Forrester

Environmental sustainability is entering a new era for enterprises: Performative messaging is out, and authenticity that will generate recognition is in. Organizations that treated sustainability as a branding exercise will no longer be able to justify their sustainability budgets, as urgent, short-term demands take precedence. Instead, those organizations that root their environmental sustainability efforts into the core values of the organization and do the work to tie these efforts to efficiency gains and profits will grow their budget and differentiate their organization. Savvy sustainability leaders know that they must demonstrate measurable returns on investment and credibly report a decrease on climate impact, show increased operational resilience, and decrease material risk for the organization. This means strengthening internal governance, investing in the right software solutions, performing a materiality assessment to understand material climate risks, and making the right services partnerships. Further, sustainability leaders must make new investments to create a competitive advantage for their organization. For example, organizations that currently are using or preparing to use generative AI as a fundamental offering to their customers require a resilient and scalable IT and energy infrastructure. This is why public-sector business and technology professionals who indicated that strengthening macroeconomic outcomes is a priority for their organization in Forrester’s Priorities Survey, 2025, put investing in green energy at the top of their list of key actions the organization is taking. Against this backdrop, for 2026, Forrester predicts that: Hyperscalers will invest more than $2 billion in small modular nuclear reactors. The IEA projects that global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030. Utilities are turning to nuclear power as a clean, scalable solution, with a growing interest in deploying small modular reactors (SMRs). By 2026, tech companies will increasingly own and operate nuclear assets within microgrids to meet the power demand. US states and global governments are poised to reverse nuclear bans and invest heavily in new SMR capacity. Firms like TerraPower and Deep Fission will leverage the data center energy demand opportunity. Hyperscalers, including Google, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft, are the most likely to lead the boom in SMRs, in part to satisfy power-greedy AI use cases. To enable energy resilience and cost efficiencies in data centers, technology leaders must proactively position their organizations to leverage SMRs and microgrid deployments through direct investments or through hyperscale cloud partnerships. Two unicorns will rise in the private weather-monitoring market. Demand for high-resolution insights across climate, agriculture, defense, and finance verticals accelerates the need for global satellite data services. At the same time, rising climate risk, insurance needs, and disaster response fuel the need for private climate monitoring. Falling launch costs and innovation in small satellites lower barriers to entry. Companies like Tomorrow.io, ICEYE, Planet Labs, and Aistech Space are rapidly expanding proprietary constellations. In sectors exposed to weather risk, early adopters gain advantages, such as optimizing logistics, incorporating weather data into products and services, and managing insurance premiums. In 2026, sustainability leaders can gain a competitive edge by leveraging weather data, not only for resilience efforts but also for use cases such as supply chain management and energy planning. Three Fortune 1000 companies will be exposed for erroneous sustainability reporting. Despite growing investments in sustainability management software, most companies still rely on fragmented spreadsheets, manual inputs, and opaque supplier estimates to populate their sustainability reports. This patchwork approach leaves critical data — especially scope 3 emissions — vulnerable to inconsistencies, gaps, and unverifiable claims. Few organizations have implemented formal data governance frameworks tailored to sustainability, such as defined ownership models, lineage tracking, or controls for data validation and versioning. As third-party assurance and regulatory audits become more rigorous, the absence of structured governance will increasingly be seen as a material weakness. By 2026, scrutiny will shift from reported outcomes to the integrity of the underlying data processes. Sustainability leaders must invest in robust governance to avoid compliance failures and reputational damage. Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2026: Environmental Sustainability report to get more detail about each of these predictions, plus two more bonus predictions. Set up a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions or plan out your 2026 environmental sustainability strategy. If you aren’t yet a client, you can sign up to get notified when our complimentary Predictions guides will be available, covering more of our top predictions for 2026. source

