Forrester Launches AI Disruption Model to Map Market Shifts
Event summary
- Forrester unveiled its AI Disruption Model on August 19, 2026, assessing AI's impact on 17 technology and service categories.
- The model identifies three growth categories: infrastructure, data/AI, and cybersecurity/identity providers.
- Labor-intensive knowledge-work industries face the greatest disruption, including transformation services and software development.
- Enterprise software categories will be reshaped rather than displaced due to regulatory and switching cost factors.
The big picture
Forrester's AI Disruption Model provides a framework for understanding how AI will reshape technology markets, with significant implications for investors and operators. The research highlights uneven benefits across markets, with infrastructure, data/AI, and cybersecurity providers positioned for growth while labor-intensive services face disruption. This model comes as enterprises move from AI experimentation to large-scale deployment, creating both opportunities and risks for technology providers.
What we're watching
- Market Segmentation
- How Forrester's three growth categories will perform as enterprises scale AI deployments.
- Labor Displacement
- The pace at which AI substitutes for human expertise in knowledge-work industries.
- Regulatory Impact
- Whether regulatory friction will slow AI adoption in certain enterprise software categories.
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