1. SaaS and agents merge completely in 2026. Every SaaS product becomes an agent platform, and every agent platform builds SaaS features. The ones that don't adapt die or get bought for pennies.
2. Google continues to crush in 2026. OpenAI feels the heat. Doubles down into becoming a social company, lots of features that you'd think a Meta would create . Anthropic gains more consumer awareness with Claude Cowork and other apps they incubate.
3. Infinite-context entertainment kills pilot season. Netflix lets you continue cancelled shows just for yourself. AI generates new episodes of The Office or Friends dynamically based on your mood.
4. Micro-companies explode in volume and weirdness. Tiny AI-augmented businesses serving tiny online tribes become a real career path. Find startup ideas on Ideabrowser.com
5. Personalized nutrient cocktails created by generative AI replace traditional OTC wellness.
6. AI agents get their own wallets. Agents transact with each other using crypto for data, API calls, and compute. Agents become the #1 “user” of the internet
7. The return of the invite-only web. To escape the bot-flooded “dead internet,” the best platforms become gated and reputation-scored.
8. Search is replaced by answer synthesis. Browsers read 50 sources and give you the conclusion.
9. Hardware returns with a vengeance. Browser-based AI feels limiting, so AI pins, earbuds, and ambient devices take off. The smartphone’s decline becomes visible.
10. Google, Apple, and OpenAI accidentally build the new internet. Instead of browsing websites, people live inside model environments. Browser wars continue.
11. Personalized education unbundles the university. This is one of the greatest opportunties and equalizers of our time. The way education is structured atm is not optimized for an AI world (and is too expensive).
12. The first agent-driven media companies appear. Daily shows, newsletters, and entire channels run autonomously, with one human editor.
13. Local LLMs become the new privacy shield. A major hack scares the world and everyone shifts to on-device models that never touch the cloud.
14. The rise of analog status. “Analog” becomes the ultimate flex. Film cameras, handwritten notes, and acoustic instruments explode in value