The $98 Billion Enterprise Software Revolution: From Human-Centric to Process-Centric Design

Forrester’s 2026 predictions identify a fundamental shift: enterprise applications will move beyond enabling employees with digital tools to accommodating a digital workforce of AI agents.

Enterprise Software Revolution

The Great Inversion:

Human-centric software (legacy): Menus, dashboards, forms — click through workflows.

Process-centric software (agent-native): APIs, events, natural language — orchestrate with agents.

The Architecture Transformation:

Dimension Human-Centric Process-Centric Impact
Primary Interface GUI, Dashboards APIs, Events 10x automation
Data Flow Human-triggered Real-time streaming Zero latency
Decision Making Manual approval AI-orchestrated 24/7 operations

Enterprise Giants Go Agent-Native:

  • Salesforce Agentforce — 12K+ deployments
  • ServiceNow Now Assist — Agent marketplace
  • SAP Joule — AI copilot embedded
  • Microsoft Copilot Studio — 400K+ custom agents
  • Workday — HR automation agents

Market Impact: $98B by 2026 — 67% agent-native adoption, 80% process automation, 40% productivity gain


This is part of a comprehensive analysis of 20+ AI business trends for 2026. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.

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