Every summer, the whole business downs tools and comes together. Not to deliver, just to celebrate what we’ve built and get excited about what’s next.

This certification marks a significant milestone for Atomic and reinforces our commitment to protecting sensitive information, managing risk responsibly, and maintaining the highest standards of security for our clients and partners.

Based on two recent polls we ran, it’s clear that for our respondents that the biggest story of 2026 won’t just be what we build – it will be where innovation happens, and who leads the charge. The technology world is bracing for one of the most transformative years in recent memory. The pace of innovation hasn’t slowed – AI copilots have become standard in the workplace, quantum computing is inching closer to real-world utility, and edge AI is pushing intelligence out of the cloud and into devices. Below we break down the results and what we predict they mean for the year ahead.

When asked what innovation will have the biggest impact in 2026, respondents were evenly split between two ideas:

AI Goes Mainstream – 36% (of poll respondents)
AI will become deeply integrated and mainstream in everyday life and business, moving beyond niche uses. This widespread adoption of sophisticated, user-friendly AI will fundamentally change workflows, redefine industries, and accelerate innovation.

ChatGPT Surpassing Google – 36% (of poll respondents)
Conversational AI and LLMs are poised to challenge the dominance of traditional search engines like Google. This prediction suggests a fundamental shift where users will favor the direct, human-like, and generative interactions of AI interfaces over link-based search results.

“AI is no longer a novelty or a productivity boost, it’s becoming a core layer of how digital products are conceived, built and experienced. How should our experiences behave in an AI-driven world?”. AI isn’t replacing the craft of design, it’s just amplifying it. The real value now comes from clear thinking, strong ideas and human insight. AI helps us get to the good stuff faster.

Leon-Anthony Smith, Head of Design

If someone struggles to articulate what they need to a colleague, dropping them in front of an empty textbox won’t magically unlock efficiency. UX is the missing piece. We’ve seen this before – Alexa and Google smart speakers became glorified radios because the interface was too vague and open-ended. The same risk now applies to workplace AI. Real adoption will only happen when companies design clear, guided, thoughtful experiences that help people want to use these tools, not just tick the “we have AI” box. The next big shift won’t be the models – it will be the UX that makes them usable.

This means businesses have to now optimise in a different way to maximise engagement and experiences for their customers and users; searching for and extracting information is becoming increasingly a machine to machine interaction with AI so traditional SEO techniques need to evolve accordingly.

AI is moving from an occasional design aid to a foundational part of how digital products are created, delivered and experienced. At Atomic, we’re already seeing this shift change the role of design: AI isn’t something you bolt on, it’s something you design with. This means thinking about systems, behaviours and interfaces where AI acts as a quiet collaborator in the background: anticipating needs, adapting content, and shaping more personal, fluid experiences for users.

The emergence of conversational AI as a primary way people find information is also reshaping the fundamentals of UX. If users increasingly ask rather than search, the traditional pathways we design such as navigation, content structure, even how brands express themselves will need to evolve. We’re now designing products that must be understandable not just to people, but to AI agents that interpret our content, summarise it, and surface it on behalf of users. This is pushing designers to think beyond screens, layouts and journeys, and towards ecosystems that support both human interaction and machine understanding.

For businesses, the impact is clear: the experiences that win will be those designed to be discoverable, interpretable, and adaptive within an AI-driven digital landscape, but throughout this shift, one thing remains constant, creativity stays human. What AI does is give designers more time to think, imagine, and create work that feels thoughtful, strategic and deeply connected to real user needs.

While the hype cycle of Generative AI has captured the lion’s share of headlines, two other predictions still earned honorable mentions:

Quantum Breakthroughs – 21% (of poll respondents):
A strong minority sees 2026 as the year tangible progress in quantum moves beyond the lab and into real-world application roadmaps.

Hardware Renaissance – 7% (of poll respondents):
While a smaller percentage, the belief that new physical architectures are becoming a critical bottleneck and differentiator is growing.This suggests that while AI dominates the narrative, the industry hasn’t lost sight of foundational technologies.

