Business world predictions for 2026
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As we turn from reflection to what’s ahead for a new year, Rapid Response presents host Bob Safian’s predictions for the most pressing issues business leaders could face in 2026. Join Bob and producer Alex Morris for a surprisingly hopeful conversation about what’s next – from an AI reality check to energy prices, immigration, and even the World Cup. Safian walks us through what might happen, and why being “right” matters less than sparking debate, testing assumptions, and taking a clear-headed approach in the year ahead.
Read all of Bob's predictions: https://www.fastcompany.com/91462356/8-bold-business-predictions-for-2026
Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As your company scales, the hardest part isn't ambition, it's alignment. That's why Atlassian built |
| 0:07.3 | the teamwork collection, an AI-powered teamwork platform designed to help teams move faster together. |
| 0:13.1 | By connecting Jira, Confluence, Lume, and Rovo, teams can easily align work to real business goals, |
| 0:20.5 | plan and track progress together, |
| 0:22.6 | remove knowledge silos, and access the real magic of AI plus human collaboration. |
| 0:29.0 | Visit at lassean.com slash team changer to learn more. That's A-T-L-A-S-S-I-A-N.com slash team changer. |
| 0:41.5 | As a founder, you're constantly wearing multiple hats, usually at the same time. |
| 0:46.4 | But the most successful leaders have learned to hand a few of those hats off to the right people. |
| 0:52.1 | That's where Upwork shines. |
| 0:56.6 | It's a one-stop shop to find trusted freelance talent across IT, web dev, design, and admin support. And it's built to be simple. Register for free, |
| 1:04.5 | connect with freelancers who match your style and pace, and hire them with industry low fees. |
| 1:10.2 | Upwork makes the whole process easier, more affordable, |
| 1:13.4 | and way less stressful. If your business is ready for that next level, Upwork has the talent to help |
| 1:19.2 | you get there. Visit upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That's upw-O-R-K.com. Upwork.com |
| 1:32.9 | Hey, everyone, Bob Safian here. |
| 1:35.8 | Welcome to a special episode of Rapid Response. |
| 1:39.3 | We're going to do a slightly different format. |
| 1:42.6 | And for that, I'm joined by someone who I have eagerly, eagerly wanted |
| 1:46.7 | to introduce to you on the show. It's a rapid response as producer, my colleague and friend |
| 1:52.2 | Alex Morris. Alex. Hey, everyone. So what are we going to do? Well, Bob, you have an article of your |
| 1:58.5 | predictions for 2026 running on Fast Company. We are actually going |
| 2:02.7 | to link to it in our show notes, but for now anyway, I wanted to dig through it with you. |
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