We’re in September 2025, and the questions leaders are asking have shifted. What technology will your field operations team adopt next year? How can you push efficiency further without adding more headcount? Why is 2026 shaping up to be the real turning point for transformation?
Each year, I reflect on the trends shaping our industry, and the transition from 2025 into 2026 feels faster, bolder, and more disruptive than anything we’ve seen before. Organizations are no longer debating if they’ll invest in smarter tools, but how fast they can implement them to stay ahead.
Here are my three predictions for where field service is headed in 2026.
By 2026, juggling multiple systems will feel outdated. Field operations managers aren’t asking if they need an all-in-one platform anymore—they’re asking how quickly they can consolidate.
Modern field service now includes:
Managing asset lifecycles with predictive maintenance.
Tracking inventory across warehouses, trucks, and even drones.
Surfacing IoT data to extend asset lifespan.
Quoting, invoicing, and capturing revenue directly in the field.
Using AI-powered GIS to manage infrastructure at scale.
What organizations want is clear: a single pane of glass for their workforce, assets, and data. By the end of 2026, unified platforms will be the industry default, not the exception.
AI scheduling has been on the rise for years, but in 2026 we’ll see the shift from AI-assisted to AI-autonomous scheduling.
This is where agentic AI enters the picture. Instead of simply surfacing insights, agentic systems take action within defined rules. In scheduling, that means:
Automatically rerouting jobs mid-day due to weather, traffic, or safety issues.
Rescheduling or dispatching based on IoT-triggered maintenance alerts.
Balancing customer SLAs, technician certifications, and available inventory without human intervention.
Agentic AI doesn’t replace oversight — operations managers still set the guardrails — but it moves decision-making closer to real time. By late 2026, agentic AI decision engines will quietly run the day-to-day schedules of many of the largest service organizations, while scaled-down versions spread to smaller businesses.
The organizations that embrace it early will be the ones that see efficiency gains measured not in percentages, but in exponential leaps.
Remote video support is already widespread, but in 2026 immersive technologies like augmented reality, digital twins, and holographic collaboration will become standard tools.
What’s pushing this forward:
An aging workforce transferring knowledge through real-time AR guidance.
Affordable, rugged wearables delivering high-fidelity video and holographic overlays.
AI-enhanced video capture that builds knowledge libraries automatically.
Digital twins enabling remote walkthroughs before technicians arrive onsite.
The result: fewer truck rolls, faster resolution, safer operations, and compounding institutional knowledge. By 2026, immersive remote service will move from pilot programs to everyday operations across utilities, telecom, oil and gas, and renewables.
2026 isn’t about incremental change—it’s the tipping point. Unified platforms, agentic AI-driven scheduling, and immersive remote service will redefine how field service businesses operate and compete.
The organizations that embrace these shifts won’t just keep up—they’ll set the pace.