The most critical progress will be seen in three distinct areas:

Error Correction and Fault Tolerance:
2026 will bring demonstrable breakthroughs in building more stable, logical qubits from noisy physical qubits, a necessary step toward scaling systems.

Near-Term Quantum Advantage:
Instead of waiting for a fully fault-tolerant universal quantum computer, we will see NTQA in specific, highly constrained industry problems.

Industry-Specific R&D Partnerships:
Expect high-profile, strategic R&D partnerships between quantum hardware providers and institutions in finance, advanced materials science, and pharmaceuticals. With spatial computing (AR/VR/MR) maturing, and the migration of AI processing from the cloud to the device (Edge AI), hardware is once again becoming a critical differentiator:

Smarter Spatial Computing Headsets:
Next-generation AR/VR devices will integrate deeper AI processing to offer real-time object recognition, contextual overlays, and intuitive gesture control.

AI-First Computing:
New devices will feature dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) and custom silicon designed from the ground up to efficiently run large language models and sophisticated AI agents locally.

The Internet of Beings:
A step beyond traditional IoT, this refers to sensor networks that understand people as well as devices – capturing real-time behavioural and environmental data to create responsive, personalised digital experiences. Instead of just connecting “things,” it connects people, places, and technology in smarter, more intuitive ways.

Hardware won’t necessarily dominate the market narrative in 2026, but its accelerating progress is fundamentally critical. It is this hardware renaissance that will provide the necessary foundation and physical integration to empower the revolutionary software and AI agents. Hardware won’t define 2026 – but it will unlock the software that does.

“2026 is shaping up to be the year we move from hype to hard engineering, and where engineering really shifts left in the development process. Progress in quantum, edge AI, and sensor intelligence won’t grab the same attention as generative models, but they’re exactly what will make those models truly useful. Software innovation needs physical innovation to stand on, and we’re finally seeing that foundation strengthen.”

Steve Carpenter, Head of Engineering, Atomic

This tie tells us something important: people don’t just expect AI to improve – they expect it to redefine foundational parts of the internet. 2026 is shaping up to be the year AI shifts from tool to infrastructure. AI agents will be embedded in email, browsers, operating systems, and vehicles. The transition from “Open this app” to “Tell your AI to handle it” will accelerate dramatically.

The fact that as many respondents believe “ChatGPT > Google?” as “AI goes mainstream” signals a major cultural shift: people now see AI assistants as a legitimate replacement for the search engine paradigm.

Emma Moss is a Senior Product Owner responsible for working with clients (new and existing) to understand their current business landscape, key priorities, drivers and pain points.

Matthew Mirzai is a Tech Lead responsible for setting technical direction, guiding support teams to deliver high-quality, performant software, and collaborating with clients to ensure our solutions align with their business objectives.

EM: My career to date has included a mixture of in-house and consultancy roles, both within the Product space, and also in the world of Quality Assurance. Before joining Atomic, I was part of an in-house product team, but I missed the variety that consultancy life can bring in terms of the people that you work with across different clients, but also the exposure to various technologies and industries. Being a part of Atomic gives me the best of both worlds.

MM: The best times of my career so far have been within consultancies – there’s no beating the mixture of people and experiences which allows learning and creativity to flow – there’s such a wide range of technologies and challenges that every day is different. 

EM: My first consultancy role was initially quite daunting. When you work in-house, especially in roles where you have consultancies or third party suppliers delivering for you, the things within your control are very different. Being a part of a consultancy means that a lot more is in your control in terms of delivery, but potentially less control in terms of the product direction. It was apparent to me that there would be more pressure at times, but the pace of delivery is highly rewarding.

MM: I say it a lot to new hires, but the level of technical knowledge at Atomic is fantastic and I’m picking up new things at all levels. It’s been very open and collaborative right from the start.

EM: Working in-house, you have more of a view of the strategic direction of the business and potentially more influence over product direction. However, I’ve found you often have less influence over the delivery approach, especially where third party suppliers or development teams are involved. In-house, things can sometimes take longer to deliver, especially where projects tend to be bigger and involve multiple systems/stakeholders/suppliers.

