Key trends in audience strategy, AI and data for 2026
Key trends in audience strategy, AI and data for 2026
We asked Piano’s subject-matter experts to share the trends they believe will define 2026 across industries – from media and publishing to banking and healthcare. AI was mentioned a lot in their outlook, but it’s not the only differentiator. The biggest advantage will come from creating the foundation of clean, compliant, and structured data. Those that lack the foundation will only accelerate bad decision-making with AI that gets fed this information.
Piano helps collect and sort complete, unsampled data about your users and their actions. This allows you to understand your data, and segment and convert audiences with personalized journeys (with or without AI) with more precision across channels and ecosystems.
As traffic becomes less predictable, regulations more complex, and AI more embedded in the day-to-day operations, leaders across industries are rethinking how they make decisions and engage with their audiences.
We asked Piano’s subject-matter experts to share the trends they believe will define 2026 across industries – from media and publishing to banking and healthcare. AI was mentioned a lot in their outlook, but it’s not the only differentiator. The biggest advantage will come from creating the foundation of clean, compliant, and structured data. Those that lack the foundation will only accelerate bad decision-making with AI that gets fed this information.
Piano helps collect and sort complete, unsampled data about your users and their actions. This allows you to understand your data, and segment and convert audiences with personalized journeys (with or without AI) with more precision across channels and ecosystems.
As traffic becomes less predictable, regulations more complex, and AI more embedded in the day-to-day operations, leaders across industries are rethinking how they make decisions and engage with their audiences.
As traffic becomes less predictable, regulations more complex, and AI more embedded in the day-to-day operations, leaders across industries are rethinking how they make decisions and engage with their audiences.
We asked Piano’s subject-matter experts to share the trends they believe will define 2026 across industries – from media and publishing to banking and healthcare. AI was mentioned a lot in their outlook, but it’s not the only differentiator. The biggest advantage will come from creating the foundation of clean, compliant, and structured data. Those that lack the foundation will only accelerate bad decision-making with AI that gets fed this information.
Piano helps collect and sort complete, unsampled data about your users and their actions. This allows you to understand your data, and segment and convert audiences with personalized journeys (with or without AI) with more precision across channels and ecosystems.
Use AI responsibly and build reliable data models
Use AI responsibly and build reliable data models
Use AI responsibly and build reliable data models
Data analytics
In 2026, AI will make it easier for companies to find useful insights in their digital analytics, even if they've never really dug deep into their data before. AI will also shine a light on all the data problems that have been lurking in the background. Bad data quality, old systems that don't talk to each other, messy tracking, all of it. If your data is scattered, AI isn't going to fix that. It'll surface unreliable answers more quickly, and answer questions even when it doesn’t have an answer. The companies that'll do well are the ones who can clean up their data, put proper governance in place, and build reliable data models. Then, they can use analytics tools that apply AI thoughtfully – not just because it's trendy, but because it solves real problems.
Cédric Ferreira
CPO, Analytics
Data analytics
In 2026, AI will make it easier for companies to find useful insights in their digital analytics, even if they've never really dug deep into their data before. AI will also shine a light on all the data problems that have been lurking in the background. Bad data quality, old systems that don't talk to each other, messy tracking, all of it. If your data is scattered, AI isn't going to fix that. It'll surface unreliable answers more quickly, and answer questions even when it doesn’t have an answer. The companies that'll do well are the ones who can clean up their data, put proper governance in place, and build reliable data models. Then, they can use analytics tools that apply AI thoughtfully – not just because it's trendy, but because it solves real problems.
Cédric Ferreira
CPO, Analytics
Data analytics
In 2026, AI will make it easier for companies to find useful insights in their digital analytics, even if they've never really dug deep into their data before. AI will also shine a light on all the data problems that have been lurking in the background. Bad data quality, old systems that don't talk to each other, messy tracking, all of it. If your data is scattered, AI isn't going to fix that. It'll surface unreliable answers more quickly, and answer questions even when it doesn’t have an answer. The companies that'll do well are the ones who can clean up their data, put proper governance in place, and build reliable data models. Then, they can use analytics tools that apply AI thoughtfully – not just because it's trendy, but because it solves real problems.
Cédric Ferreira
CPO, Analytics
Find the right partners to keep up with evolving regulations
Find the right partners to keep up with evolving regulations
Find the right partners to keep up with evolving regulations
Compliance + digital ethics
Alongside the rapid technological developments currently underway in AI, regulations surrounding these issues are also likely to evolve at a pace never seen before. Now more than ever, it’s important to have reliable technology partners who understand these regulatory changes and can support the implementation of these technologies, enabling you to enjoy competitive advantages while remaining compliant. On the ethical side, the market is beginning to take into account the societal impacts of AI, particularly its environmental impact. Here too, in order to maintain companies' ESG objectives, the choice of technology partner, enabling the appropriate use of AI and the accurate measurement of its impact, will be paramount.
