Analysis of Expereo’s 2026 Technology Predictions

by | Dec 2, 2025 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Comprehensive Analysis of Expereo’s 2026 Technology Predictions: Risk Quantification, Human Security, and Network Transformation

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Abstract

This paper provides a detailed academic analysis of Expereo’s three key technology predictions for 2026, focusing on enterprise security, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) adoption, and the strategic elevation of connectivity. Utilizing market data, industry forecasts, and quantitative risk metrics, the analysis validates the directional accuracy of Expereo’s outlook, particularly concerning the financial imperative driving technology strategy. The findings confirm that cybersecurity has fundamentally shifted from a technical concern to a fiduciary risk managed directly by the C-suite, largely due to sophisticated, human-centric attacks. While the prediction regarding connectivity becoming a boardroom issue is overwhelmingly supported by data on massive financial losses from outages, the forecast concerning NaaS mainstream adoption by 2026 is identified as potentially aggressive, with broader industry forecasts suggesting a more gradual transformation extending toward 2030. The paper concludes that these predictions collectively highlight a critical transition period where quantified risk management and flexible service consumption models define enterprise IT architecture.

  1. Introduction

Expereo, a prominent global network solutions provider, released a set of three interrelated technology forecasts defining the enterprise landscape for 2026. These predictions—the ascendance of security to a C-suite priority, the mainstream adoption of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), and the recognition of connectivity as a strategic asset—reflect a growing interdependence between business continuity, financial solvency, and robust digital infrastructure.

This academic paper aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of these forecasts. Section 2 analyzes the validation and implications of each prediction using specific market data and documented incidents. Section 3 contextualizes these findings by comparing Expereo’s assertions with broader industry forecasts, isolating areas of strong consensus and points of divergence, particularly regarding timeframes and geopolitical context. The objective is to determine the viability and strategic importance of these predicted shifts in enterprise technology governance.

  1. Detailed Analysis and Validation of Expereo’s Predictions
    2.1 Security as a C-Suite Priority: The Humanization of Risk

Expereo’s assertion that security will reach the top of the CEO agenda by 2026 aligns with a critical shift in cyber threat vectors—moving away from pure technical exploitation toward executive-level social engineering and governance failure.

2.1.1 Target Shift and Personal Responsibility

The prediction correctly identifies that executives themselves have become prime targets. Traditional perimeter defenses are inadequate against attacks leveraging social engineering. Data points, such as groups like Shiny Hunters successfully breaching systems by directly targeting employees (Security.com), underscore this vulnerability. The emergence of highly credible deepfaked audio and video provides attackers with tools to mimic trusted individuals, accelerating the potential for CEO-level impersonation scams (Bernard Marr). This threat complexity validates Expereo’s view that security is now a direct fiduciary and personal risk for the CEO.

Furthermore, the requirement for CEOs to embed security into every business decision reflects an organizational imperative recognized by industry analysts. Forrester confirms that political instability, coupled with advanced cybercriminal tools, will compel security, risk, and privacy leaders to prioritize workforce preparation, solidifying the idea that security is fundamentally a behavioral and cultural challenge, not merely a technical one.

2.2 NaaS Moving Into the Mainstream: Accelerated Transformation

Expereo forecasts NaaS becoming mainstream by 2026, driven by a strategic imperative to shift networking from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx) models.

2.2.1 Strategic Rationale and Market Momentum

The prediction accurately captures the underlying strategic advantages of NaaS: it offers greater time-to-value, optimizes complex hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, and centralizes network control by abstracting physical hardware (Network World). This emphasis on flexibility and policy-driven control over physical infrastructure is the core disruption NaaS offers.

Adoption rates among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are forecast to rise at a 30.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (Mordor Intelligence). This SME growth strongly supports the prediction, as these organizations often lack the specialized networking staff required for traditional hardware management, making simplified, turnkey service catalogs highly appealing.

2.2.2 Timeline Critique

Despite strong directional support, the 2026 mainstream prediction is likely ambitious. ABI Research suggests the transformation is long-term, forecasting that over 90% of enterprises will consume at least 25% of their network services via NaaS only by 2030. Current market friction, including enterprise skepticism, confusion, and risk aversion (ABI Research), indicates that while the ascent is confirmed, the market may still be in its nascent stages of broad adoption, suggesting a more gradual trajectory than a complete mainstream shift by the target year.

