Heading into 2026, I see some pretty big changes ahead for me. Some of those will be personal. It’s also possible they will be professional. I am likely leaving New Orleans this year. With changes to the employment landscape, the city’s well covered financial crisis, and a new mayoral administration, I may not be able to keep this job when I do leave.
As I look ahead at the intersection of Project Management, Instructional Design, AI, and Cybersecurity, it’s clear that 2026 isn’t just another year of “digital transformation.” It’s the year of major disruption. We are moving past the novelty of generative AI a phase where corporations are trying to cut costs and maximize their investment in them, a phase where these tools actually have to build and protect value.
Here is a glimpse into some things I’ll be thinking and writing about this year. Of course, as the progresses, there will be things that aren’t even currently on my radar that I’ll write about here as well.
1. Instructional Design: Moving from “AI-Assisted” to “AI-Native”
In 2025, we were all talking about how AI could help us write a quiz, an outline, or a plan faster. This year, my focus is shifting toward AI-Native Architectures..
- Possible blog post this year: The Death of the Storyboard: Why Instructional Designers are becoming System Architects.
2. The Rise of Agentic AI & Multi-Agent Orchestration
If 2024 was the year of the Prompt, and 2025 was the year of the Copilot, then 2026 is the year of the Agent.
I may be spending some time writing about how to manage a hybrid workforce of humans and autonomous agents. This seems like the big buzz area for 2026 and itrequires a new set of skills: task decomposition, agent specialization, and coordination protocols.
2026 Role Evolution
| Skill Category | 2024 Context | 2026 Evolution |
| Project Management | Tracking human tasks | Orchestrating multi-agent workflows |
| Data Analytics | Generating reports | Auditing agentic decision-making |
| Software Use | Mastering the UI | Governing the Agent’s API access |
3. Cybersecurity: Protecting “Agency” in a Zero Trust World
With great automation comes great risk. A possible cybersecurity focus this year will lean heavily into Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Identity Security.
As agents begin to handle more sensitive data autonomously—from processing cemetery records to managing workforce platforms like ADP—the “perimeter” has effectively dissolved. Is Identity-Centric Security is replacing traditional network defenses? I’ve seen vendors say that it is and it will. If an agent has the “agency” to act, how do we verify its “intent”?
- Possible blog idea: Securing the Autonomous Worker: Why Identity is the New Firewall.
4. Data-Driven Training: Beyond the Completion Rate
I came into training from a Business Intelligence/Data background. To me, solid data metrics have always been a key to evaluating training effectiveness. The industry really seems to have embraced this in the age of big data and AI.
Using AI to bridge the gap between training and behavior, we’ll look at how to use telemetry from the tools we use every day (like Laserfiche or asset management systems, two software implementations i worked on in 2025) to prove that improvements in process actually happened and were powered by user learning. We aren’t just checking boxes; we’re measuring how training creates efficiency in the workforce.
What’s Next?
The “Human Premium” remains our greatest asset. Even as we automate the routine, the need for human ethics, empathy, and critical thinking has never been higher.