design UX - REST vs GraphQL for developers06:54 - From developers to builders - laypeople using agents07:00 - Will the term developer fade - future of dev work12:28 - Edit over scratch - tools that elevate product taste15:35 - Personalized small-batch software and 3D-print analogy17:31 - Agent-personalized apps beyond siloed UIs18:46 - GraphQL as business language - nouns, verbs, capabilities29:04 - Deterministic rails vs non-deterministic models in finance32:01 - Real guardrails with MCP to Agent to GraphQL51:00 - Graph as backbone of agentic AI ---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported by OneReach.ai - creators of GSX, the first complete AI Agent Runtime Environment (V1 circa 2019).Forged over a decade of R&D and proven in 10,000+ deployments, GSX lets enterprises design, build, and orchestrate secure, scalable AI agents and systems. Trusted across healthcare, finance, government, and telecom.Use any AI modelsBuild and deploy intelligent agents fastCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEnterprise-grade security and governanceAvoid vendor lock-inBacked by UC Berkeley and recognized by Gartner.Before you build or buy another AI solution, think about getting an AI system.Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e6&utm_content=1--------------------> The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books:Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5#invisiblemachines#podcast #techpodcast #aipodcast #ai #agenticai #digitaltransformation #graphql #opensource #softwareengineering #techinnovation #digitaltransformation #futureofai #emergingtech #developertools #techtalk #MCP#ApolloGraphQL

Josh and Robb get together to share a short but deep dive into agent runtime environments. Agent runtimes are the missing piece in the many AI projects out in the world that never reach production. Robb explains how runtimes allow businesses to orchestrate AI agents so they can collaborate around business objectives and drive real ROI. Runtimes also give agents access to canonical “source-of-truth” knowledge bases and tools like MCP and A2A that allow them to pull the levers of existing software. Robb and Josh discuss the major investments in time and money required to build a runtime from scratch and why finding a complete agent runtime lets organizations make quick strides with the complex technologies associated with AI.---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the first complete runtime for AI agents - a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise-grade agentic solutions. Use any AI modelsCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEquipped with enterprise grade security Avoid vendor lock-in.OneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Interested in implementing an Agent Platform for your organization? Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e6&utm_content=1 ---------- The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5 #agentruntimes#AIruntime#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#DigitalTransformation#AIDisruption #AIAdoption#FutureOfWork #DigitalTransformation #InnovationLeadership #AIInBusiness#BusinessInnovation #onereach

Brian Solis, is a digital anthropologist and futurist who serves as the Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow and is the former Head of Global Innovation at Salesforce. Brian is a bestselling author of Lifescale, The End of Business as We Know It, and Mindshift, which helps leaders learn how to see emerging trends, harness disruptive forces, and use them to fuel growth. Brian joins Robb and Josh to talk with us about the importance of self-disruption in AI adoption. With so many genAI projects failing to reach production, this episode looks at approaches taken by IKEA and Airbnb that have induced the kind of mind shift that invites self-disruption. Brian, who's been called the CEO whisperer, also talks about the nuanced difference between “aha” and “uh-oh” moments and the pitfalls of hopeless optimism.Brian Solis’s works: https://briansolis.com/books/Key Chapters0:00 — Intro: Josh & Rob set the stage0:34 — Guest intro: Brian Solis (ServiceNow futurist, author of Mindshift)1:07 — Why AI adoption requires self-disruption1:26 — Aha vs Uh-oh moments with AI5:30 — Why Brian is called the “CEO Whisperer”8:30 — Rethinking failure & success (beyond SV mantras)12:11 — Storytelling as strategy: Disney & Airbnb lessons21:40 — MindShift: disruption as a deliberate choice23:10 — Embrace complexity (the VC decision lens)25:10 — Iteration vs innovation: redefining growth29:00 — ROI vs “Return on Ignorance” (cost of not acting)34:01 — Multiple futures & scenario planning39:08 — Organizational AGI: companies as futurists43:28 — IKEA case study: automation + augmentation46:12 — NVIDIA & the power of simulations---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the runtime for AI agents — a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise-grade agentic solutions. Use any AI modelsCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEquipped with enterprise grade security Avoid vendor lock-in.OneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Interested in implementing an Agent Platform for your organization? Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e6&utm_content=1 --------------------> The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books:Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#DigitalTransformation#AIDisruption #AIAdoption#FutureOfWork #DigitalTransformation #InnovationLeadership #AIInBusiness#BusinessInnovation 

As Global Head of AI at PayPal, Prakhar Mehrotra is looking deeply at the ways agentic AI is affecting commerce — particularly timely given PayPal and Google’s recent announcement of a multiyear strategic partnership to advance various commerce solutions. He joins Josh and Robb for a layered conversation that speculates on the shape of future marketplaces, where machines are bidding and setting prices on behalf of individuals and businesses. The trio also discuss the ways that AI is reworking the plumbing of technology within organizations and how agent runtime environments hold the key to successful adoption of AI. As the world evolves into one with more AI agents than websites, digital interactions might become simplified for users in ways that add complexity for businesses. Prakahr shares his insights into how humans might interact with technology in the future and how technology will change commerce in ways that are hard to fathom but crucial to confront.---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the runtime for AI agents — a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise-grade agentic solutions. Use any AI modelsCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEquipped with enterprise grade security Avoid vendor lock-inOneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Interested in implementing an Agent Platform for your organization? Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e5&utm_content=1 --------------------> The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5 Chapters -0:00 — Intro & guest: Prakhar Mehrotra, PayPal1:46 — Galaxy Quest, aliens & how LLMs “learn”3:46 — When AI gets a wallet: true agency begins6:42 — Marketing to humans vs marketing to AIs8:19 — From the information age to the intelligence age10:25 — Decision hierarchies: bots, assistants & concierge agents13:05 — Hyper-personalized pricing in the LLM era17:20 — Merchants vs consumers: who wins when agents decide19:09 — Human vs tech today, AI vs AI tomorrow (electricity wars)25:11 — Marketplaces where agents set prices (the PayPal angle)51:41 — Identity, fraud & trust: why payments need a gatekeeper54:27 — Micropayments & sub-penny agent-to-agent economies1:02:04 — PayPal as the “clearing house” of agentic commerce1:17:16 — Closing thoughts & outro#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#DigitalTransformation#AIFirst#AIAdoption#TechLeadership#Commerce#PayPal#Innovation