Working for a consultancy, we are often brought in because of our variety of expertise and our ability to deliver value to end users quickly. We may be asked to focus on smaller increments of a larger deliverable, supplementing existing development teams, or picking up work where the client has limited capacity or competing priorities. I’ve noticed the speed of delivery and flexibility to change direction is greater, and that we have closer working relationships between product & development teams. You also get greater exposure to new technologies, industries & client bases. 

MM: In-house work is about deep, long-term product ownership – you often own the product and can work at different timescales, whilst working at a consultancy is about impact and adaptability. Here, you’re constantly shifting context and learning quickly.

EM: It can be intense at times, especially if you are working with multiple clients that are due to deliver key features or releases around the same time, but the variety is one of the reasons why I love working in a consultancy. The breadth of knowledge and experience that you gain is invaluable and transferable between clients, regardless of whether their industries are related. You can often share learnings between clients and become a trusted advisor. That is one of the key reasons why companies choose to work with us. 

MM: It keeps things interesting and varied, but context-switching can be challenging. You learn to be more intentional with your time and focus.

EM: Working in a consultancy when you’ve been used to working in-house requires a bit of a mindset shift. Consultancy is all about efficiency and value delivery; our clients choose to work with us for a reason, therefore every hour spent should contribute to our combined success. 

MM: I’ve worked in consultancies before, so there weren’t many surprises – but starting over in terms of context wasn’t easy. That learning curve can be steep when you’re coming from in-house development!

EM: Success for me has become more about building good strong working relationships, both internally with my immediate teams, and with our clients. Software projects don’t always go to plan, but having that open and honest partnership means that even challenging projects can feel successful. Everyone pulling in the same direction is what matters to me.  

MM: Honestly, I wouldn’t say it’s changed that much. Success is having a good product, a happy customer, and a happy team – the industry or business type doesn’t change.

EM: Adapting to different processes and ways of working, especially when they differ between our clients. Discussing and agreeing on a common way of working up front helps to combat this. 

MM: Managing multiple priorities and shifting contexts took some time to get used to again. I had to learn to structure my time more effectively and be more available to my team members, but also to know it’s OK to give myself some time to concentrate on my work.

EM: It’s something that I got used to quite quickly in my previous roles, and I don’t think this is something that is necessarily different between in-house and consultancy roles. In-house, you still may have different deadlines and moving parts to contend with and you might be working with multiple departments or suppliers. Software development is ever changing and adaptability is a key skill!

MM: You have to be disciplined about communication, and make sure both the client and your team mates have clear expectations. There’s also a lot you need to keep in your head at one time, so a notepad has been vital!

EM: It’s quite easy when working in-house to feel quite silo’d. Working in a consultancy is all about collaboration – both internally and externally. It’s quite easy to find your comfort zone too but consultancy often pushes you out of it.

MM: As a Technical Lead, sometimes there was less collaboration than I would have liked at my in-house positions, so I had to relearn how to reach out to others when context was lacking. Asking questions is important at any level and it took some time for me to remember that.

EM: All of the above. Getting stuck into a project helped me quickly learn how Atomic approaches product delivery, and working closely with the engineering team helped to gain wider context about how we best utilise tools and best practices. Everyone at Atomic has been really supportive and is constantly striving for improvement; being employee owned means we are all fully invested in what we do. 

MM: The support network here makes a huge difference – I mentioned focus time before, and we all try to give ourselves time to get our heads down. But at the same time everyone is open to talking through a problem, or pointing others in the right direction. Great teams build great products, and everyone’s focus is always on the team’s progress.

EM: In the short term it’s challenging, especially when working with new clients or industries, but once you’re up to speed, it’s more about effectively managing your time. Trying to include time within the week to keep focused on specific projects helps – this approach often helps to avoid too much context switching in a short space of time.

MM: I’ve always told anyone that’s joining a consultancy that ‘context is king’, and at the heart of that is good documentation. Onboarding to different clients needs to be a quick but deep process, and we ensure new developers on these projects have the tools and guidance they need for this to be smooth.

