Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to reshape everyday working life in 2026, with companies moving from testing the technology to depending on it across their operations, a leading tech executive has told GB News.
Joshua Wöhle the CEO and Co-Founder of Mindstone, said next year will mark a major turning point as businesses hand more routine work to AI systems, and as a result, the skills employers value most will shift.
He expects every office-based profession to feel the impact, including technology, finance, law, HR, marketing and sales.
Companies that adapt quickly, Mr Wöhle said, will gain a clear advantage.
Software jobs will change first
Software development is likely to see the biggest and fastest shift with code-writing, once the core of the job, becoming heavily automated.
Major tech firms such as Microsoft and Google already say that around a quarter of their code is produced by AI.
At Mindstone, engineers no longer write basic or repetitive code at all.
“The success of an engineer in 2026 will not be defined by their ability to write code,” Mr Wöhle said.
Instead, engineers will be valued for their judgement, problem solving and ability to design systems, rather than their knowledge of specific programming languages.
The coming year would mark a decisive turning point for the modern workplace
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GETTY/Joshua Wöhle
Other professions will follow
The same pattern is expected across legal, HR, marketing, finance and sales roles.
Mr Wöhle estimates that 70 to 80 per cent of routine, execution heavy tasks in these fields could be automated by the end of 2026.
Work that once took hours, such as drafting contracts, can now be completed in minutes.
Workplaces are changing for good
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Using AI well is still a human problem
Mr Wöhle warned that while AI can technically do far more, many organisations struggle to use it effectively.
He described situations where different AI systems inside the same company work in isolation, for example marketing tools promising deadlines that engineering tools cannot meet, or sales tools offering prices finance teams would reject.
These systems do not coordinate with one another, he said, meaning companies need people who can design how AI tools fit together, a responsibility that often sits outside traditional IT teams.
European firms face regulatory requirements that could drive better outcomes
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Europe could gain an advantage
Mr Wöhle also pointed to Europe as a region that may benefit from upcoming regulation. From August 2026, the EU AI Act will require companies to train staff before deploying AI tools.
Research from MIT shows why this matters. Trained employees save around 22 hours a month, compared with just five or six hours for those without training.
In heavily regulated industries, such as banking, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, the ability to control data securely can matter more than having the most advanced AI model.
Companies that invest in training, Mr Wöhle said, could achieve dramatic efficiency gains. “Businesses that get this right could do with 20 people what previously required 200.”
Those that fail to adapt, he warned, risk falling permanently behind. According to Mr Wöhle, 2026 is the last year organisations can close the gap before it becomes too large to recover.