It’s Saturday morning. I’m in Paris for a three-hour layover to a connecting flight on my way back from Shenzhen, China, where I attended the fifth Tencent Cloud International Summit. While my colleagues and I reflected on our overall summit impressions in a separate blog, I’m going to focus here on Tencent’s sovereign cloud offering. As Tencent pursues its overseas business expansion through its sovereign cloud solution — the Tencent Cloud Enterprise (TCE) — here’s what international customers should know about it: Tencent has a clear and deliberate sovereign cloud strategy. Unlike other vendors in the APAC region — like Alibaba — Tencent has decided to be very clear and deliberate on its sovereign cloud offering, which we’ll assess further in our upcoming Sovereign Cloud Platform Landscape. Tencent isn’t new to the digital sovereignty challenges of local and foreign customers and has purposefully developed a full-stack platform specifically designed to overcome them. TCE is a full-stack cloud platform. TCE’s platform shares the same source code as Tencent’s public cloud. Having the same architecture provides a strong guarantee for continuous investment into the product. All regions and availability zones can be managed by one unified web portal, while the public and the private cloud have the same management logic. TCE also appears highly scalable, allowing customers to start with a single region and expand to multiple regions and availability zones as needed. The platform comes with security features and has high hardware compatibility. TCE offers a wide range of security products — including operations security, terminal security, and data security — ensuring comprehensive protection for its customers. It’s also important to highlight TCE’s compatibility with mainstream hardware manufacturers like Cisco, Dell, HPE, and Lenovo. Customers can choose their hardware and software without being bound to specific vendors. This is a perk for clients with various sovereign hardware requirements across regions and industries. TCE caters to specific customer segments and scenarios. TCE can provide fully localized deployment and integrated PaaS and operation products to financial and government institutions per their requirements. Telecom operators can reuse existing hardware, integrate third-party software, and build industry clouds to sell resources; small and medium-sized enterprises using virtualization platforms — such as VMware and Nutanix — can benefit from TCE’s flexible business models and scalable solutions. Unlike US hyperscalers, Tencent isn’t trying to boil the ocean. Instead, it’s taking a more surgical approach to the sovereign cloud market. A sound base of customer case studies contributes to TCE’s credibility. China Construction Bank is building the world’s largest financial cloud platform, supporting over 80,000 physical hosts and migrating core banking systems to TCE. Foxconn is expanding its TCE platform from one to four regions, supporting cross-country operations and improving efficiency through cloud edge deployment. On top of this, Tencent is now collaborating with Freel to provide AI computing services and is expanding the project from Malaysia to Thailand. Tencent is now focusing on improvements in TCE’s intelligent computing and ecosystem adaptation, as well as enhancing the platform’s high availability and UX. There are plans to adapt to more GPU models, improve GPU resource monitoring, and add more AI agents and regulated functions. Curious about how Tencent and Chinese hyperscalers compare in the sovereign cloud market? Reach out to Forrester and schedule a guidance session or an inquiry to help guide your sovereign cloud strategy and dig deeper into the broader concept of digital sovereignty. source

TikTok is like a cat clinging on to its nineth life. It has officially survived one executive order, one bipartisan law passed by Congress, one day of darkness, one Supreme Court case, and four ban extensions. The US and China struck an agreement over a deal framework to divest US TikTok from Bytedance, confirmed in a meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last Friday. A consortium of investors are part of the deal, including Oracle, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Murdochs. US TikTok Will Retain Its Algorithm (Sort Of) The real question has always been whether the algorithm would come with the sale, and it looks like it sort of will. The American investor group will license a copy of the algorithm that’s then “secured” in the US. The recommendation system will feel different. As I’ve said before, TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand: simply not as powerful. The algorithm is the heartbeat of the app’s addictive experience. TikTok operates on a content graph, not a social graph. It analyzes thousands of user signals to determine what content the user wants to watch, making it hyper relevant and highly addictive. In fact, our data shows that 46% of US online adults under 35 consider TikTok to be addictive – more than any other social media platform. Even though the sale will give US investors a copy of the app’s algorithm, they still need to train it on US data. This means the recommendation engine will feel different to users, which could be a sticking point in the new app. Given the potential players involved in this deal, if the algorithmic scales tip too far toward one political direction, it could send many current TikTok users to other platforms–just like we saw happen with