EM: Collaborating with clients is more focused around the product scope and progress; uncovering requirements & refinements, communicating progress, and working together to unblock challenges. Working with an internal product team is often more about negotiation; prioritising people and allocation of resources, managing deadlines & dependencies, and also more around knowledge sharing and continuous improvement of our ways of working. 

MM: There’s more emphasis on building trust and communicating clearly with clients. You often have to adapt your style depending on the audience.

EM: Conversations and documentation are key! I really enjoy getting people together (physically or virtually), asking lots of questions, and asking them to “show and tell”; show us what you’ve got today, and tell us where you think we could make your lives easier. The most important thing from this is then documenting the outputs. 

MM: Early discovery sessions are key to building a shared understanding – you want to get those questions in early, and having a constant point of contact helps with that.

EM: There really is no one size fits all approach. Each client will have their own priorities and pressures, so part of my role is to understand this and translate this back to our internal team members. It’s about building trust, being transparent, and setting clear expectations. The most important thing for me is that we feel and act like we are one team. 

MM: Transparency is everything – even small updates build trust – and there has to be a two way street of communication between us and the clients. I’ve also learned to tailor technical discussions for different audiences.

EM: I am more conscious of how I communicate, and ensuring that I understand what level of communication each client needs in order to be successful in their own roles. I love to get to know the people I’m working with, and I try to maintain that regardless of who I’m working with. Making time for ‘small talk’ is something I really enjoy, and bringing that human aspect to work is really important. 

MM: Most developers are introverts, but I feel it’s important that someone with a technical background is on those meetings with clients when talking through the work being done. I’m glad to be able to speak to clients on a regular basis in my role.

EM: Learning and accepting that sometimes things are not fully within my control, and that it’s not always possible to influence product direction or priorities. 

MM: The ability to adapt quickly to new industries and technologies – just through the number of different solutions, you’re going to always be learning.

EM: The breadth of industries and technologies that you are exposed to is incredible, and no two weeks are the same. My background has predominantly been in retail and ecommerce, but since joining Atomic, I’ve worked closely with clients and products in industries such as manufacturing, water treatment and aerospace. It has made me even more adaptable, but also helped me to identify and bring consistency to our Discovery processes. 

MM: I cannot emphasise enough how much you will grow as a developer within a consultancy like Atomic. You learn so much through working with different developers in different environments – things change so quickly it’s impossible not to learn something new every day.

EM: I am more conscious about how and where our time is spent, ensuring that we provide value to our clients. What we do is often quite bespoke in nature, and there is a need for continuous learning and improvement. I am really appreciative of the fantastic engineers that we have within Atomic; they teach me something new on a regular basis! 

MM: The ‘right’ way depends on the client, the team, and the problem – there is no universal solution. You need to ingrain yourself within the client’s context, and really think about what they need before you can create something effective.

EM: The feeling when you hear clients talking about how much they love a product that you and your team have developed, or seeing products that you and your teams have delivered coming to life really makes it all worthwhile!

MM: Coming back to an environment where you just learn through osmosis has been good – there’s always someone doing something interesting who you can talk to and learn. There’s also plenty of opportunities to be involved in those interesting things yourself.

EM: Be a sponge. Be adaptable. Whilst it can be a big step change from what you’re used to, focus on the relationships that you have with your team. The consultancy environment can be challenging, but so rewarding, and for professional development probably one of the best experiences you will have. 

MM: Expect and embrace the learning curve – this kind of environment is not for everyone (and there’s nothing wrong with that), and getting used to things can take time. As long as you are open to the change and allow yourself to be flexible (and ask lots of questions!) you’ll be well on your way.

EM: It’s really important to remember that your clients will be looking to you for advice and guidance, and to be the person to provide different perspectives. Not being afraid to ask lots of questions (including the silly ones), but also not being afraid to question why we are going in a certain direction, as well as understanding the needs and wants of your clients will stand you in good stead. 

MM: You need to be self driven, as we’re seen as the experts and need to drive change for the clients. This only comes from understanding both the technical and product sides, and this has to come from the individual. Organisation is also key – you are going to be switching contexts a lot.

EM: It takes time to adapt to any new environment. Patience is key! 

