A Crystal Ball into 2026 with John Santaferraro: AI Literacy, Agent Chaos, and the Road to Unification

The AI Forecast welcomes back John Santaferraro, host of The Digital Analyst Podcast and CEO of Ferraro Consulting, for a candid  look at what’s really coming next for AI in 2026.

John argues that despite nonstop headlines, most organizations are still dabbling with AI, not truly using the technology. He predicts that 2026 will be defined by AI literacy, strategic adoption, and a shift away from trivial use cases toward executive-level decision support. John and host Paul Muller explore why private AI will become essential for protecting intellectual property, how asking the right questions may soon matter more than having the right answers, and why agentic AI is poised to fail loudly before it succeeds.

The discussion also dives into data and agent governance, the coming wave of platform and data unification, and why causal AI—not just GenAI—may unlock the next leap in predictive power. 

If you’re planning your AI strategy for 2026, this conversation will help you separate signal from noise and prepare for what’s next.

Stay in touch with John: 

John Santaferraro on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsantaferraro/ 
The Digital Analyst Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLivd8WaRu-XkJsuP8YAtk8T1QYRYlEkD5  
Ferraro Consulting: https://www.ferraroconsulting.com/ 

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