As we move toward 2026, organizations are no longer just fighting for market share; they are fighting to maintain access to critical compute resources and semiconductor supply chains. At the same time, they are navigating a world where 81% of executives saw geopolitical volatility threaten their tech investments in the last year alone.

Based on a dual-perspective survey of global executives and consumers, this IBM Institute for Business Value research brief reveals the friction points where opportunity actually lives. Download the full report to discover why most leaders are now factoring “AI sovereignty” into their core strategies and how “Quantum-ready” organizations are using multi-ecosystem alliances to outpace their competition by a factor of three.

Key takeaways:

• Volatility as an asset: 74% of executives believe economic and geopolitical shifts will create new business opportunities, provided they can operate in real-time.
• The AI perception gap: While leaders worry about “transformation fatigue,” at least twice as many workers across all age groups say they would actually embrace more AI rather than resist it.
• Radical transparency: Consumer trust is the ultimate currency; 89% of customers want to know exactly when they are interacting with AI, and two-thirds would switch brands if AI involvement is concealed.
• The sovereignty mandate: 93% of executives say factoring AI sovereignty — the ability to govern data and infrastructure at all times — is now mission-critical for business continuity.
• Quantum ecosystems: Quantum advantage is likely to emerge by the end of 2026, and the most successful firms are 3x more likely to belong to multiple data ecosystems to handle the massive compute requirements.