Louis-Marie Guérif
Digital Ethics Officer / DPO
Compliance + digital ethics
Alongside the rapid technological developments currently underway in AI, regulations surrounding these issues are also likely to evolve at a pace never seen before. Now more than ever, it’s important to have reliable technology partners who understand these regulatory changes and can support the implementation of these technologies, enabling you to enjoy competitive advantages while remaining compliant. On the ethical side, the market is beginning to take into account the societal impacts of AI, particularly its environmental impact. Here too, in order to maintain companies' ESG objectives, the choice of technology partner, enabling the appropriate use of AI and the accurate measurement of its impact, will be paramount.
Louis-Marie Guérif
Digital Ethics Officer / DPO
Compliance + digital ethics
Alongside the rapid technological developments currently underway in AI, regulations surrounding these issues are also likely to evolve at a pace never seen before. Now more than ever, it’s important to have reliable technology partners who understand these regulatory changes and can support the implementation of these technologies, enabling you to enjoy competitive advantages while remaining compliant. On the ethical side, the market is beginning to take into account the societal impacts of AI, particularly its environmental impact. Here too, in order to maintain companies' ESG objectives, the choice of technology partner, enabling the appropriate use of AI and the accurate measurement of its impact, will be paramount.
Louis-Marie Guérif
Digital Ethics Officer / DPO
Build workflows that support agentic AI’s work
Build workflows that support agentic AI’s work
Build workflows that support agentic AI’s work
AI
In 2026, AI will evolve from answering questions to executing multi-step business processes – investigating issues, analyzing data across systems, and implementing solutions autonomously. But this agentic future requires building ecosystems of specialized tools and the business context that lets AI use them strategically. The challenge isn't about more powerful models; it's giving AI the right capabilities to understand your technical configurations and act based on your business needs.
Patrick Appel
VP of Data Strategy
AI
In 2026, AI will evolve from answering questions to executing multi-step business processes – investigating issues, analyzing data across systems, and implementing solutions autonomously. But this agentic future requires building ecosystems of specialized tools and the business context that lets AI use them strategically. The challenge isn't about more powerful models; it's giving AI the right capabilities to understand your technical configurations and act based on your business needs.
Patrick Appel
VP of Data Strategy
AI
In 2026, AI will evolve from answering questions to executing multi-step business processes – investigating issues, analyzing data across systems, and implementing solutions autonomously. But this agentic future requires building ecosystems of specialized tools and the business context that lets AI use them strategically. The challenge isn't about more powerful models; it's giving AI the right capabilities to understand your technical configurations and act based on your business needs.
Patrick Appel
VP of Data Strategy
Prioritize creating dynamic, personalized user experience
Prioritize creating dynamic, personalized user experience
Prioritize creating dynamic, personalized user experience
Media + Publishing
As platforms continue to pull back from news publishers, each visit becomes more precious. Based on our data, highly engaged users convert at 44x the rate of one-offs and generate 110x more revenue per thousand visitors. Recognizing that, media companies will become smarter about personalizing user experience, moving away from one-size-fits-all rules to dynamic, AI-targeted experiences that maximize total revenue and ARPU. Users who aren’t ready to subscribe are able to read more and view ads, while likely subscribers see attractive subscription offers, and visitors on the fence sign up for a newsletter that encourages repeat visits. Plus, publishers will use multi-source revenue data to inform content and audience strategy, testing to find the tactics that deliver the most value.
Michael Silberman
EVP Media Strategy
Media + Publishing
As platforms continue to pull back from news publishers, each visit becomes more precious. Based on our data, highly engaged users convert at 44x the rate of one-offs and generate 110x more revenue per thousand visitors. Recognizing that, media companies will become smarter about personalizing user experience, moving away from one-size-fits-all rules to dynamic, AI-targeted experiences that maximize total revenue and ARPU. Users who aren’t ready to subscribe are able to read more and view ads, while likely subscribers see attractive subscription offers, and visitors on the fence sign up for a newsletter that encourages repeat visits. Plus, publishers will use multi-source revenue data to inform content and audience strategy, testing to find the tactics that deliver the most value.
