AI NEW NORMAL 2026
Came true: 88% of companies use AI. We can't live without it.
Key figures
WHAT I PREDICTED: November 2017, Exact Live in Utrecht, headline keynote plus Tech Talks interviewing Max Verstappen: "in 10 years we can't live without AI anymore", deadline November 2027
WHAT HAPPENED: 88% of companies use AI in at least 1 business function (McKinsey, November 2025); ChatGPT, launched 30 November 2022, had 900 million weekly users by February 2026, 50 million of them paying
STILL TO COME: AI writes the New York Times within 10 to 20 years, graded by 2037
MY 2030 FORECAST: the AI market hits $2 trillion; the value it creates hits $15 trillion
Artificial intelligence went from science fiction to the engine inside our apps, systems and companies. I predicted it in 2017.
November 2017, Exact Live in Utrecht. Exact invited me to headline its tech and business event, and in my Tech Talks I interviewed Max Verstappen.
I told Max: "People think it's like science fiction, scary and new. But in 10 years we can't live without it anymore."
I also told him: "The giant new tech players who are conquering our world cannot even work without artificial intelligence."
Max agreed and gave me an F1 example: at Red Bull Racing, AI already worked out the set-up of his car.
My deadline: November 2027. What happened: ChatGPT launched in November 2022. By November 2025, 88% of companies used AI in at least 1 business function (McKinsey). By February 2026, ChatGPT had 900 million weekly users, 50 million of them paying. Landed 1 year before my deadline.
Still open: on that same stage I also predicted "AI could also write the New York Times in 10 to 20 years." Graded by 2037.
My 2030 forecast: the AI market hits $2 trillion, the value it creates $15 trillion. The question is no longer whether you use AI. It is who controls it. I fear people, not technology.