Cassie Kozyrkov returns for a deep dive into the decision science behind a truly AI-first approach to technology adoption. Cassie was Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist and currently advises world leaders and executives on how to optimize their most critical decisions. In this episode she explains why AI is now our memory prosthesis and offers sage guidance on how individuals and organizations can become AI-first. This includes an urgent warning to business leaders to avoid the low-hanging fruit of using AI to automate processes there are already clear instructions for. Instead, Cassie explains how to begin looking in the attic and targeting the stuff that always seemed impossible to automate.Introduction to neural networks and deep learning (by Cassie) -  https://bit.ly/mfml_113Cassie also offers courses on Maven, including one with Pascal BORNET and Brian Evergreen (Agentic Artificial Intelligence for Leaders) - the next cohort is Sept 8-19, 2025: https://maven.com/the-future-solving-company/agentic-intelligence-for-leaders---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the runtime for AI agents — a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise-grade agentic solutions. Use any AI modelsCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEquipped with enterprise grade security Avoid vendor lock-inOneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Interested in implementing an Agent Platform for your organization? Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast_s6e4&utm_content=1 --------------------> The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books: Amazon — https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5 #InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#DigitalTransformation#DecisionScience#AIFirst#AIAdoption#TechLeadership#FutureofWork#EnterpriseAI#AIAgents#TechTrends#google

Bryan Catanzaro was instrumental in the adoption of GPUs for powering machine learning, which has effectively turned NVIDIA from a graphics processing hardware company into a $4T AI powerhouse. Bryan joins Robb and Josh to talk about his journey in AI and how the unique psychology and power structures at NVIDIA enables the company to continually meet the moment in surprising ways. They also discuss the impact of Bryan’s plea for help in categorizing data for emerging language models at a 2019 keynote he delivered to librarians at Stanford. Perhaps most importantly, Bryan shares thoughts on how hair was the first technology. ---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the runtime for AI agents — a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise-grade agentic solutions. Use any AI modelsCreate guardrails for organizational alignmentEquipped with enterprise grade security Avoid vendor lock-inOneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Interested in implementing an Agent Platform for your organization? Book a Demo: https://onereach.ai/book-a-demo/?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=s6e3&utm_content=1 ------------------ The revised and significantly updated second edition of our bestselling book about successful adoption of AI agents, Age of Invisible Machines, is now available anywhere you buy your books: Amazon - https://bit.ly/4hwX0a5 #InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#DigitalTransformation #Coding#TechTrends#EnterpriseAI#GPUs #NVIDIA #AIInnovation #DataScience #LanguageModels #TechLeadership#CUDA

In her instant New York Times bestseller, Empire of AI, journalist Karen Hao distills more than a decade of in-depth research into a detailed account of OpenAI’s rise to power and why leadership at the company abandoned their promise to keep their research open. Karen joins Robb and Josh for a deep dive into murkiness surrounding what artificial general intelligence (AGI) actually represents and why AI colonialism and biased systems undercut efforts to create superintelligence that represents the vastness of human learning and experience. Drawing on the work of a nonprofit in New Zealand to preserve the Māori language, the trio also discuss why smaller, focused implementations that use better curated data might be more valuable to businesses trying to integrate AI into their operations.Buy Karen Hao’s book “Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743569/empire-of-ai-by-karen-hao/Learn more about Karen and here work: https://karendhao.com/---------- Support our show by supporting our sponsors!This episode is supported through partnership with OneReach.ai. Experience the runtime for AI agents — a turnkey private architecture and tools for building enterprise AI agents with guardrails. Use any AI modelsWith enterprise grade security And avoid vendor lock-in.OneReach.ai’s award-winning AI agent orchestration platform meets the many requirements for seizing powerful new technologies in this pivotal moment.Learn more at onereach.ai/ai-agents.—---------The revised and second edition of our bestselling book, Age of Invisible Machines, is available now on Amazon! https://a.co/d/axLFOhX Episode Credits:Robb Wilson — Resident expertJosh Tyson — Co-hostVishal Menon — ProducerMykhailo Lytvynov — Audio/Video Editor & Sound EngineerDaryna Moskovchuk — Graphic DesignAlla Slesarenko — Copy Vira Prykhodko — Web Development Elias Parker — Executive Producer#InvisibleMachines #Podcast #TechPodcast#AI #AgenticAI#AIPodcast#KarenHao#OpenAI#AGI#OAGI#EmpireOfAI#AIColonialism#Anthropomorphism#FutureOfAI