Trend Innovation compounds: technology gains multiply rather than add

Summary

Deloitte frames technology change in 2026 as compounding rather than additive. The idea is that the forces driving innovation reinforce one another instead of simply stacking up. It describes the process as a flywheel in which better technology opens more uses, and those uses produce more data. That data draws investment, the investment improves infrastructure, and stronger infrastructure lowers costs. Cheaper costs in turn allow more experimentation, which feeds back into better technology. Because each gain speeds up all the others at once, the overall pace of change accelerates, which is why Deloitte treats compounding as the organising theme of its outlook.