2.3 Connectivity as a Strategic Priority: Quantifying Financial Risk

The most strongly validated prediction is the elevation of connectivity to a strategic, boardroom priority, driven by the quantifiable financial devastation caused by network failures.

2.3.1 Financial Impact of Outages

Expereo’s claim that a single outage could “wipe out billions in market value” is empirically supported. Network outages are no longer mere inconveniences but material financial events. Data shows that over one-third of organizations report losses between $1 million and $5 million annually due to network outages (Digi International), with 51% reporting monthly losses exceeding $1 million due to internet degradations (Help Net Security).

The massive impact of incidents like the Cloudflare outage, which caused shares to slide immediately in premarket trading (TechRepublic), provides direct evidence of the rapid loss of market value. Furthermore, in high-stakes environments such as high-frequency trading, the cost of network degradation is extreme—a single millisecond of delay can cost $4.6 million in lost trading profits (IP Fabric).

2.3.2 Underinvestment and Resilience Imperative

The prediction that networks have been historically overlooked is validated by operational data showing a steep deterioration in resilience: 84% of organizations experienced an increase in network outages over the past two years, with significant portions reporting increases of 25% to 50% (Yahoo Finance). This trend confirms that enterprises have underinvested in resilience relative to their dependency on continuous, high-performance connectivity, forcing the issue onto the strategic governance agenda.

  1. Comparison with Broader Industry Forecasts

Expereo’s predictions align closely with the consensus of major technology analysts, particularly regarding the escalating threat landscape and the human vulnerability vector. However, divergence exists in the predicted timeline for NaaS and the strategic emphasis on geopolitical threats.

3.1 Areas of Strong Industry Alignment
3.1.1 Macro-Level Threat Scale

Industry forecasts universally confirm the accelerating magnitude of the cyber threat, supporting Expereo’s push for executive intervention. Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that if cybercrime were a nation in 2026, it would rank as the world’s third-largest economy, trailing only the U.S. and China. This economic scale validates the necessary elevation of security governance.

3.1.2 Human and AI-Driven Vulnerabilities

Consensus exists that human error remains the primary source of operational vulnerabilities (eSecurity Solutions), confirming Expereo’s focus on executive responsibility for cultural security adoption. Moreover, the industry agrees that artificial intelligence (AI) will intensify the threat landscape. Palo Alto Networks predicts a surge in AI agent attacks targeting autonomous systems, while Security.com notes that Agentic AI will radically lower the barrier to entry for attackers, thereby increasing the volume and complexity of the threats Expereo highlights.

3.2 Areas of Divergence and Nuance
3.2.1 NaaS Timeline and Adoption Rate

The most significant divergence is the pace of NaaS adoption. While Expereo predicts mainstream status in 2026, industry data indicates a slower initial uptake. A Nokia survey found that only 10% of enterprise leaders have currently purchased NaaS services, although 47% plan to adopt it. While Network World reports that Campus LAN NaaS revenues will grow eight times faster than the overall LAN market in 2025, this growth is starting from a small base. Therefore, 2026 is more likely to be an inflection point for rapid growth rather than full mainstream adoption.

3.2.2 Geopolitical Cybersecurity Emphasis

Broader forecasts place greater strategic emphasis on geopolitical risks than Expereo’s predictions. Forrester specifically predicts that geopolitical instability will lead five governments to nationalize or impose severe restrictions on critical telecom infrastructure, citing campaigns like Salt Typhoon that breached hundreds of organizations across 80 countries. This suggests Expereo’s focus on internal enterprise security threats may understate the severity of state-sponsored, macro-level infrastructure threats.

3.2.3 AI Defense Opportunities

While Expereo concentrates on the offensive capabilities of AI, other industry forecasts are more optimistic regarding the defensive potential. Palo Alto Networks suggests that 2026 will be the definitive turning point where the race tips in favor of defenders armed with data, automation, and unified AI-native platforms. This offers a more balanced perspective, suggesting that the rising complexity of threats will be met by a corresponding sophistication in AI-driven defense mechanisms.

