Chinese AI Models Are Reshaping the Global Landscape – What Does This Mean for Market Research?

I've been tracking the rise of Chinese AI systems with growing interest over the past year. In 2026, I predict that many organisations across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and beyond will turn to Chinese-developed AI as part of their solution. Note, I predict they will usually run these models locally rather than rely on cloud services.

AI is moving fast, but people aren’t. If your team is feeling change fatigue, the answer isn’t another shiny tool—it’s smarter change. In this post I share practical, low-friction ways to adopt AI: improvements “under the bonnet”, clearer workflows, and small wins that reduce effort without disrupting habits. Move forward with energy, not exhaustion. Ideal for research and insight leaders.

Agents are rapidly becoming the key way that AI delivers systematic, scalable benefits beyond one-off experiments. Ray Poynter has designed a new course to help start leveraging agents to boost your efficiency and effectiveness.