Twitter (now “X”) following its acquisition. What’s Next? Once the ink dries on a deal (likely not until 2026), US TikTok users will be forced to move to a new version of the app to continue using the social media platform. Ahead of the sale, Bytedance has been working a new, US-only version of the TikTok app for months, supposedly recreating the algorithm and experience. The jury’s out on whether this new, US-only, app will be a true replicate of the old one, with just as powerful of an algorithm and experience. If it isn’t, consumers and creators will likely revolt and spend more time on other platforms – namely, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. The other question is whether TikTok will serve ads in both apps for an interim period or move all advertisers to the new app immediately. Uncertainty about the app’s future hasn’t stopped advertisers from investing in the platform. In our Q1 2025 CMO Pulse Survey to US marketing executives, 94% said they’d continue investing in creators and/or media on TikTok in 2025. Advertisers: Closely monitor your TikTok performance and get ready shift into comparable entertainment channels if the “new” TikTok doesn’t live up to its predecessor. For a recap of the TikTok journey to a deal, check out our past blog posts that break it all down: March 2024: TikTok’s Influence On Young Voters Makes It A Threat To US Democracy And An Asset To Marketers [READ] March 2024: Banning TikTok Creates A Meta Monopoly [READ] September 2024: Today’s TikTok Appeal Pressure-Tests The First Amendment [READ] October 2024: Predictions 2025: The Media Industry Resolves 2024’s Unruly Unknowns [READ] January 2025: A TikTok Ban Is More Likely, But It Might Not Go Dark [READ] – April 2025: TikTok Won’t Get Banned This Week [READ] Forrester clients: Let’s chat more about this via a Forrester guidance session. source

Zero Trust starts like many other strategic initiatives do: An executive (likely the CISO) sets a bold vision to implement a new model, framework, or technology across the enterprise. Typically, the leader gets buy-in, the security team develops a plan, and architects get to sketching out and designing the architecture. As months or years go by, however, progress slows. Meetings turn into debates. Ownership remains unclear. In the case of Zero Trust, segmentation initiatives are stalled because no one knew who was accountable. Data classification is delayed because business units were not consulted. Thus, the Zero Trust journey, with all of its promise, is stymied by misalignment between teams. This is an all-too-common scenario that organizations contend with today. Despite the urgency to implement Zero Trust, organizations often underestimate the complexity of coordinating across all of its domains — and, more importantly, across people. Address The Alignment Gap In Zero Trust As we’ve stated many times previously, Zero Trust is not a product — it’s a strategy that spans multiple domains. As such, each domain requires collaboration across technical and nontechnical stakeholders. Yet many organizations have been treating Zero Trust as a purely IT- or security-only initiative. This results in a siloed approach that leads to delays, duplicated efforts, and governance breakdowns. The root cause? A lack of clarity on who does what. Enter The Zero Trust RASCI Chart Forrester’s latest report introduces our Zero Trust RASCI Chart — a tool for defining roles and responsibilities as they relate to essential activities across the core domains of Zero Trust. The RASCI chart assigns the following roles for Zero Trust implementation: responsible, accountable, supportive, consulted, and informed. These roles are assigned based on the nature of the initiative tied to a project and at the stage of the lifecycle that the project is in. By applying RASCI to each Zero Trust-aligned initiative across various domains, organizations can clarify ownership, reduce friction, and accelerate execution. Make the RASCI chart actionable by mapping roles across the project lifecycle for each domain. For example: Discover. Identify current state, gaps, and dependencies. This also includes engaging business units early to understand data flows and user access needs. ** RASCI tip: Make business stakeholders consulted and informed to ensure alignment. Plan. Define scope, success metrics, and governance. Align with enterprise architecture and compliance teams as well as industry and regional requirements. ** RASCI tip: Assign accountable roles to domain leads and supportive roles to the PMO. Design. Architect solutions for desirable outcomes such as segmentation, identity, and workload protection. Ensure that cross-domain integrations (e.g., network + identity) are well defined to achieve outcomes. ** RASCI tip: Include architects and security engineers as responsible and consulted. Implement. Deploy controls, configure tools, and onboard users (or BYO). Coordinate with change management and training teams. ** RASCI tip: Make IT operations responsible, with business units informed. Monitor and evaluate. Track KPIs, audit controls, and adapt to threats. Review governance and update policies. ** RASCI tip: Assign accountable roles to governance leads and consulted roles to risk teams. Forrester clients can access the full report and RASCI chart tool