Michael Silberman
EVP Media Strategy
Media + Publishing
As platforms continue to pull back from news publishers, each visit becomes more precious. Based on our data, highly engaged users convert at 44x the rate of one-offs and generate 110x more revenue per thousand visitors. Recognizing that, media companies will become smarter about personalizing user experience, moving away from one-size-fits-all rules to dynamic, AI-targeted experiences that maximize total revenue and ARPU. Users who aren’t ready to subscribe are able to read more and view ads, while likely subscribers see attractive subscription offers, and visitors on the fence sign up for a newsletter that encourages repeat visits. Plus, publishers will use multi-source revenue data to inform content and audience strategy, testing to find the tactics that deliver the most value.
Michael Silberman
EVP Media Strategy
Conversational analytics will be available to every team
Conversational analytics will be available to every team
Conversational analytics will be available to every team
Media + Publishing
AI-powered conversational analytics and business intelligence will move firmly into the mainstream, following a period of experimentation and early-stage deployments. Conversational interfaces will remove long-standing barriers to working with data, enabling employees across all business functions to access insights directly rather than relying exclusively on data or BI teams. This shift will accelerate true data democratization and elevate analytics as a core capability throughout the organization. One example we saw is our client Rabobank, who has fostered a stronger data culture by increasing data analytics adoption by more than 30%.
Marie Fenner
Global SVP, Analytics
Media + Publishing
AI-powered conversational analytics and business intelligence will move firmly into the mainstream, following a period of experimentation and early-stage deployments. Conversational interfaces will remove long-standing barriers to working with data, enabling employees across all business functions to access insights directly rather than relying exclusively on data or BI teams. This shift will accelerate true data democratization and elevate analytics as a core capability throughout the organization. One example we saw is our client Rabobank, who has fostered a stronger data culture by increasing data analytics adoption by more than 30%.
Marie Fenner
Global SVP, Analytics
Media + Publishing
AI-powered conversational analytics and business intelligence will move firmly into the mainstream, following a period of experimentation and early-stage deployments. Conversational interfaces will remove long-standing barriers to working with data, enabling employees across all business functions to access insights directly rather than relying exclusively on data or BI teams. This shift will accelerate true data democratization and elevate analytics as a core capability throughout the organization. One example we saw is our client Rabobank, who has fostered a stronger data culture by increasing data analytics adoption by more than 30%.
Marie Fenner
Global SVP, Analytics
Companies not using compliant analytics will be at risk
Companies not using compliant analytics will be at risk
Companies not using compliant analytics will be at risk
Healthcare
We see more healthcare organizations prioritizing compliant analytics tools. As more of them continue to retreat from tools that aren't fully compliant (or abandon analytics altogether under legal pressure), HIPAA-compliant analytics providers like Piano become essential for success.
In 2026, companies with workarounds or lacking analytics tools altogether will be at risk the most – and those that choose compliant, enterprise-grade solutions will become noticeably more competitive.
Todd Trippany
VP, Strategic Sales
Healthcare
We see more healthcare organizations prioritizing compliant analytics tools. As more of them continue to retreat from tools that aren't fully compliant (or abandon analytics altogether under legal pressure), HIPAA-compliant analytics providers like Piano become essential for success.
In 2026, companies with workarounds or lacking analytics tools altogether will be at risk the most – and those that choose compliant, enterprise-grade solutions will become noticeably more competitive.
Todd Trippany
VP, Strategic Sales
Healthcare
We see more healthcare organizations prioritizing compliant analytics tools. As more of them continue to retreat from tools that aren't fully compliant (or abandon analytics altogether under legal pressure), HIPAA-compliant analytics providers like Piano become essential for success.
In 2026, companies with workarounds or lacking analytics tools altogether will be at risk the most – and those that choose compliant, enterprise-grade solutions will become noticeably more competitive.
Todd Trippany
VP, Strategic Sales
It’s clear that the way organizations work with data and AI is changing fast. AI will continue to change how teams work, but without the right fundamentals companies risk making more bad decisions.
Invest in getting complete and unsampled data, choose technology partners to help you navigate the regulatory landscape, and focus on creating more personalized experiences for your audiences to ensure success in 2026 and beyond.
Final words
It’s clear that the way organizations work with data and AI is changing fast. AI will continue to change how teams work, but without the right fundamentals companies risk making more bad decisions.
Invest in getting complete and unsampled data, choose technology partners to help you navigate the regulatory landscape, and focus on creating more personalized experiences for your audiences to ensure success in 2026 and beyond.
Final words
Final words
It’s clear that the way organizations work with data and AI is changing fast. AI will continue to change how teams work, but without the right fundamentals companies risk making more bad decisions.
Invest in getting complete and unsampled data, choose technology partners to help you navigate the regulatory landscape, and focus on creating more personalized experiences for your audiences to ensure success in 2026 and beyond.
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company