Q4 2026 UPDATE (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER)
We're entering the final quarter of this year 2026, still as eventful as ever. The war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year with no end in sight: fighting continues on the southern and eastern fronts, but a glimmer of diplomatic hope has reappeared — the Kremlin is no longer ruling out a resumption of trilateral talks (Washington-Kyiv-Moscow) as early as October, after several months of deadlock. Nothing is settled yet, but it's a story worth watching closely this quarter. On the Middle East front, the Strait of Hormuz had regained nearly 80% of its pre-crisis oil traffic by early October — a real improvement over the summer — but the barrel remains stuck around $100 (Brent), still well above pre-war levels. Emmanuel Macron discussed further steps with Donald Trump to complete the full reopening of the strait, and the G7 announced on October 2 the gradual release of 100 million barrels of crude and diesel over the next four months to help ease prices. On the trade front, the US "Section 301" tariffs (10% to 12.5% on about sixty economies, including the EU) duly took effect at the end of July as expected, replacing Section 122. One date to watch: on November 10, several exemptions and suspensions negotiated with China (178 tariff exclusions, the "fentanyl" surcharge reduction, the suspension of maritime-sector tariffs) are set to expire — a potential new flashpoint in trade tensions before year-end.
On the macroeconomic front, resilience keeps surprising: the OECD just raised its 2026 global growth forecast to 2.9%, noting that the economy has weathered Middle East turbulence better than feared, helped along by public support measures (such as Germany's fuel tax rebate) and massive AI-related investment. In Europe, the leaderboard of top performers has come into sharper focus this quarter: Denmark (around +4.6% in Q2, driven by pharma and wind power), Slovenia (+4.9%, led by electronics and pharma exports), Malta (+4.5%, financial services and tourism), Lithuania (+4.1%), Poland (+3.9%, still powered by industrial exports), and Sweden (+3.3%) now make up the European growth leaders — a rather unexpected podium, dominated by Nordic and Central European economies rather than the eurozone's big four. Spain continues to outperform among the larger economies (around +2.6%), while Germany (+1%) and France (+0.7%) lag behind. In the US, interest rates near their peaks and still-sticky inflation are fueling the usual "October effect" debate on Wall Street; the Fed's decision (October 28) and the ECB's (October 29) will be watched closely, as will the rumors around a possible early departure of Christine Lagarde from the ECB.
And the "AI bubble" keeps fueling every market debate too. NVIDIA, trading around $230-240 with an analyst consensus price target of $333 (a potential upside of +42%), surprised the market in late September by authorizing a record $150 billion share buyback program — read by some as a signal of confidence, and by others (such as analyst Ed Zitron) as an attempt to reassure increasingly jittery investors. Michael Burry and Peter Thiel maintain their bearish bets against some AI-sector stocks, and Nvidia's 2026 P/E ratio remains elevated (around 47x), a sign that the whole bet remains fragile despite consistently strong results.
On the ground, the gap between AI enthusiasm and its actual delivered value is coming into sharper focus this quarter: according to the Stanford AI Index 2026, 88% of organizations worldwide are already using generative AI, but genuine autonomous-agent deployment remains below 10% in nearly all business functions — and among companies that have taken the plunge, only 66% report measurable added value (PwC). In France, the explainability of AI agent behavior is cited by 31% of companies as the main barrier to wider rollout. On the employment front, the picture is more nuanced than last quarter: while entry-level jobs are indeed declining in the most exposed occupations (Goldman Sachs), several studies (PwC) show the opposite trend overall — companies most exposed to AI have actually been hiring faster than others since 2018 — so no solid macroeconomic evidence of net AI-driven job destruction has been established so far. The European Union has, since August 2, classified AI recruitment tools as "high-risk" uses, and NVIDIA itself has just launched an open-source security platform for AI agents, a sign that AI-agent governance is becoming a topic in its own right.
In the business world, the priority remains the same: resilience to protect the existing business, and boldness to seize the new business opportunities AI keeps opening up. Jobs will keep evolving in depth, and teams will increasingly be "augmented" by agents that, for now, still struggle to fully deliver on their promises.
On the energy front, the topic of computing centers in space remains very much alive, driven by Google's Suncatcher project, SpaceX/xAI's ambitions, and the chips already running in orbit at Starcloud — a long-term bet built on the same logic: finding a virtually unlimited energy source to feed AI's bottomless appetite. The terrestrial energy crisis, meanwhile, continues to force us to accelerate the transition, which will remain long, costly, and full of mistakes — a gigantic challenge that demands we redouble our efforts at creativity.
For the activities of Consulting, Training, or Coaching, every service delivered before in "PRESENTIAL" (or Face to Face) have been completely redesigned in a "DISTANCIAL" model.
And we have invested in new tools like "Miro"
("www.miro.com")
for the collaborative work within our services in Training and Coaching.
A tough task of development which was mandatory in order to survive!.
What is absolutely true in any case now is as follows :
1/ We'll spend even less on maintenance of applications, but much more on innovation...
as much more activity will happen online
2/ Most of the growth in computing is driven by new markets,
called SMACS & IA (social, mobile, analytics, cloud, security, and Generative IA)
3/ We notice a hypergrowth in Cloud Activities for many vendors.
Key points for this quarter
Gartner published his "Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2026"
(See content here)
But how this Gartner prediction will be impacted by the Intennational context ?
The IT segments that are likely to drive new growth in cloud technologies:
(IAAS) infrastructure as a service, (IPAS) integrated platform as a service,
and (CPAS) communication platform as service.
And why not "IOTAS", which means "Internet Of Things As a Service".
Other technologies to watch include
collaboration, workforce analysis, message-oriented video middleware, cybersecurity,
analytics, and storage, all of which are linked to the digital transformation
efforts of the Enterprise.”
Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 9.8%in 2026
(See content here)
The main problem in 2026 resides in 3 words : Resilience, Resilience, and Resilience... and as always find new Customers, serve them, and retain them!
Most importantly, protect and develop the Customer Relationship Level
(Please see our service « LOR »
Level Of Relationship )
New IT developments are accelerating e-commerce, especially m-commerce
(transactions via smartphones), and these areas are growing faster than all the rest,
all industries combined.
In 2026 Companies (for those who will survive!)will continue to reduce their IT maintenance costs
and reallocate funds for "Resilinece Projects", and other new projects that bring more business value.
The three keywords Cloud, Mobile, Social are driving the trend,
but now also with Analytics, Security and Generative IA everywhere!
• Time is going fast, and more than ever planning is key.
Protecting business and Resilience are the keywords!
Currently the business environment has 3 pressures : Financial, Economic and Politic...
• Be ready to help your Accounts for their Resilience Plan and help them to create New Business
(In 2026 some Economic Sectors are acceleratiing this transition : HEALTH, SECURITY,... and ENERGY savings!).
We expect a significant increase in IT spending in the Cloud Computing Services(Private, Public or Hybrid).
• Channel Partners play also a key role in many Industries!
• Services and « SaaS » are leading the pack.
As a quick summary, you can overcome the 2025 pressures if you build your Resilience Plan.
Do not hesitate to contact us and talk about your specific needs.
Send us a quick email here
NEW TOOLS FOR 2026
• New Business Portfolio with easier interaction
• New Powerful Views
• Opportunity file improved
NEW "OBI ELECTRONIC" file with Summary and Action Plan :
(What ?) ...Let's define the right Solution
(How ?) ... Let's define our best Strategy
(Why ?) ... Let's find our clear Win Themes
(Who ?) ... Actions and who is responsible for what
