New Zealand business leaders are heading into 2026 with renewed confidence, and that optimism is translating into increased investment in technology, according to new research from Datacom.
Datacom’s Business Outlook 2026 survey found 65 percent of senior leaders expect economic conditions to improve over the next 12 months, while more than four in five businesses (82 percent) plan to increase their investment in technology to achieve organisational goals.
Now in its third year, the annual survey canvassed 200 senior leaders from New Zealand organisations with more than 100 employees and points to a clear shift in business sentiment after a period of economic uncertainty.
Datacom New Zealand Managing Director Peter Nelson says the results reflect what the company is seeing across its customer base.
“We’re seeing clear early signs of confidence across the business community. After a period of uncertainty, leaders are signalling that they’re ready to invest and innovate. This renewed optimism is a positive sign for the economy and for the role technology will play in driving growth.”
However, Nelson notes that the focus on efficiency has not disappeared.
“While the imperative to drive efficiency and carefully manage costs has not diminished, there’s renewed interest in investments aimed at stimulating growth.”
A key enabler of that growth, he says, will be the successful modernisation of legacy systems.
“One of the conversations we’re having again and again with New Zealand organisations is the challenge of legacy technology and how hard it can be to modernise and make the most of technologies like AI and set the platform for growth.”
Nelson says Datacom’s AI-driven approach to application modernisation, where AI agents work alongside development teams, is already being applied across several significant projects.
AI is now the top technology opportunity for 2026, cited by 51 percent of respondents, followed by data optimisation (40 percent) and automation (30 percent). Among those prioritising AI, the most common focus is integrating and scaling AI into core operations, such as workflow optimisation and customer service.
The findings signal a shift from experimentation to execution. In late 2025, Datacom’s State of AI Index showed almost half (46 percent) of businesses were still in the exploratory phase of AI adoption.
Datacom Director of AI Louise Compagnone says organisations are becoming more deliberate in how they deploy AI.
“Organisations are starting to be more strategic about their deployment of AI. Initially, we saw a lot of organisations deploying AI tools in an ad hoc way in specific areas of their business, but the net effect is that they get stuck in pilot mode and they can’t achieve the enterprise-wide impact businesses are looking for.”
She says the conversation has now matured.
“It’s encouraging to see the conversation shift from ‘if businesses should adopt AI’ to ‘how they can effectively scale it’.”
Compagnone adds that the benefits of AI will differ across organisations, depending on where it can deliver the most value.
“Whether that’s improving customer service or enabling faster, data-driven decisions, every company is different, and the ways they can benefit from AI will vary.”
Growth is the leading business priority for 2026, nominated by 35 percent of respondents. Despite the optimism, concerns remain. Two-thirds of business leaders identified economic uncertainty as their top perceived threat, followed by cybersecurity (24 percent) and future workforce challenges (19 percent).
Cybersecurity incidents are becoming more common, with 48 percent of organisations reporting an attack in the past 12 months (up 13 percent on 2024) yet only one in four see cybersecurity as a top threat for 2026.
“This drop in the perceived threat possibly reflects a bit of cybersecurity fatigue but it is vital that New Zealand organisations don’t lose focus, cyber-attacks present a huge risk and organisations need to be investing in cybersecurity and ensure they have business recovery plans.”
Barriers to technology adoption persist, with budget constraints (31 percent) and a lack of skilled workers (30 percent) cited as the biggest challenges. Nearly half (42 percent) of respondents say the ongoing ‘brain drain’ is affecting their organisation, with engineering skills identified as particularly at risk.
Nelson says skilled engineers will be critical to delivering on the wave of technology projects expected this year.
“A lot of the projects we’re going to see rolled out over the next 12 months will be reliant on highly skilled engineers paired with the smart use of AI.”
The survey also explored business sentiment toward government performance ahead of an election year. While 43 percent of leaders believe the Government has done a good job supporting local businesses, 71 percent say it needs more time to deliver on its promises.
More than half (58 percent) want to see a stronger focus on modernising how public services are delivered, with improving public services identified as the top way government can help boost the economy.
Nelson says the opportunity for digital transformation in the public sector is significant.
“Technology has the ability to deliver the ‘better, faster and more reliable public services’ that New Zealanders are looking for.”
He points to Datacom’s Datascape platform, currently used by 75 percent of councils nationwide, as an example of how AI-enabled platforms can support more citizen-focused services.
“It takes an AI-enabled platform to transform community engagement for local councils, by delivering timely, location-based alerts and two-way communication for modern, citizen-focused services.”
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