Hello all and Happy New Year!
Now that a lot of the mince pie eating and binging Netflix is over I’m sure you’re super motivated to get back to the helm of growing your business this year!
And so you should be! Especially as its the year of the fire horse!
I’m not usually one to follow this stuff, but it does seem like a lot of people struggled throughout 2025 with various parts of life so it’s encouraging to think about 2026 and the year of the fire horse being about shedding bad habits, toxic people, taking risks and building momentum!
I will ill over Christmas for the first time ever, which sucked! BUT, it didn’t stop me from cooking a Danish Christmas meal on the 24th December for my fiance Antonia (she’s half Danish) and a few friends. OR, cooking a turkey on Christmas day and quickly phoning my mum afterwards to ask why for 30 years her Turkey has always been a tiny bit dry (sorry mum) when mine wasn’t ;)
Anyway, let’s smash 2026!
And the best way I can see fit is to create more, so I’m going to be writing a daily newsletter, which will be curated by the 130+ millionaires and counting I have interviewed on my podcast and their advice on how they are spotting opportunities and leverage to grow their businesses throughout 2026: check it out here and come with me on the journey HERE.
The pace of AI change is absolutely wild right now.
What felt cutting edge 6 months ago is already standard. Models that dominated last year are getting crushed by competitors nobody saw coming. Or OpenAI just drops a new feature that changes everything overnight.
I spent the last week doing deep research on where this is actually heading. Not speculation, these are trends already in motion. Here are my 5 predictions for how we'll build, market, and sell with AI in 2026:
1. AI agents will run your business operations
We've moved past "AI as a helpful assistant." In 2026, autonomous agents will handle customer support, logistics, finance, and ops without human oversight.
These aren't tools you use occasionally, they're systems that do the work for you. Text, images, voice, video, all integrated. Making decisions and executing based on real-time data.
If you're still thinking of AI as something you check in on, shift that mindset now. The winners in 2026 are rebuilding their entire operations around agents. That means rethinking workflows, hiring, and cost structures from scratch.
2. OpenAI is bringing ads to ChatGPT
This is massive and most people haven't caught up yet.
OpenAI just reversed its anti-advertising stance. They're exploring ads across ChatGPT to monetize free users. When you search something in ChatGPT, you'll soon see sponsored recommendations. When you're researching products or comparing options, advertisers will influence those results.
Sound familiar? It's the Google playbook all over again.
Start optimizing your content for AI visibility NOW. Once ads flood the space, organic results will be even harder to capture. The brands that get cited and recommended organically will have a huge advantage over those trying to buy their way in later.
This is exactly why we're building Recognized, businesses need to optimize for AI search before the paid landscape solidifies and B2B marketing has never been so boring and generic. Now is the time to stand out, starting with LinkedIn.
3. The AI backlash is coming
Forrester predicts 1/3 of companies deploying AI tools in 2026 will damage customer trust due to poor implementation. Clunky experiences, privacy violations, AI-driven lawsuits.
Consumers are already protective of their data. When brands use AI in ways that feel intrusive or tone-deaf, they'll lose customers fast. And trust, once broken, is nearly impossible to rebuild.
Balance automation with authenticity. If your AI makes customers feel like they're talking to a bot that doesn't understand them, it will hurt your business. If you're using AI to handle customer data, be transparent and give customers control.
4. Open source AI from Asia is disrupting Western competitors
Chinese firms like Alibaba and Baidu are driving innovation with high-quality open-source models designed to lower costs and encourage rapid adoption.
These models are built for rapid fine-tuning, community collaboration, and deployment at scale. And they're becoming more attractive globally because they're cheaper, more flexible, and often just as good as Western proprietary models.
The AI arms race is global now. Stay flexible and test alternatives, including open-source options. The cost advantages alone could be significant if you're running AI workflows at scale.
5. AI will complete the entire shopping journey for you
By December 2026, AI won't just help you find products, it'll give you the option to buy them directly in chat. Discovery to purchase to delivery, all handled autonomously by AI agents. AR, computer vision, and predictive modeling will power B2C and B2B commerce at a level we haven't seen.
If you're in e-commerce, the customer journey is about to be mediated entirely by AI.
As I build Recognized, I'm focused on three things:
Optimizing our brand for AI discovery and recommendation
Keeping pricing competitive and transparent
Structuring product information so AI can parse it and make informed recommendations
If AI agents can't find you, understand your product, or trust your data, you'll be invisible to potential customers.
Bottom line:
The AI landscape in 2026 will look nothing like today. Here's what I'm focusing on:
→ Rebuild workflows around AI agents
→ Prioritize trust and transparency through my authentic personal brand story
→ Stay current on global AI developments
→ Optimize for AI search now
→ Prepare for autonomous commerce
Your job is to stay prepared and adaptable. The companies that move now will have an unfair advantage over those waiting to see what happens.
Have a great week,
Freddie