MM: Less ‘wish-I’d-known’ and more ‘wish-I-hadn’t-forgot’ – there are so many approaches to even simple problems and you need to understand the reasoning behind why things have been done a certain way. 

At Atomic, we’ve always been committed to innovation – not just in the award-winning tech we build, but also in how we run our business.

At the end of 2023, we took a bold and exciting step by transitioning to an employee ownership model. This decision reflects our belief that great businesses thrive when their people are truly invested in their success.
Here’s why we made the change, what we’ve learned so far, and how it’s already making a huge difference for our team and clients.

Since Atomic was founded in 1999, it has always been a people-centric organisation. Our business relies on our culture of collaboration, creativity and a shared drive for excellence. Early in 2023, as we were approaching our 25th anniversary, we started looking to the future and did a lot of thinking around what we wanted the company to become. We’d already achieved so much more than we’d expected and we realised that we’d only been able to do that through the hard work, dedication and teamwork of our people. We’ve got a special culture at Atomic and we decided we wanted to preserve that spirit for as long as possible. So we started looking at ways we could ensure Atomic continues to thrive, not just for the next 25 years but well beyond our 100th anniversary.

Creating such a lasting legacy is very rare, and often only happens in family owned businesses such as JCB, who we know very well. More often than not, successful businesses get acquired, merged or sold to new owners who have a different set of objectives and principles to those of the original founders. We have seen many examples where this has resulted in a detrimental impact on the culture and quite often the performance of the acquired business. As we reflected on reaching such a significant milestone, we wanted to set Atomic on a different path for the next stage of our journey.

In order for a business to survive in the long run it needs to evolve, adapt and innovate to stay relevant in an ever changing world. No one knows our business better than the people who work here, and no one is more in tune with the latest trends in the tech industry than our people who are working with it every day. So as we looked to the future we recognised we needed to be developing and nurturing our leaders of tomorrow.

We also recognised the contribution that our employees make, and wanted to give something back to reward them for getting us to where we are today. The employee ownership model not only does this, but it also offers so much more…

Preserving our culture
Employee ownership ensures our values and ethos remain at the heart of the business.

Empowering our team
By giving everyone a direct share in Atomic’s success, we’re fostering a stronger sense of accountability and pride.

Attracting and retaining talent
We believe that ownership makes Atomic a more attractive place to work, helping us continue to attract the best talent in the industry.

Leadership pathways
This model creates real opportunities for the next generation of future leaders.

Client partnership focus
With employees personally invested in our success, our commitment to client satisfaction is stronger than ever.

By taking this approach we are making a bold statement that we value our independence and we want our success to be driven by our own people. I strongly believe that this will lead to sustainable growth in the long term.

While on the surface not a huge amount has changed, since transitioning to employee ownership there has been a palpable shift in mindset throughout the organisation and there is a real sense of collective responsibility. We’ve seen the team come together in remarkable ways, whether that’s by taking the initiative to make incremental improvements to our tooling and processes or banding together in the face of adversity and coming up with solutions that move the company forwards.

Whenever we’ve hit a setback, the team has proactively worked together to own the problem and find a way. I’ve noticed this happening at all levels, whereas previously it would often fall on the directors to figure our way out of a crisis.

Our clients have fed back positively too… even before we announced the transition, several clients noticed Atomic teams going above and beyond to ensure their projects were not just delivered successfully but exceeded expectations. This is something we’ve always done at Atomic, but the difference now is that people do it without being asked to. It has just become the way we do things.

The new model has certainly proved to be a key differentiator in terms of recruitment, and we are now getting multiple high calibre candidates applying for every role. As we continue to grow this will become increasingly more valuable over time.

While it is too early to say for certain that our transition to employee ownership will give us the outcomes we are looking for in the long term, having completed our first year under the new model and achieved our best ever set of results, the early indications are definitely positive.

We believe the employee ownership model makes Atomic a truly unique company and a standout partner for clients for a number of reasons.

A thriving team culture
Ownership creates a sense of pride and unity, encouraging everyone to contribute their best ideas and efforts. Combined with our Deliver & Equip ethos, this ensures our clients get the highest level of service.

