7 Hot AI Topics for 2026

Welcome to 7 Hot AI Topics, a series of seven articles and videos exploring major Data & AI trends. For this season, members of Orange’s Executive Committee and Group Executive Committee have shared their own topics to shed light on corporate strategies and projects. Each of these topics represents a concrete solution for building a high-performing organization. So what are the major artificial intelligence topics to watch very closely in 2026? You will discover the seven selected themes throughout the month of January.

1. AI and corporate competitiveness

For this first topic, Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, speaks with Mick Levy, Director of Strategy & Innovation at Orange Business.

Christel Heydemann: Companies need to make AI a real driver of competitiveness.

Mick Levy: What benefits can companies expect from AI for it to become a true competitiveness lever?

Christel Heydemann: AI is a powerful lever of internal efficiency across many cross-functional roles. It has also become a key factor to attract talent and recruit for certain critical roles.

AI is evolving extremely fast, so there is also a real challenge not to miss this transformation, to ensure the gap does not widen between organizations that adopt these tools and those that do not.

Mick Levy: Many companies are aiming to successfully carry out an AI-driven transformation without falling behind the competition. What advice would you give fellow CEOs to make this transformation a success?

Christel Heydemann: First, by remaining humble in the face of the scale of the AI revolution. At Orange, this is a topic I personally champion at the highest level of the company. We have established strong governance, and I spend time reviewing use cases. We have also selected use cases that we believe deliver the greatest value, making clear choices both in governance and in use cases. And ultimately, learning by doing is key.

Mick Levy: Thank you for these insights, Christel!

2. AI and future of work

For Vincent Lecerf, Director of Human Resources and Transformation at Orange, the key topic is the impact and use of AI in the future of work.

Vincent Lecerf:
AI will profoundly transform our activities, but the key to success is to do it with people, not against them.

Mick Levy:
Thank you, Vincent, for bringing us not just a hot topic, but a burning one for companies when it comes to AI. Artificial intelligence isn’t a magic tool, and all companies are trying to find the right way to deploy it within their teams. How can this be done effectively?

Vincent Lecerf:
What we have done, and what seems essential to me, is to establish a foundation of trust. People need to know the ethical framework: how AI is used and under what conditions. They must be confident that AI is inclusive, that it does not reproduce discrimination, but instead includes everyone. It also needs to be sovereign, in the sense that the data fed into the system stays in the right place and doesn’t end up circulating uncontrolled.

A fourth condition is responsibility in terms of energy consumption. We know the impact can be significant, so it’s important to inform employees about this as well. Trust is the foundation.

Mick Levy:
AI also promises a major transformation of work. What responsibility do companies have in supporting these ongoing changes in the workplace?

Vincent Lecerf:
There’s no doubt this will affect our activities at the level of individuals, organizations, and processes. The primary requirement, therefore, is training and support. Training to understand what AI is, to use it in everyday work, to turn it into a real working tool, and sometimes, training to change jobs altogether. This is the whole approach we want to take to ensure that our teams are fully on board.

Mick Levy:
Thank you, Vincent, for sharing these insights!

3. Responsibility and trust

One of the key topics for Aliette Mousnier-Lompré, CEO of Orange Business, is responsibility and trust.

Aliette Mousnier-Lompré:
There can be no AI for businesses without complete trust.

Mick Levy:
We’re delighted that you agreed to join us for this initiative on the seven hot AI topics for 2026. Trust is the subject you chose and one that clearly matters a lot to you. Why do you see it as so critical to deploying AI within companies?

Aliette Mousnier-Lompré:
AI is a bit of a black box. We write prompts, upload documents into the tool, and get responses back. But that raises a lot of questions around compliance, data location, who can access the data, whether it will be used to train other models, and how reliable the answers really are. There’s a great deal to examine to make sure it all works properly.

Mick Levy:
Beyond intent, how do you actually go about putting trusted AI solutions in place within an organization?

Aliette Mousnier-Lompré:
While it’s important to allow initiatives to emerge, you also need to avoid turning it into a free-for-all. That means putting governance in place. It starts with asking the right questions about regulation, data localization, the risks specific to my company, and potential security vulnerabilities. Once all of that has been mapped out, you can implement risk management and address traceability as well—those are key points. And once the structure is in place, you can really take off.

Mick Levy:
Those are exactly the principles we use to support companies on their journey toward trusted AI.

4. Agentic AI

Unsurprisingly, agentic AI is one of the seven major topics for businesses in 2026 and is presented by Steve Jarrett, Chief AI Officer at Orange.

Steve Jarrett: My hot topic is agentic AI. And by 2026, we believe AI will move from simple conversational interactions to agents capable of taking action.

Mick Levy: Hello Steve, thanks for being with us. Your perspective on AI topics is extremely valuable. Why is there so much excitement around agentic AI? Is it really justified?