here. Include Stakeholders Beyond IT And Security Understand that Zero Trust impacts how people access data, how applications are built, and how decisions are made. That’s why it’s critical to include stakeholders from across the organization outside of IT and security. These can include HR (for identity lifecycle), legal and compliance (for data governance), finance (for budget and risk tolerance), and business units (for operational alignment). This broader inclusion ensures that Zero Trust supports business objectives to focus the intent behind its strategic adoption to be not solely technical change. Adapt The RASCI Chart To Fit Your Organizational Structure Technology, threats, and business priorities are constantly evolving — which means your governance model must evolve with them. A static RASCI chart can quickly become outdated, leading to misalignment and inefficiencies. Stay resilient and responsive. This means organizations should regularly revisit and refine their RASCI assignments to reflect: Adoption of new tools or platforms. Shifts in organizational structure or roles. Emerging threats and evolving compliance requirements. By embracing an adaptive approach, you ensure that your Zero Trust strategy remains aligned with both operational realities and strategic objectives. Use The RASCI Chart As A Strategic Enabler Zero Trust is a journey — and like any journey, it needs a map. The RASCI chart helps clarify roles, align stakeholders, and enable execution in a manner that gets the ball rolling for creating a map to govern your Zero Trust implementation. When applied thoughtfully across domains and lifecycle stages, the RASCI chart helps transform Zero Trust from a vision into a reality. Connect With Me Forrester clients can reach out to schedule an inquiry or guidance session to discuss more about how to effectively adopt the Zero Trust RASCI Chart and discuss the activities highlighted within the template. I will also be in Austin, Texas, on November 5–7 with a host of colleagues for the Forrester Security & Risk Summit. I’m leading a session on establishing a governance framework for Zero Trust. The event agenda includes tracks not only focused on Zero Trust but also a variety of keynotes, breakouts, workshops, roundtables, and special programs curated to help you master whatever new challenges your teams are facing today. We hope to see you there! source

Despite the new name, Germany’s bi-annual IAA Mobility show is still mostly about cars and the automotive supply chain. Shiny new cars? Check, although fewer than in the old days. Clever digital screen technology to prevent your passenger spotting how fast the speedometer thinks you’re driving? Check. Smart new materials that are lighter, stronger, cheaper, or just plain better? Check. Deep consideration of mobility ecosystems, customers’ mobility moments, or the best ways to balance different modes of transport? Hmm — those required more digging to unearth. The IAA Mobility website: “IT’S ALL ABOUT MOBILITY” We’re researching the future of mobility here at Forrester, so it’s not surprising that we went looking for evidence of that. It’s also, to be fair, not entirely surprising that we struggled to find it in the halls of a global automotive trade show. New cars may have crowd-pleasing appeal, but they lack the contemplation of how to design the perfect mobility moment. A German government stand, for example, proclaimed ‘Neue Mobilität’ (new mobility), but only seemed to show an EV charger and displays advertising Germany’s (patchy) charging network. Important, for sure, but a very small piece of the new mobility we need. So what did we see? Software Platforms Every automotive OEM wants one and they all seem determined to control as much of the ecosystem around their platform as they can, whether they’re actually any good at it or not. As consumers of mobility services become less loyal to individual car makers, a poor or limiting digital platform offering is likely to drive them away while a good one may not be enough to significantly increase brand preference. Forrester’s survey data suggests that only 20% of US online adults who have recently purchased or leased a car consider in-car technology an important factor in their choice, far behind factors like reliability (43%), comfort and handling (37%), and exterior styling (29%). Initiatives like digital.auto showed some of what’s possible when different stakeholders work together around an interoperable software stack. European car makers’ struggles with the shift to digital are well documented. VW Group’s CEO spoke about the company’s refocused global software architecture and group software stack, which is to be orchestrated by a ‘reset’ Cariad organization and with eastern (largely based on Xpeng tech) and western (largely based on Rivian tech) variants. The individual pieces aren’t bad, but the convoluted messaging required to suggest they can become global in any meaningful sense definitely needs some work. The ID.Every1 concept car on Volkswagen’s stand. China Chinese car makers were very visible, both in the trade show halls and in the public displays in central Munich. Right next to the VW booth, where the German OEM’s leaders were talking about basing cars for the Chinese market on Xpeng’s software, Xpeng was showing off its own