  1. Conclusion and Strategic Implications

Expereo’s 2026 technology predictions offer a coherent and largely validated view of the evolving enterprise landscape, characterized by the humanization of security risk and the maturation of network delivery models.

The analysis strongly validates the necessity of elevating both security and connectivity to strategic C-suite priorities. This shift is not driven by technological novelty but by quantified financial risk. CEOs are compelled to act because the financial exposure from a single outage or a successful impersonation attack now threatens market value and business continuity.

The prediction regarding NaaS correctly identifies the strategic direction of networking—the move toward flexible, policy-driven OpEx models—but may overestimate the pace of enterprise adoption. While the benefits resonate with SMEs and organizations undergoing complex cloud transformations, widespread mainstream integration is projected to occur closer to 2030, following a period of steep growth acceleration post-2026.

Collectively, these forecasts underscore a pivotal moment where digital infrastructure is no longer an ancillary IT function but a core element of organizational resilience and fiduciary governance. Future research should track the actual adoption rate of NaaS against the predicted trajectory and analyze the effectiveness of AI-native defense platforms in mitigating the growing volume of AI-driven threats.

References
ABI Research. (Cited on NaaS market forecast to 2030 and current market skepticism.)
Bernard Marr. (Cited on deepfaked audio and video threats.)
Cloudflare Outage. (Cited on market value impact, TechRepublic data.)
Cybersecurity Ventures. (Cited on the estimated economic size of cybercrime.)
Digi International. (Cited on quantified financial losses due to network outages.)
eSecurity Solutions. (Cited on human error as the primary source of vulnerabilities.)
Forrester. (Cited on geopolitical threats, nationalization of telecom, and workforce preparation.)
Help Net Security. (Cited on monthly financial losses due to internet outages.)
IP Fabric. (Cited on the cost of millisecond network delays in high-frequency trading.)
Mordor Intelligence. (Cited on SME growth rate for NaaS.)
Network World. (Cited on NaaS strategic shift and Campus LAN revenue growth.)
Nokia. (Cited on enterprise NaaS adoption rates.)
Palo Alto Networks. (Cited on AI agent attacks and AI-native defense optimism.)
Security.com. (Cited on Shiny Hunters social engineering tactics and AI threat volume.)
Yahoo Finance. (Cited on the increase in network outages over two years.)

Comprehensive Analysis of Expereo’s 2026 Technology Predictions

1. Detailed Analysis of Each Prediction

Security as a C-Suite Priority

Expereo’s prediction about security moving to the top of the CEO agenda aligns with a fundamental shift in how enterprises view cybersecurity threats. The emphasis on CEOs being directly targeted represents a significant evolution from traditional perimeter-based security thinking.

Attackers are increasingly gaining access to victim networks through social engineering tactics rather than sophisticated technical exploits, with groups like Shiny Hunters successfully breaching Salesforce instances by targeting employees directly Security.com. This validates Expereo’s assertion that executives themselves have become prime targets, as deepfaked audio and video create new possibilities for attackers to mimic trusted individuals Bernard Marr, making CEO-level impersonation attacks increasingly credible.

The prediction that CEOs must embed security into every business decision reflects a broader industry recognition that security can no longer be delegated solely to technical teams. Political instability coupled with technological advancements used by cybercriminals will force security, risk, and privacy leaders to prepare their workforce for these shifts Forrester, emphasizing that security is now a people and culture problem as much as a technical one.

NaaS Moving Into the Mainstream

Expereo’s prediction about Network-as-a-Service becoming mainstream by 2026 is perhaps the most ambitious of the three, though market data suggests this timeline may be aggressive. Research forecasts that by 2030 over 90% of enterprises will consume at least 25% of their network services through NaaS ABI Research, indicating this is a longer-term transformation than a single-year shift.

The prediction correctly identifies the strategic shift from capital expenditure to operational expenditure models. NaaS provides greater time-to-value for new sites, optimizes cloud strategies, and increases networking control by abstracting hardware and providing centralized management Network World. However, current market conditions remain nascent due to enterprise skepticism, confusion, and risk aversion ABI Research, suggesting mainstream adoption by 2026 may be overly optimistic.

