Artificial intelligence is widely seen as the engine of a new productivity era. Yet a recent analysis discussed in the Harvard Business Review suggests a more complex picture. The research identifies a growing phenomenon among knowledge workers that the authors describe as “AI Brain Fry” — a form of mental fatigue caused by intensive interaction with, and supervision of, AI tools.

At Burger King, “Patty” is not a burger component but the name of a new AI assistant that lives directly inside employees’ headsets — listening, assisting and, to some extent, evaluating.

By 2026, leadership has not been dramatically reinvented, but it has been quietly redefined. Artificial intelligence is no longer an innovation project or a future ambition; it has become part of everyday operations. Reports are generated automatically, decisions are prepared by data models, assistants and agents handle routine tasks. For managers, this shift changes the nature of effectiveness. What matters less is technical depth, and what matters more is the ability to connect technology, people and organisational purpose.

A new study paints a ruthless picture of global power dynamics: whilst the USA cements its dominance and China arms its industrial base, Europe risks falling into irrelevance – unless the continent learns to convert its values into hard currency.

Google is turning Gemini into a shopping platform. Users can now search, compare and buy directly in the chat at Walmart, Shopify shops and Wayfair – without ever opening a traditional online shop. This is Google's answer to ChatGPT's commerce offensive and the beginning of a new era: agentic commerce, where AI assistants decide what you see, what you buy and where.

CES 2026 showed not individual gadgets, but ecosystems. Agentic AI that thinks along. Humanoid robots that climb stairs. Cars that learn new functions via software update. And PCs whose displays unroll at the press of a button. The show made clear: technology is becoming ambient, proactive and invisible – until you need it.