Cranbury, NJ, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Organizations that will thrive in 2026 are those that will align human creativity with AI, delivering software that is not only faster and smarter, but also more transparent, more intuitive, and more human-centered than ever before, according to the new 2026 Outlook: The Transformation of Software Development trends report released today by Infragistics. The report outlines how AI-driven intelligence, predictive UX, adaptive design systems, and ethical data governance will define the next era of digital innovation and what technology leaders can do to prepare.
“We will face unprecedented pressure to strengthen privacy protections and data governance frameworks in the coming year,” said Jason Beres, COO. “In 2026, the winners in SaaS will be those that offer transparency, user control, and integrated governance tools while maintaining agility. Customers will increasingly favor software that can prove compliance and demonstrate ethical stewardship of personal data.”
UI Components Will Become Smarter and More Opinionated
Developer tools and UI libraries will evolve from being flexible building blocks to intelligent, opinionated components that enforce UX best practices out-of-the-box. In 2026, component ecosystems will encode layout rules, accessibility patterns, and interaction standards automatically, reducing design-debt and eliminating entire categories of rework.
“The divide between design and development will continue to collapse,” said Jonathon Rosshirt, Product Marketing Manager for Developer Tools. “Build what you design isn’t just a slogan; it’s becoming a core expectation of modern delivery pipelines. Technology leaders will see faster development cycles and more reliable UX quality as platforms embed UX intelligence directly into the component layer.”
From Reactive to Predictive: UX Enters Its Next Frontier
UX is entering its most transformative era yet, the Infragistics trends report found. Software is moving from reactive interfaces (those that wait for user input) to predictive and adaptive experiences that anticipate needs, adjust in real time, and continuously evolve based on how people think, work, and make decisions.
“The convergence of predictive UX and prescriptive analytics will redefine digital strategy,” said Svilen Dimchevski, UX Design Manager. “Software will no longer simply react. It will anticipate, guide, and optimize itself. We’re standing at the edge of a new frontier where products don’t just support decisions, they help make them.”
AI Is Transforming How We Experience Analytics
Analytics is shifting from something users open to something that is a core part of the user experience. By 2026, embedded BI will move from dashboard-driven experiences to contextual, conversational, and insight-on-demand interactions.
Generative AI, natural language querying, and predictive suggestions will unlock analytics for everyone, not just data specialists. Insights will appear organically within the workflow, surfacing exactly the right metric or recommended action at the moment it matters.
“As AI-enhanced embedded BI matures, small and mid-sized businesses will benefit without needing BI teams or specialists,” said Kadein Duncan, Product Marketing Manager for Reveal. “AI will act as a co-analyst behind the scenes, helping teams and customers make faster, better decisions.”
AI Will Reshape—Not Replace—Software Jobs
Despite early fears, data from the 2025 Reveal Software Development Challenges survey shows that AI is creating more jobs, not eliminating them. Among companies already using AI, 55% reported new job creation, with 63% adding up to 25 new roles.
“AI will undoubtedly reshape the developer landscape, but it won’t replace developers—it will elevate them,” said Konstantin Dinev, Director of Product Development. “Routine coding tasks will be increasingly automated, allowing developers to focus on architecture, design, innovation, and problem-solving. The most successful developers will be those who learn to collaborate with AI tools, not compete against them.”
AI-Powered Work Management Will Become a True Teammate
The trends report forecasts that in 2026 the line between human and digital work will blur as AI becomes a true teammate within work management platforms. Instead of simply automating tasks, AI will orchestrate workflows, anticipate roadblocks, coordinate resources, and be an active collaborator in seamless work management.
“By reshaping workflows and uniting analytics and work management, we will be able to drive better decision-making using AI trained on your business data.” said Casey Ciniello, Senior Product Manager for Reveal and Slingshot. “This marks a shift from managing work to orchestrating intelligence.”
Conversational AI and Design-to-Code Deliver Speed Without Sacrifice
Low-code platforms of the future will fully merge conversational AI with design-to-code workflows, creating a new generation of “co-pilot” environments that deliver enterprise-grade apps at unprecedented speed and reliability. This eliminates boilerplate setup, repetitive UI wiring, and data binding, freeing teams focus on app logic, performance, and UX.
“In the coming year, the partnership between human creativity and AI precision will define the standard for enterprise-grade low-code platforms turning rapid prototyping into reliable, production-ready delivery,” said JJ McGuigan, Product Marketing Manager for App Builder.
Global SaaS Growth Will Be Defined by Intelligence and Localization
The report predicts that the next generation of SaaS platforms will be deeply personalized, highly contextual, and predictive, using AI to tailor workflows, anticipate needs, and automate insights.
“As AI becomes the connective tissue of SaaS, competitive advantage will come from how intelligently platforms think, not just how well they function,” said Rohit Gaur, Managing Director for India, Australia, and New Zealand. “The real differentiator won’t be features, it will be intelligence.”
Conclusion: From Intelligent Tools to Intelligent Enterprises
The message is clear: software is no longer just a product; it’s a living ecosystem of intelligence. Across every domain, AI is not replacing people, it is enhancing them. The future of software development is a future of partnership, where developers, designers, analysts, and AI work together as collaborative teams.
Software is becoming a living ecosystem of intelligence by anticipating needs, suggesting actions, supporting governance, and empowering people to create more meaningful experiences that are seamless, secure, and personalized.
To read the full 2026 Outlook: The Transformation of Software Development trends report, visit Infragistics.
About Infragistics
Infragistics provides the world’s largest enterprises with tools and solutions to accelerate application design and development, and foster team collaboration. More than two million developers worldwide use Infragistics’ enterprise-ready UX and UI toolkits to rapidly prototype and build high-performing applications for the cloud, web, mobile and desktop. Infragistics’ Reveal reimagines what business users can achieve with self-service business intelligence visualization, App Builder introduces design-to-code efficiencies during the designer-to-developer handoff, and its newest application Slingshot gives teams a single place to collaborate, make data-driven decisions, manage projects, share content and set goals. Infragistics’ clients represent 100% of the S&P 500, including global software providers who rely on Infragistics when reliability and performance are non-negotiable.