The emphasis on flexibility and policy over infrastructure is well-founded. SME adoption is forecast to rise at 30.1% compound annual growth rate, supported by turnkey service catalogs that hide network complexity Mordor Intelligence, indicating that simplification is driving adoption, particularly among smaller enterprises that lack specialized networking staff.

Connectivity as a Strategic Priority

Expereo’s prediction about connectivity becoming a boardroom issue is strongly supported by recent data on the financial impact of network outages. Over a third of organizations experienced losses between $1 million and $5 million in the last year due to network outages Digi International, and 51% of organizations report monthly losses of over $1 million due to internet outages or degradations Help Net Security.

The claim that a single outage could “wipe out billions in market value” is not hyperbole. The Cloudflare outage knocked major websites offline globally, with immediate negative financial impact as shares slid more than 5% in premarket trading TechRepublic. For high-frequency trading firms specifically, a single millisecond of delay could cost $4.6 million in trading profits IP Fabric.

The assertion that networks have been overlooked is validated by operational data: 84% of organizations experienced an increase in network outages over the past two years, with more than a quarter reporting increases of 25% to 50% Yahoo Finance, suggesting enterprises have underinvested in network resilience relative to their growing dependency on connectivity.

2. Comparison with Industry Forecasts

Areas of Strong Alignment

Security Focus: Expereo’s security predictions align closely with broader industry consensus. Palo Alto Networks predicts 2026 will see a surge in AI agent attacks where adversaries compromise autonomous agents to gain insider access Palo Alto Networks, echoing Expereo’s concern about sophisticated, targeted attacks. If cybercrime were a nation in 2026, it would be the world’s third-largest economy behind the U.S. and China Cybersecurity Ventures, underscoring the magnitude of the threat Expereo highlights.

Human Vulnerability: Multiple forecasts emphasize the same human-centric security concerns Expereo raises. Human error remains the primary source of vulnerabilities, with issues like phishing, credential theft, and social engineering on the rise eSecurity Solutions, validating Expereo’s assertion that executives must take personal responsibility for security.

AI-Driven Threats: Agentic AI has the potential to radically lower the barrier to entry for attackers, affecting the quantity of attacks more than quality Security.com, which supports Expereo’s prediction about increased threat complexity and volume.

Areas of Divergence or Additional Context

NaaS Timeline: While Expereo suggests NaaS will become mainstream in 2026, market research indicates a more gradual trajectory. 47% of enterprise technology leaders say their companies plan to adopt NaaS, with only 10% having already purchased services Nokia, suggesting the market is still in early adoption phases. Campus LAN NaaS revenues will grow over eight times faster than the overall LAN market in 2025 Network World, indicating rapid growth but from a small base.

Geopolitical Cybersecurity: Industry forecasts place greater emphasis on geopolitical threats than Expereo’s predictions. Five governments will nationalize or place restrictions on critical telecom infrastructure following campaigns like Salt Typhoon that breached over 600 organizations across 80 countries Forrester, representing a macro-level trend Expereo doesn’t address.

AI Defense Opportunities: While Expereo focuses on threats, other forecasts are more optimistic about AI’s defensive potential. 2026 will mark the definitive turning point where the race tips in favor of defenders armed with data, automation, and unified AI-native platforms Palo Alto Networks, suggesting a more balanced view of AI’s impact on cybersecurity.

Quantum and Emerging Threats: Industry forecasts include concerns Expereo doesn’t mention, such as data poisoning attacks that invisibly corrupt training data used for core AI models Palo Alto Networks and quantum computing threats to current encryption standards.

3. Sector-Specific Implications

Financial Services

The financial sector faces perhaps the most acute implications from all three predictions:

Security: Failed trade settlements and processing delays cost financial institutions around $1 billion annually IP Fabric, and compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard violations can lead to significant fines and loss of reputation IP Fabric. The targeting of executives is particularly dangerous in finance where social engineering could lead to fraudulent transactions worth billions.

Connectivity: Financial institutions operate on extremely tight latency requirements where a single millisecond of delay could cost an HFT firm $4.6 million in trading profits IP Fabric. Network resilience isn’t just about uptime—it’s about consistent, predictable performance at microsecond scales.

NaaS Adoption: Financial services face unique challenges with NaaS adoption due to regulatory requirements around data sovereignty and security certifications. Regional mandates such as the European Data Act require local processing and impose cross-border transfer restrictions, forcing providers to deploy fragmented footprints Mordor Intelligence.