Steve Jarrett: Yes, I think it is justified. First, to understand what an agent is: it’s an AI system built on a large language model that has a certain level of autonomy over a task and attempts to carry it out. And there is enormous business potential there.

The idea is to solve tasks much faster and improve operational efficiency thanks to these tools. But it’s important to keep in mind that to use them effectively, you need high-quality data, highly skilled teams to supervise and steer these agents, and powerful tools—like those Orange Business offers its clients.

Mick Levy: A strong productivity promise, but one that requires real effort to achieve. Can you give us one or two typical use cases for agentic AI?

Steve Jarrett: Today, the strongest use case is software development. When you think about everything a developer has to do in a day—understanding new code, producing documentation, creating tests—these tools allow them to move much faster, especially when it comes to rapid prototyping.

We therefore see an opportunity for developers to focus more on the most important, creative, and complex parts of their work, while letting agents handle simpler tasks.

Mick Levy: Thank you, Steve! And those are just two examples of use cases. There are countless possibilities.

5. Successful AI deployment

The hot AI topic for 2026, presented by Wassila Zitoune, CEO of Orange Business France: successful AI deployment.

Wassila Zitoune: 80% of AI projects fail to scale. At Orange Business, we’re breaking that daunting statistic!

Mick Levy: Thank you, Wassila, for sharing this red-hot topic for businesses. In your view, what is the main challenge companies face when integrating AI?

Wassila Zitoune: Value creation, and I would even say sustainable value creation, and how it is being redefined. For a long time, the discussion focused on cost savings and workforce reduction. AI’s value creation goes far beyond jobs, career paths, and roles; it also improves employee and customer experience. It’s therefore much more holistic, more global, and far more positive.

Mick Levy: What’s the recipe for making projects successful and finally breaking that daunting statistic?

Wassila Zitoune: If we put technology aside, our experience shows that success comes down to how well several key elements are aligned and orchestrated. First, a clear strategic vision. Second, strong executive commitment and belief. Then, the roadmap to get there: the transformation intensity and the methodology. And ultimately, the relevance of an AI use case for a specific business function.

Mick Levy: Thank you, Wassila. As you said, this aligns perfectly with what we’re seeing in the field!

6. AI regulation

The hot AI topic for 2026, presented by Dirk Naumann, CLO and Executive Vice President at Orange Business: AI regulation.

Dirk Naumann: Companies need to turn regulatory challenges, including those related to AI, into business opportunities in a market driven by extremely rapid innovation.

Mick Levy: Hello Dirk! The AI Act is clearly a hot topic for all companies and will continue to be rolled out in 2026. In your view, what are the main challenges companies face when it comes to complying with this regulation?

Dirk Naumann: The main challenge is that implementation timelines are still evolving and remain unclear. The United States has just announced the Omnibus initiative, which could delay some of these measures. We also have to deal with the fact that this regulation interacts with several other regulatory frameworks. And to make matters even more complex, what we are doing in Europe is not always aligned with what is happening in the United States or with China’s approach in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mick Levy: Do you think these regulatory constraints can be turned into business opportunities?

Dirk Naumann: I do, yes. It is a challenge, but the main opportunity offered by AI lies in the trust we can place in it. That means trustworthy data, reliable implementations, and robust processes. I believe the winning formula will be to combine innovative solutions with a framework that ensures security in a regulated environment.

Mick Levy: Thank you, Dirk! At Orange Business, we advise and support companies end to end, both in achieving compliance and in deploying technologies responsibly.

7. The environmental impact of AI

The hot AI topic for 2026, presented by Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Director of CSR at Orange: the environmental impact of AI.

Elizabeth Tchoungui: AI offers extraordinary potential for our operations, but we must never lose sight of its very significant carbon footprint.

Mick Levy: Thank you, Elizabeth, for joining us to discuss this particularly pressing topic, one that really matters to us and that we place at the heart of the projects we deliver for our clients at Orange Business. When it comes to AI’s environmental footprint, how can we limit it in your view?

Elizabeth Tchoungui: It starts with measurement. At Orange, we have developed a dedicated indicator, a tool to measure the carbon footprint of all the AI solutions we plan to deploy in our operations. This is where the concept of frugal AI comes in. It is about finding the right model for the right need. That is frugal AI. Frugal AI is not restrictive or punitive. It is pragmatic.

Mick Levy: You also mentioned a second approach, using AI itself to reduce the environmental footprint of all company operations. Do you see this as a promising path? Do you have any examples, perhaps within the Orange Group?

Elizabeth Tchoungui: Thanks to its predictive capabilities, AI allows us to reduce field interventions, which are very carbon intensive. More broadly, we are clearly seeing consumption reductions of around 15 to 20 percent among the clients supported by Orange Business. This applies to smart buildings, smart fleets, and large, complex industrial equipment. AI truly enables us to reduce the carbon impact of these operations.

Mick Levy: Indeed, I can think of several strong examples among Orange Business clients.