Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
In recent weeks Modern CEO has published predictions for 2026 from CEOs across industries and a list of books that can help leaders get ready for the year ahead. We invited readers to share their own prognostications and book recommendations. (Respect to the author who endorsed her own book.) Here’s a sampling of the responses.
Bold Predictions
ChatGPT becomes the new DoorDash
“2026 will mark a fundamental shift: ChatGPT and other AI platforms will become the primary interfaces between consumers and restaurants. Discovery will evolve into action—people won’t just find new restaurants on ChatGPT; they’ll order and review there, too. In an AI-first world, the need for intermediaries fades as ordering rails connect restaurants directly to these platforms. This creates a massive opportunity for restaurants to reclaim the direct relationships they lost to third-party marketplaces.”
—Savneet Singh, CEO, PAR Technology
Customer experience shifts from speed to substance
“Over the past two years, companies raced to embed AI into service interactions, but many of those deployments are now revealing cracks. Our testing data proves it: In a recent analysis of enterprise models, 82% of AI failures stemmed from misinformation, especially in chatbots. These ’silent errors‘ quietly erode customer relationships long before companies realize it. The next phase of CX (customer experience) innovation won’t be about smarter automation; it will be about trustworthy automation. Ultimately, the companies that win customer trust won’t be those deploying AI the fastest, but those ensuring every AI-driven interaction is accurate, safe, and human-centered.”
—Dean Hickman-Smith, chief revenue officer, Testlio
More technology, more vulnerabilities, more responsibility
“Let us all individually be ready for more and entirely new technologies in 2026, [and] embrace and prepare to secure ourselves even more. A lot of work is to come, especially for the specialists in the field. We can clearly see more vulnerabilities coming our way, but we should be ready to fight back. Experts should expect their expertise being needed more than ever in all aspects and fields, including policy development [for] and general awareness [of] cybersecurity.”
—Ella Hamwaka, cybersecurity specialist
Prepare for the “vibe coding” compliance crisis
“Organizations rushing to adopt AI coding assistants without proper governance will face a reckoning in 2026. While ‘vibe coding’ feels efficient, it’s creating invisible and silent security gaps that traditional audits aren’t designed to catch. Companies that fail to implement AI-specific governance frameworks now will find themselves scrambling when regulators start asking hard questions about AI-generated code provenance and security controls.”
—Shrav Mehta, CEO, Secureframe
Cybersecurity hits the limits of system complexity
“2026 is the year the cybersecurity industry confronts an uncomfortable truth: We’re nearing the fundamental limits of sustainable complexity in distributed systems. This isn’t about better tools or bigger budgets; it’s about the thermodynamic coordination constraints we’ve ignored for too long. Organizations that recognize this early—and design for graceful degradation—will adapt and survive.”
—Trey Darley, founder, Proper Tools
Companies will rehire for jobs eliminated by AI
“Next year, companies that rushed to make layoffs hoping AI would fill a significant gap will realize they need to rehire to fill some of those roles. We saw this starting this year with companies like Klarna, rehiring to fill customer service roles that chatbots failed at. Next year, we’ll see more of this.”
—Mahe Bayireddi, founder and CEO, Phenom
996 culture loses steam because the output is not real
“We used to call it hustle culture, but this year it was rebranded to 996. Outside of short sprints (less than three months), I have never seen anyone produce long-term quality work for six days a week, 12+ hours in front of a screen. Actual output is similar to a normal day. VCs often push this culture more than founders, which fuels the perception that extreme hours are required. It’s not sustainable, and it signals that a company is not building a culture for the long term.”
—Immad Akhund, cofounder and CEO, Mercury
Book Recommendations
Sound Is Not Enough by Svetlana Kouznetsova
“The book explains why accessibility—particularly audio and communication accessibility—is not optional or a ‘nice to have,’ but a core business requirement for all organizations of any size.”
—Svetlana Kouznetsova, accessibility strategy consultant
The Art of Living by Epictetus
“This book sits on my desk (and in my work bag when I am on the road) 365 days a year. I commit to reading a page from it every day and have for over a decade. It is a practical manual for Stoic philosophy—a reminder of core values and what’s actually in our control to live a happy, virtuous, and resilient life.”
—Leagh Turner, CEO, Coupa
The Odyssey by Homer
“If you’re looking for inspiration on how to write a comeback story for your company, there’s no better tale than The Odyssey. On the surface, it’s a Marvel comic-style adventure story of a warrior conquering obstacle after obstacle—the Sirens’ song, Cyclops’ grasp, Charybdis’ pull. It’s also a story of leadership—of what it takes to overcome a fractious, even mutinous crew. It’s a tale of tapping into motivation (over 10 years!) and keeping your eyes on the prize.”
—David Risher, CEO, Lyft
Share your thoughts and recommendations
What books, resolutions, or big ideas are you embracing in 2026? Write to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and we’ll revisit some of these topics throughout the year.
Read more: the year ahead
Venture investors share their market predictions
How to rewire your brain for success in 2026
Five ways to build global teams this year