Long-term stability
Employee ownership secures Atomic’s independence and stability for the future, giving clients confidence in our ability to remain a trusted partner.

Enhanced client relationships
With every team member invested in success, our clients benefit from a proactive, motivated team that treats their projects as if they were our own.

In the UK Government’s recent ‘2022 Cyber Security Breaches Survey’ it was found that 39% of UK businesses had identified a cyber attack in the last 12 months; with a worrying 31% of businesses estimating they were attacked at least once a week.

With ever more sophisticated criminals targeting UK businesses on a daily basis, it’s vital that companies protect themselves from these attacks; but it’s not something that leaders can do in isolation. Having been fortunate enough to have worked with hundreds of clients over the years, in our experience, good security starts with a good security culture. People will always be the weakest link in a company’s security defences – you can have the best firewalls and physical security, but if an employee tells another person their password you’ve potentially let someone straight in.

If you’re responsible for the cyber approach in your business, we would recommend you follow these 5 steps to ensure your protect you data and systems from attacks:

The first step is to get buy-in from the Exec board. It’s important that business leaders understand the repercussions of a data breach, so starting with the Exec board is the first step on the road to embedding good security into your company’s culture. Highlight recent examples to illustrate that the risk is real and any company can be vulnerable.

Company-wide ‘Show & Tells’ or learning lunches can be a great way to educate staff, make sure everyone is aware of the issue and show that security is high on the company’s agenda.

Provide all staff with the knowledge and skills they need to protect themselves and your company from potential threats and prepare them to respond in the right way, should an event occur.

Cyber attacks are a very real threat for all businesses today. It’s becoming increasingly more likely that you could fall victim, so don’t just hope for the best – regularly test your defences. You could set up simulated phishing and social engineering attacks for your staff, or test through random quizzes. This will make sure the issue is always in the minds of your employees and becomes embedded in the culture of your company.

Our Head of People, Rob Curley, recently chatted with Lawrence Belle, Junior Web Developer to find out what prompted him to get into web development and to learn a bit about his Atomic journey to date.

I started working at Atomic during the early part of 2023.

My academic background lies in mathematics. I’ve always taken to maths and its structural methodology. This spans from completing my maths GCSE a year early to getting a maths degree at the University of Nottingham.

During my time at university, I took scientific computation modules which required me to teach myself some basic programming to solve problems. I found myself drawn to this and I continued to teach myself how to program in my free time. I would become more and more invested in this hobby and as my time at university came near to a close I knew I wanted to make it a career.

I then searched online for local software agencies since I knew I wanted to work with and learn from software specialists with a broad range of skills. This is when I found Atomic and upon learning about their work culture and impressive client list, it was only natural that I wanted to be a part of the company.

In my role as a Junior Web Developer, it is my responsibility to translate the desires of the customer into something actionable, and eventually code with the assistance of my peers.

This makes the developer role the focal point of software creation, incorporating ideas from the design, client services, and QA team to finalise a product.

I enjoy creating solutions to the customer’s requirements, constantly giving me the chance to learn new methodologies and technologies, while ensuring that my code is both easy to understand and reuse so the rest of the team can easily collaborate on it.

With Atomic being such a great place to learn and develop my skills, I see myself only becoming a better and more reliable developer. Experience can mean everything with a role like this, and with Atomic’s client list, there is no shortage of experience to be had.

The developer role itself I only see becoming more important as we continue to depend on technology, and it seems like there is no better time than now to learn how to harness the strengths of AI!

The team and culture at Atomic are amazing. You definitely feel the support of everyone here as they only want what is best for you. Being able to work for large brands helps make your work feel substantial and the perk of being able to work remotely even in a junior role is very much appreciated as well.

I enjoy rock climbing in my spare time. It’s really fun being able to pour all your focus into a seemingly simple task with lots of small intricacies and complexities. It’s not always obvious how to get to the top of the wall and so climbing calls on your problem solving skills, and past that some climbs ask for a lot of physical effort.

Climbing has a super friendly community and so you often find yourself sparking up conversations and working together with other climbers to help each other figure out the climb. It also helps that there is a climbing gym so close to the Atomic office.