cars (and a humanoid robot, and an aerial vehicle). Several Chinese OEMs made big announcements about new or expanded plans to dodge tariffs by building vehicles in or close to the European market, exactly as we predicted last year. Cars, a robot, and an aerial vehicle from China’s Xpeng. Urban Mobility European and Asian OEMs showed their concepts for autonomously moving small groups of people. VW’s autonomous van, the ID.Buzz AD, made an appearance, but it was on the stand of technology partner Mobileye and not anywhere near VW’s cars. The other urban mobility solutions, whether originating from Europe or Asia, were more unusual but remarkably similar in form. Auve Tech, Holon, Pix, and others all had their examples to show. At the weirder — and smaller — end of the scale, Wolf eMobility offered etu. It’s a battery-powered two-wheeler that fits into small spaces; steers, drives, and balances a bit like a Segway; and addresses a wide range of urban mobility needs. And for those times when you’ve got luggage — or children — that you also need to transport? Just tell one or two near-autonomous etus to follow the one you’re controlling. I really want to see this prototype hit the road. The Pix RoboBus Logistics LOXO‘s Alpha was the one example of moving goods rather than people that I could find across six halls. If there were others, they were remarkably good at hiding. LOXO Alpha Focusing On The Mobility Moment At Motorworld And then we left the trade show’s halls and headed across Munich to Motorworld for our own event. Clients and prospects joined us for an afternoon of deeper discussion of mobility moments, customer expectations… and quantum. Thank you to everyone who took the time, and who engaged so openly with the discussion. As always, if you have your own perspectives to share, please schedule a briefing and tell us all about them. If you’re a Forrester client and want to discuss (or challenge) our thinking on these topics, please schedule an inquiry or guidance session. source

Now Live: The Commerce Services Landscape, Q3 2025 Commerce transformations are no longer multi-million-dollar commerce technology implementations. Rather, they focus on designing and running new strategies that further activate existing commerce tech investments. Commerce services providers are fusing services, software, AI technologies, and new alliances to help enterprise leaders finally solve the age-old challenges: fragmented tech, content, and data. Acknowledging shifting consumer behaviors, 48% of digital business strategy decision-makers say that a new commerce strategy will be a priority for their organization over the next 12 months, per Forrester’s 2025 data. The commerce arena is set to compound significantly by 2040 and Forrester’s new evaluation of 40 commerce services providers validates that new commerce transformations bring: Pioneering strategies and tech activation playbooks. The time-tested commerce playbooks of building digital experiences and driving demand through digital marketing are withering. Answer engines and distributed commerce require enterprises to rethink the dynamic nature of their product content to better anticipate the consumer’s moment of need. Services providers are pushing the boundaries of content, data, and UX design to make revenue from emerging channels a reality for businesses — with limited tech spend. New frontiers for commerce software and services. Cohesive services-as-software solutions by several commerce services providers bring together omnichannel marketing, media, operations, and data as foundations to convert and retain consumers. Poised to disrupt forthcoming investments in standalone B2B or B2C commerce tech solutions, this new breed of software and services is also fueling mergers and acquisitions. Real options for outcomes-based pricing begin. Commerce services success has been built on dysfunctional services pricing models that pin liability on the provider or the enterprise/project scope. Largely a fairytale until now, outcomes-based pricing models are gaining traction, with kickers to incentivize all actors and foster healthier partnerships. What Does Your Commerce Transformation Look Like? The Commerce Services Landscape, Q3 2025 report helps you understand, identify, and short-list the vendors that can best drive your commerce transformation initiatives. A Landscape features a market’s definition, value proposition, top use cases, and top vendors. Please get in touch with us — Forrester’s commerce team — for an inquiry or guidance session to explore the right strategy and tactics for your business. source

