Pure Signal | AI Demands Bold Planning in 2026

Credera is excited to announce the release of a new Pure Signal episode: "AI Demands Bold Planning in 2026."

On this episode

What if annual planning no longer fits the world we live in? In this episode of Pure Signal, the team explores why traditional playbooks fall short in an AI-driven era and how leaders must rethink priorities, timelines, and team structures to stay competitive.

With 2026 around the corner, Kevin Erickson, Jake Carter, and Ryan Medellin explore the tension between bold innovation and responsible execution, questioning whether traditional planning models can keep pace with the speed of change. Pulling insights from real client conversations and the recent All-In Summit, the episode explores what AI-first planning actually looks like: budgeting for compute and data readiness, rethinking project structures, balancing near-term experimentation with long-term transformation, and most importantly, investing in your people. This is the year leaders can’t afford to default to copy-paste plans.

Whether you're in strategy, innovation, or delivery, this conversation offers a clear-eyed framework for how to think, plan, and lead in a future that’s already here.

Outline

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:30 Waymo rides and the All-In Summit

• 08:40 How AI-first companies are built different

• 11:00 The future of annual planning

• 17:00 Supporting the entire organization

• 21:00 Upskilling your teams for 2026

• 24:00 The power of curiosity

• 28:00 Let people own outcomes, not just projects

• 34:00 What leaders need to be focusing on

• 37:00 Boldness doesn’t mean recklessness

• 42:00 Final takeaways

Pure Signal

In Pure Signal, North America CEO Kevin Erickson, Global Chief Innovation Officer Jake Carter, and Manager in Digital Strategy and Delivery Ryan Medellin cut through the noise to bring you what matters in tech.   

Together they’re digesting the biggest developments in AI, ML, big data, and beyond to bring you the strategy-focused insights you need to position your business for an uncertain future.  

This episode is available wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

Listen now: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube

Connect on LinkedIn with: 

• Kevin Erickson

• Jake Carter

• Ryan Medellin

• Learn more about Credera 

• Artificial Intelligence
• Data Science, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
• Innovation
• AI
• Annual Planning