Signal Gartner predictions on multi-agent systems, domain-specific language models and physical AI

Summary

A second group of Gartner's 2026 trends in the KISDI review concerns how AI is applied. Multi-agent systems are collections of AI agents that interact to reach individual or shared complex goals, and organisations using them can automate complex business processes and create new ways for people and agents to collaborate. Domain-specific language models are trained or fine-tuned on data from a particular industry, function or process, offering higher accuracy, lower cost and better compliance than general models. Gartner predicts that by 2028 more than half of the generative AI models used by enterprises will be specialised to a particular field. Physical AI brings intelligence to robots, drones and smart equipment, promising gains where automation and safety matter, but it may also cause job insecurity and therefore requires careful change management.