As financial services firms navigate a landscape marked by economic uncertainty, evolving customer expectations, and rapid technological change, one thing is clear: Technology is a strategic driver of growth, differentiation, and resilience. Despite macroeconomic headwinds – from geopolitical tensions to sluggish global growth – optimism prevails. Most financial services firms anticipate robust increases in tech spending over the next year, signaling a clear commitment to transformation. Each year, Forrester engages with financial services leaders to understand their evolving priorities. Our Priorities Survey, 2025 gathered insights from business and technology professionals across the globe, revealing how firms are aligning their strategies to stay competitive. The findings are captured in our latest report: Business, IT, And Technology Priorities In Financial Services, 2025. Here are the key takeaways. Business Units Are Steering The Tech Agenda In a notable shift, 55% of financial services professionals report that tech budget ownership now lies mostly or entirely with business units, or is shared equally with IT. Only 11% say IT retains full control. This decentralization reflects a growing need for agility and responsiveness to customer demands. But it also introduces new challenges around governance, integration, and long-term strategic alignment. Customer Experience (CX) Takes Center Stage Improving CX has emerged as the top business objective across the financial services sector. This comes at a critical time, as Forrester’s CX Index™ reveals a global decline in CX quality in banking. Yet, while firms are focused on growth, cost-efficiency ranks low, suggesting a strategic pivot from cost-cutting to value creation. To improve CX, financial services firms are investing heavily in digital experience, aiming to engage customers on their terms — seamlessly, intuitively, and in real time. IT Priorities Are Aligned With CX Goals The alignment between business and IT priorities is stronger than ever. Enhancing IT capabilities to support CX is a top focus, with firms prioritizing: Modernization and consolidation of business applications Agile and lean budgeting practices A shift from reactive to proactive IT operations Increased use of AI-enabled software development to boost productivity These initiatives reflect a broader trend toward high-performance IT, where technology evolves from being merely a tool to becoming a strategic catalyst for continuous business improvement. Challenges Persist: Resources, Legacy Systems, And Misalignment Ambition is high, but execution is complex. The top challenges cited include: Limited resources Unclear goals and misalignment between departments Legacy systems and technical debt Regional differences are also notable: European firms are more concerned about skill gaps, while APAC and North American firms cite resource constraints. Banking professionals highlight a lack of customer focus and inadequate performance measurement as key issues. Strategic Investments Reflect Evolving Demands To stay ahead, financial services firms are investing in areas that align with both customer expectations and regulatory shifts. Key investment areas include: Financial well-being initiatives Open finance and open banking Financial marketplaces to broaden service offerings and unlock new revenue streams These investments signal a move toward ecosystem thinking, where collaboration, openness, and customer-centricity define the next wave of innovation in financial services. Next Steps The financial services industry is at a pivotal moment. As technology becomes more embedded in every facet of the business, success will depend on how well firms can align their strategies, modernize their infrastructure, and deliver meaningful customer experiences. Forrester is here to help. With data-driven insights, proven frameworks, and peer benchmarks, we empower financial services leaders to turn ambition into action. If you’re a Forrester client, you can explore these findings in detail by downloading the report: Business, IT, And Technology Priorities In Financial Services, 2025. And if you’d like to discuss how these priorities apply to your organization, we invite you to schedule an inquiry or guidance session. source

Mobile banking continues to evolve. As banks race to deploy conversational experiences, mobile apps are becoming the primary stage for innovation. From intelligent assistants to proactive financial insights, mobile apps are evolving into dynamic, conversational hubs — not just transactional tools. According to Forrester’s Financial Services Banking Survey, 2025, mobile banking apps remain the most popular banking channel. Banks generally perform well in this area: 70% of banking customers agree that their bank’s mobile capabilities meet their needs, according to Forrester’s Customer Experience Index (CX Index™). Few banks, however, exceed customer expectations in a way that has a meaningful impact on customer loyalty — most European customers still rate their experiences as merely in the “OK” category. Our latest Forrester Digital Experience Review™ explores how well banks are adapting to rising expectations and where they still fall short. In 2025, Forrester evaluated the mobile apps of 11 leading European banks across 25 customer scenarios, usability testing with 110 customers, and CX performance scores. The Forrester Digital Experience Review™: European Mobile Banking Apps, Q3 2025, identifies the leaders, uncovers best practices, and highlights emerging trends that will shape the future of mobile banking. BBVA, Intesa Sanpaolo, And PKO Bank Polski Set The Benchmark For Adaptive Experiences BBVA retains its top spot in 2025, offering a highly intelligent and accessible mobile experience. Its conversational assistant centralizes access to transactions, support, and personalized financial insights. A simplified mode enhances accessibility, while proactive notifications and advanced financial health tools empower customers to stay