Dell Technologies Predictions 2026 & Beyond forecasts greater integration of AI and growth of sovereign AI
Wrapping up the year, Dell Technologies hosted its Predictions: 2026 & Beyond briefing for the Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China region, where John Roese, Global Chief Technology Officer & Chief AI Officer, and Peter Marrs, APJC President, gave the lay of the land for 2026, outlining Dell’s strategies for accelerating AI adoption and innovation in the region, as well as the key transformative technology trends set to reshape enterprises and industries.
Dell Technologies Predictions: 2026 & Beyond Key Highlights
At the Dell Technologies Predictions: 2026 & Beyond Key Highlights briefing, Roese highlighted that the rapid acceleration of AI is expected to fundamentally reengineer how organisations operate, build, and innovate, marking a shift where AI moves from experimental deployments to becoming a core layer of enterprise and national infrastructure.
According to Marrs, one of the key trends that Dell Technologies has observed is an emphasis on scaling AI for tangible business outcomes. A prime example of this is Dell Technologies working closely with Sandisk in Malaysia to deliver advanced AI solutions for smart manufacturing and product design, with the end result being up to 95% lights-out factory operations.
Peter Marrs, President, Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China (APJC)
Marrs also highlighted the expanding deployment of agentic AI, with one key example being Zoho in India collaborating with Dell to deliver contextual, privacy-first, and multimodal AI solutions for enterprise use. This reflects how AI has become more accessible across organisations of different sizes, enabling broader adoption beyond early adopters and hyperscalers.
Chiming in, Roese emphasised that agentic AI is evolving from being a helpful assistant into an integral manager of complex, long-running processes, bringing the benefit of making humans more efficient while improving the quality of non-AI-driven work as well. As organisations progress further along this agentic AI journey into 2026, Roese noted that many will be surprised by how much value these systems deliver simply through their presence.
John Roese, Global Chief Technology Officer and Chief AI Officer
While businesses are increasingly grasping the capabilities of agentic AI, Roese cautioned that they must also rethink how they build and maintain resilient AI factories. “Dell is a leader in this space, bringing the two worlds of AI factories as well as cyber recovery, resiliency, vaults, and data protection together for enterprises to stay in production,” said Roese.
During the briefing, Roese added that there will be increased demand for robust governance frameworks and private, controlled AI environments as AI development and deployment continue to accelerate. He noted that while innovation is moving at unprecedented speed, the lack of discipline and governance could hinder long-term success, urging organisations to establish clear internal and external AI guardrails to enable safe and sustainable innovation.
When viewed at a national level, AI is also becoming critical to state-level interests with the continued rise of sovereign AI ecosystems. Marrs noted that many countries across the region are actively building local AI frameworks to support trusted innovation, data sovereignty, and regulatory alignment. This trend is also creating a new stream within the AI economy, driving broader economic transformation.
Marrs cited Dell’s partnerships with organisations such as Macquarie Data Centres in Australia and NAVER Cloud in South Korea as examples of how secure, local infrastructure is being established to underpin sovereign AI initiatives and trusted AI deployment. Roese added that the sovereign AI industry is expected to grow far larger than many anticipate, as all AI efforts ultimately depend on infrastructure as a foundational capability.
To support this growth, Marrs reiterated the importance of building a collaborative ecosystem to nurture skilled talent while advancing the region’s AI competitiveness. This is where initiatives such as the APJ AI Innovation Hub play a key role, delivering meaningful impact through the combination of Dell’s expertise, capabilities, and partner ecosystem.
“By working with experts, government, and industry peers, we’ve made unbelievable headway in fostering skill development and advancing our collective expertise,” said Marrs summing up his thoughts at the Dell Technologies Predictions 2026 briefing. “Together, we are accelerating Asia’s leadership as an AI region, identifying key steps to bolster the region’s growth. Dell is excited about how we’re participating and helping with this transformation.”