Healthcare

Healthcare organizations face critical implications given the life-and-death nature of their operations:

Security: Healthcare is particularly vulnerable to social engineering attacks targeting executives and staff with access to patient data. Healthcare requires HIPAA-compliant connectivity Mordor Intelligence, making security breaches especially costly from both regulatory and reputational perspectives.

Connectivity: The July 2024 CrowdStrike outage pushed hospitals to delay procedures TechRepublic, demonstrating how network failures can directly impact patient care. Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring make reliable connectivity a clinical requirement, not just an operational convenience.

NaaS Potential: Healthcare could benefit significantly from NaaS models that abstract infrastructure complexity, allowing clinical IT teams to focus on patient-facing applications rather than network engineering. However, strict data privacy requirements may slow adoption.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing represents one of the fastest-growing sectors for these trends:

Industry 4.0 Connectivity: Manufacturing is posting a 28.5% compound annual growth rate in NaaS adoption as Industry 4.0 initiatives require deterministic networking for robotics, machine vision, and predictive maintenance Mordor Intelligence. The sector’s transformation toward smart factories makes network reliability mission-critical.

Edge Computing: 28% of organizations expect edge computing and distributed networks to have the biggest impact on network management over the next five years Computer Weekly, which is particularly relevant for manufacturing with distributed factory floors and IoT sensors.

Operational Technology Security: Manufacturing faces unique security challenges as traditional operational technology converges with IT networks, creating new attack surfaces that executives may not fully understand without technical expertise.

Retail and E-Commerce

Retail faces direct revenue impact from connectivity failures:

Revenue Dependency: For platforms like Shopify, any period of downtime translates directly into lost sales, impacting thousands of businesses during peak hours TechRepublic. E-commerce platforms have zero tolerance for network outages during high-traffic periods like holidays or sales events.

Omnichannel Complexity: Retail demonstrates strong NaaS pipelines driven by omnichannel commerce imperatives Mordor Intelligence, as seamless connectivity between physical stores, online platforms, inventory systems, and payment processing is essential for modern retail operations.

Customer Experience: 73% of businesses say fast, high-performing websites are critical to business success, with 42% claiming slow services might as well be offline Help Net Security, making network performance a competitive differentiator in retail.

Technology and IT Services

The technology sector must lead by example while serving as infrastructure for other industries:

Service Provider Responsibility: IT and Telecom captured 24.7% of NaaS revenue in 2024 by leveraging NaaS to launch new customer-facing services Mordor Intelligence, positioning this sector as both consumer and provider of next-generation connectivity models.

Cascading Failures: Technology companies face unique risks where their outages impact thousands of downstream customers. The AWS outage resulted in what experts estimate to be hundreds of billions of dollars in economic impact CU Boulder Today, demonstrating how critical infrastructure providers carry systemic risk.

AI Infrastructure: Technology companies building AI services face new connectivity requirements with Wi-Fi 7 power spikes and campus LAN NaaS demand Mordor Intelligence, as training and inference workloads stress network infrastructure in unprecedented ways.

Strategic Recommendations

Based on this analysis, organizations should:

  1. Immediate Actions (2025-2026):
    • Conduct CEO and C-suite security training focused on social engineering and deepfake threats
    • Perform network resilience assessments with financial impact modeling
    • Evaluate NaaS pilots for non-critical workloads to build organizational familiarity
  2. Medium-Term Strategy (2026-2027):
    • Develop multi-cloud and redundant connectivity strategies
    • Implement AI-powered network monitoring and threat detection
    • Build cross-functional teams linking network operations with business continuity planning
  3. Long-Term Positioning (2027-2030):
    • Migrate toward consumption-based networking models aligned with business flexibility needs
    • Establish network performance as a key business metric tracked at board level
    • Create security culture where all employees, especially executives, view themselves as part of the defense perimeter

The convergence of these three trends—security, NaaS, and connectivity as strategic priorities—represents a fundamental shift in how enterprises must think about their digital infrastructure. Organizations that treat these as separate technical concerns rather than interconnected business imperatives will find themselves at significant competitive disadvantage.