in control. Intesa Sanpaolo follows closely, delivering a holistic approach to financial well-being. Its app features a comprehensive financial health score, peer comparisons, and automated savings. Customers benefit from seamless international transfers, QR-based bill payments, and strong fraud protection, all delivered through a thoughtfully designed interface. PKO Bank Polski ties for second place, standing out with a suite of value-added services. Its app supports BLIK recurring payments, real-time savings nudges, and personalized investment guidance via its “PKO Investomat.” Accessibility features such as voice navigation and screen reader support, combined with a conversational AI assistant, make the experience both inclusive and intuitive. Banks Are Innovating — But Gaps In Security, Inclusion, And Usability Persist While innovation in mobile banking is accelerating, many European banks still struggle to deliver consistently excellent experiences across key areas. Security and fraud protection often lack proactive features such as scam alerts and guided reporting, leaving customers without the tools they need to feel confident and protected. International transfers remain cumbersome, with limited transparency around fees and inconsistent support for real-time currency conversion. Accessibility and inclusion also vary widely, with essential features like voice navigation, simplified modes, and intuitive design not yet standard across the industry. AI Assistants Are Redefining Mobile Banking AI is no longer a novelty — it’s becoming central to the mobile banking experience. BBVA and PKO Bank Polski are leading the way with advanced AI assistants that go beyond basic chatbots. These assistants use real-time data and natural language interfaces to help customers complete tasks, receive personalized financial guidance, and make smarter decisions. As AI becomes more context-aware and proactive, mobile apps will evolve from simple transactional tools into dynamic, conversational experiences — transforming how customers interact with their banks. If you’re a Forrester client, you can explore these findings in detail by downloading the report, The Forrester Digital Experience Review™: European Mobile Banking Apps, Q3 2025. And if you’d like to discuss this topic further or understand how your mobile app measures up, please reach out through an inquiry or guidance session. source

This year’s Meta Connect picked up where last year’s left off: AI Glasses. Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the event with a keynote outlining his vision for Meta’s expanding suite of AI glasses, powered by personal superintelligence. In addition to announcing a new entry into Meta’s Oakley lineup (Vanguard), the next generation of Meta Ray-Ban glasses have double the battery life, shoot in 3k video, and come with  “conversation focus” — a new feature that amplifies friends’ voices in noisy environments. But the biggest hype was given to what had been codenamed “Hypernova” but revealed as Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. Meta Introduces A New Computing Platform As the first glasses with a high-resolution display, Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses (available on September 30 for $799) set the stage of what the future of computing could be. Why? It’s all about a new wristband-controlled neural interface that Zuckerberg described as “a huge scientific breakthrough.” Although Meta’s live onstage demos were plagued by fails, audiences got a taste for how the combined computing platform could provide everyday utility. In a way, this reminds me of when the Apple Watch first hit the market as an alternative to the smartphone. Will Consumer Intrigue Lead To Mass Adoption? It’s been four years since Meta entered the market with the company’s first-generation Ray-Ban “Stories” glasses. Still, the smart glass category remains niche. According to Forrester’s Consumer Technology Insights Survey, 2025, just 17% of US online adults (and 15% in the UK) indicate they’ve used smart glasses. That’s up from 4% (US) and 3% (UK) in 2024. Today, Forrester ran a quick “pulse check” poll in its ConsumerVoices Market Research Online Community* to gauge interest in what Meta was likely to announce. Just over 400 people, across generations, responded from the US, UK, and Canada. 20% are interested to learn more about Meta’s new “Hypernova” AI glasses. 6% will likely buy Meta’s new “Hypernova” AI glasses. 3% currently own Meta’s Ray-Ban AI glasses. 1.5% currently own Meta’s Oakley AI glasses. 