Project delivery in 2026 is shaped by five major trends. AI is expanding beyond basic tools into agentic systems, Power Skills (soft skills) are becoming essential, change management is increasing in importance, face-to-face learning is returning, and Agile and hybrid delivery are maturing across organisations. The most successful teams will be those that combine strong human capability with practical AI fluency and adaptable ways of working.

As we move into 2026, project management sits at a defining moment. Technology is advancing quickly, workforce expectations continue to shift, and organisations are placing increasing value on human capability. Projects have always been a powerful driver of organisational change and today, with artificial intelligence expanding across industries, hybrid work stabilising and skills requirements evolving, project delivery is changing faster than ever.

For leaders and project professionals, 2026 represents a transition from experimentation to maturity. AI is becoming a core capability. Teams are seeking clarity and structure. Organisations want measurable uplift and consistent delivery outcomes. These five themes will shape the future of project delivery in Australia and beyond.

1. AI training moves beyond the basics as organisations prepare for an agentic future

AI adoption has increased significantly. The 2025 global survey by McKinsey and Company found that 88 per cent of organisations now use AI in at least one business function, up from 78 per cent the previous year. However, only around one third have successfully scaled AI across the organisation, highlighting the gap between early experimentation and sustainable enterprise use.

Leading research now shows that well-implemented AI capability can lift individual and team productivity by up to 30 per cent, particularly when training moves beyond prompting to practical workflow redesign, automation and responsible agent supervision. This finding is consistent across multiple studies examining generative AI in real workplace settings, including research from McKinsey Global Institute, Microsoft and OpenAI. This positions AI training as a direct productivity investment, not just a technology initiative.

A major factor is the emergence of agentic AI. Agentic AI refers to systems that can independently plan and execute multi-step workflows rather than simply generate outputs in response to prompts. McKinsey reports that while some organisations are beginning to scale agentic AI within specific functions, most remain in the exploration phase, reinforcing the need for structured capability uplift rather than ad hoc experimentation.

This shift requires more advanced capability than traditional AI literacy. Project teams now need skills in supervising autonomous AI activity, ensuring governance and ethical use, embedding AI into delivery processes, managing data integrity, integrating AI into decision making and maintaining alignment with organisational intent.

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2. Power Skills (soft skills) become the differentiator in an AI-enabled workforce

As AI automates repetitive and analytical tasks, the distinct value of human capability becomes clearer. Deloitte Access Economics forecasts that soft skill intensive roles will represent two thirds of all Australian jobs by 2030. Globally, the World Economic Forum estimates that 39 per cent of workers will need to adapt their core skills by 2030.

Power Skills (soft skills) support the ability to influence without direct authority, manage complex stakeholder relationships, collaborate across hybrid teams, interpret information, exercise judgement, and maintain cohesion under pressure. AI cannot replicate nuance, empathy, ethical reasoning, or interpersonal connection, making Power Skills (soft skills) essential in 2026.

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3. Change management becomes mission critical as AI reshapes work

The introduction of AI creates cultural, behavioural and structural impacts that extend well beyond technical implementation. Agentic AI reshapes workflows, decision rights, team roles and communication patterns, making structured change management essential.

Effective change management requires early leadership engagement, clear communication of new expectations, capability uplift for all roles, reinforcement of behaviour change and alignment across business units. Without this, AI adoption risks confusion, loss of trust, and stalled performance.

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4. Face-to-face learning makes a strong comeback

Digital learning remains important, but 2026 marks a renewed focus on face-to-face and blended learning. Leadership, project management, Agile practices, change management and Power Skills (soft skills) development benefit significantly from interpersonal environments. Research into hybrid work and learning effectiveness also shows that collaboration, trust, and capability development improve when digital learning is complemented by in-person interaction.

Face-to-face learning enables deeper engagement, real-time feedback, shared learning experiences, trust building, interpersonal skill development, and collaborative problem solving. Blended models combining digital flexibility with live workshops will dominate organisational learning strategies.

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5. Agile and hybrid delivery mature across the enterprise

Agile delivery has expanded well beyond IT. In 2026, Agile and hybrid delivery approaches continue to mature as organisations pursue faster delivery, resilience and adaptability.

Hybrid delivery combines the adaptability of Agile with structured governance, making it effective for large or high assurance initiatives. Project professionals need cross-method capability, including Scrum, Kanban, Lean, governance frameworks, AI integration and stakeholder alignment. Hybrid work patterns have stabilised across Australia, requiring flexible delivery frameworks.

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What this means for organisations and project professionals

The future of project delivery is not about replacing people with technology. It is about strengthening both. AI accelerates tasks and improves analysis. Humans provide interpretation, leadership, connection, and ethical judgment. Power Skills (soft skills), structured change capability, human-centred learning and adaptive delivery frameworks remain essential. Enterprise research shows that organisations achieving the greatest returns from AI are those that combine technology adoption with capability uplift, structured change, and leadership alignment.

For organisations preparing for 2026, key priorities include building AI fluency across all teams, strengthening Power Skills (soft skills), integrating change management into transformation, combining digital and in-person learning and maturing Agile and hybrid practices.

References

Deloitte Access Economics. (2023). Future skills and the changing nature of work in Australia. https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/insights/economics/future-of-work/future-skills.html

McKinsey and Company. (2025). The state of AI. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai

McKinsey Global Institute. (2023). The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier. https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier

Microsoft. (2024). Work trend index 2024. https://www.microsoft.com/worklab/work-trend-index

OpenAI. (2025). The state of enterprise AI 2025. https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/7ef17d82-96bf-4dd1-9df2-228f7f377a29/the-state-of-enterprise-ai_2025-report.pdf

World Economic Forum. (2023). The future of jobs report 2023. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/