At Synovia Digital, we’re constantly exploring how new technologies are reshaping the way supply chains think about efficiency, foresight, and resilience. McKinsey’s State of AI in 2025 report provides one of the clearest data-driven signals of where organisations truly are today—and what 2026 will look like if the trends continue.
We truly support the idea of you reading the complete State of AI document -it is that good- and use this blogpost as a companion to it. We’re using the downloaded PDF file, accesible only if you subscribe to newsletters, BUT you can easily read it online.
1. AI Is Everywhere—But Scaling Will Become the Defining Challenge in 2026
McKinsey reports that 88% of organisations use AI in at least one function (page 4).
Yet only one-third are scaling their AI programmes across the enterprise.
The 2026 Prediction: 2026 will be the “Scaling Gap” year.
Companies that stay stuck in pilots will fall behind because:
- Larger organisations (> $5B revenue) are already ~2× more likely to scale (page 10).
- High performers invest more than 20% of digital budgets in AI (page 21).
- AI adoption is shifting from optional to competitive necessity.
What 2026 will bring:
- Industry pressure to consolidate fragmented pilots
- Mandatory governance models
- Rapid hiring of AI-related roles (AI data engineers, product owners, MLOps)
- Executive teams adopting formal AI value dashboards
- More AI spend tied to measurable business cases, not experimentation
2. Agentic AI Will Move From Curiosity to Real Deployment in Operations
McKinsey shows:
- 62% of organisations are already experimenting with AI agents.
- 23% are scaling at least one agent system.
- Agent adoption is strongest in IT, knowledge management, and service ops (pages 5–6).
The 2026 Prediction: Agents will enter supply chain functions (finally).
Why?
McKinsey shows 2025 has the infrastructure maturity tipping point.
Companies have already scaled agents in other business functions.
Cost pressure and talent shortages force automation beyond front-office tasks.
What 2026 will bring:
- First mainstream AI agents for replenishment assistance
- Exception-handling agents guiding planners instead of replacing them
- Multi-step workflow execution (PO closures, data cleansing, alerts)
- Human + agent collaborative planning loops
- Increased regulatory scrutiny on autonomous actions
3. Workflow Redesign Will Become the #1 Priority (Not Models, Not Data)
Page 16 is crystal clear:
High performers are nearly three times as likely as others are to fundamentally redesign their workflows in their development of AI.
McKinsey’s strongest message is not about technology: it’s about organisation design.
The 2026 Prediction: Workflow redesign becomes the new digital transformation.
Not “AI projects.”
Not “data projects.”
But operational reinvention, including:
- Role redesign: planners move from data entry → exception strategists
- Standardisation of decision rules
- Real-time knowledge hubs
- De-siloing data flows (sales, supply chain, finance)
- New governance for agent autonomy and human validation
What 2026 will bring:
- Cross-functional decision boards
- AI readiness audits before major deployments
- New KPIs: time-to-decision, cycle time reduction, and exception accuracy
- Convergence of planning, forecasting, and S&OE into a single AI-supported workflow
4. The Human Side of AI Will Become a Strategic Capability (NOT a Soft Skill)
On page 19, McKinsey explicitly states:
“High performers are more likely than others are to say their organizations have defined processes to determine how and when model outputs need human validation.”
And on page 18:
“High performers tend to have senior leaders who demonstrate strong ownership and commitment to AI initiatives.”
This is the “human insight” McKinsey is pushing hard:
AI success is not technical—it’s behavioural.
The 2026 Prediction: The Year of Human-AI Hybrid Roles
Expect:
- “AI-enabled planner” as a formal job title
- Growth in translators (business + technical hybrids)
- Mandatory AI training for all operational roles
- Increased hiring for MLOps, workflow designers, and process architects
- Human-in-the-loop governance committees for every AI project
- AI copilots for employees in logistics, procurement, and operations
AI won’t replace people.
People who can work with AI will replace those who can’t.
5. Innovation, Not Efficiency, Will Drive AI Budgets in 2026
Page 15 shows that high performers:
- …pursue growth and innovation, not just cost reduction
- …measure success through customer satisfaction, competitive differentiation, market share, and revenue signals
The 2026 Prediction: AI budgets will shift from cost savings to revenue and innovation use cases.
Such as:
- New product simulation
- Omnichannel inventory optimisation
- Real-time logistics orchestration
- Autonomous supplier collaboration
- Next-gen digital twins for strategic planning
Efficiency will still matter, but innovation will win boardroom attention.
6. Risk & Regulation Will Tighten Dramatically
51% of organisations have already experienced negative impacts from AI use (page 27), especially:
- Inaccuracies
- Explainability failures
- Privacy breaches
- IP issues
The 2026 Prediction:AI regulation frameworks will finally become standard.
Expect:
- Mandatory model monitoring
- Written explainability reports
- Human override requirements
- Sector-specific AI governance (retail, healthcare, logistics)
- Tracking and reporting of model decisions
- Stronger penalties for AI-driven errors
What 2026 Looks Like in One Sentence
AI moves from experimentation to operational responsibility.
2025 was about curiosity, pilots, agents, and value signals.
2026 will be about:
- Scaling
- Governance
- Workflows
- Human Leadership-AI collaboration
- Real transformation
And the companies that embrace these 5 shifts will outperform the market.
At Synovia Digital, we help organisations move from pilot-thinking to enterprise impact.
From ERP readiness to AI-enabled planning, we support every step of the transformation—always with a human-first approach.
That was kind of a long one, wasn’t it? Hopefully you enjoyed it and learn something new. Let’s aim for 2026 together! See you on the next article!