1.5% currently own a competitive pair of AI glasses (not from Meta). *Note: This poll was administered to a random sample of 406 online adults in the US, UK, and Canada in Forrester’s qualitative ConsumerVoices online community. This data is not weighted to be representative of total country populations. The Competition Will Heat Up In 2026 While Meta has a head start on AI glasses, competition is champing at the bit. The race is on in 2026 with Samsung, HTC, and rumors of Apple and others hitting the market. This means Meta must continue to invest in innovation with its AI glasses lineup — prioritizing demonstrable consumer utility. It’s that very innovation that our poll respondents are drawn to — describing the glasses as groundbreaking and fun, emphasizing their appeal as the “next big thing” in technology. But they also touted their potential utility, mentioning translation, navigation, recording, studying, travel assistance, and enhancing everyday convenience. The glasses are seen as tools for accessing information quickly and efficiently. To Win Over Skeptics, Benefit Must Trump Cost By far the vast majority (79%) of our poll respondents don’t currently own AI glasses and aren’t interested in owning or buying any AI glasses. Why? Lack of need or interest. A significant number of respondents indicated that they have no practical use for AI glasses, feel their current lifestyle doesn’t require them, or believe they’re unnecessary compared to existing devices like smartphones. Skepticism toward AI. Many expressed distrust or disinterest in AI technology, citing concerns about privacy, security, and the broader impact of AI on society. Some believe AI is overhyped or unnecessary. Concerns about cost. The perceived expense of AI glasses was a recurring theme, with respondents feeling the cost outweighs the benefits or believing the glasses are simply an expensive gimmick. Forrester clients: Let’s chat more about this via a Forrester guidance session. source

(SBW) 2025, now in its ninth year, is an annual conference focused on facilitating “connection, learning, inspiration, and collaboration within the start-up community.” According to the Venture Capital Initiative out of Stanford University, Massachusetts produced the third most unicorn start-ups (52) from 2021-2024, only behind California (358) and New York (137). And with more than 100 sessions and 300 speakers, both the attendance and range of topics were impressive for a regional event. But as the crowds gathered each day at the Suffolk University venue, one thing was clear: founders, investors, technologists, and operators are all working frantically to get an early jump onto the AI train. How big is this train? Forrester forecasts US tech spend will eclipse $2.6 trillion in 2025 (a robust 5.6% of growth) with much of it being attributed to AI-related opportunities and challenges. Three of the most insightful AI sessions and accompanying key takeaways that business leaders from any size organization should use included those detailed below. “Closing The Gap: Recruiting And Upskilling For AI Success” The panelists felt that business leaders and talent recruiters will face a buffet of challenges in the next few years: from a scarcity of AI talent to knowing which skills to prioritize; from deciding between hiring vs. training to building an engineering culture that’s ready for AI integration. Tommy Barth, senior manager of talent operations and analytics at Apollo.io, leaned in on how much AI even impacts the hiring and talent assessment process — as the company now does AI-focused interviews for the tech-focused roles. These interviews “are meant to ensure that candidates are not just interested in AI but also have a certain level of AI fluency.” The company is also using AI-adoption as a performance review benchmark, in which individuals must “articulate how they are using AI in their jobs to find efficiencies.” “Standing Out In The AI Crowd: Strategies For Real Product Differentiation” The abstract of this session stated it best: “With AI products flooding the market, building something technically impressive isn’t enough — you need to stand out strategically.” One of the main insights was the need for an AI development strategy to be about solving for a pain point that creates — or has the potential to create — a significant negative impact on a community of consumers or businesses. Scott Weller, CTO & co-founder of AI startup EnFi, a data intelligence and automation solution for managing commercial credit, leaned in on this. He thinks about an ideal customer profile as really a community with similar pain points. He stated, “Just building a product doesn’t have the ability to build a community. You really have to be addressing pain points, and you have to be addressing pain points with consequences … communities are built around consequences.” “Data Gold Rush: Mastering Acquisition And Annotation For AI Success” Panelists in this session focused on how to acquire and use high-quality data for AI models. Key points were controlling data acquisition costs while maintaining quantity/quality, making considerations for annotating complex data (e.g. computer vision, natural language processing), and applying ethical data acquisition practices while avoiding bias in datasets. However, the common thread in the hour-long session was this: build your data strategy first — consisting of data procurement, storage, lineage, genealogy, purpose, quality assurance, governance, and processes — before rushing to build LLMs and launch AI. Nirav Shah, CEO of analytics solution provider OnPoint Insights and adjunct professor at Tufts University, summed it up nicely by stating, “People don’t spend a lot of time on [building data strategies]. Everyone wants to just acquire data and build LLM models, which is great for just a POC or MVP. But a data strategy is very important.” Contact Forrester To Learn More Interested in learning more? Forrester clients can schedule time with me to learn how these three nuggets of wisdom can be applied to your business strategy. source