Top 5 Software Trends — 2026-05-31

Top 5 Technology Trends

1. OpenAI Officially Releases GPT-5.1 — More Warm and Conversational AI

OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5.1, with a rollout to paid users starting immediately. This upgrade delivers a warmer, more conversational model performance and introduces new ways to customize the tone and style of ChatGPT.

• Why it matters: AI models are moving beyond simple performance gains to allow for granular user experience customization, which could accelerate enterprise adoption.
• Companies/Projects: OpenAI
• Action for Practitioners: Test the new GPT-5.1 customization features and begin reviewing their integration into existing prompt workflows.

2. Google I/O 2026 — 100 AI and Developer Tool Announcements

At I/O 2026, Google made 100 announcements covering models, agents, and developer tools. Gemini 3.5 Flash is faster than other frontier models while outperforming Gemini 3.1 Pro on nearly all benchmarks. Additionally, the new Preferred Sources feature allows publishers to secure visibility within AI Overviews.

• Why it matters: Google is integrating AI search and the developer tool ecosystem, signaling a fundamental change in search engines. The industry is rapidly shifting from prompt-based to action-based interactions.
• Companies/Projects: Google, Gemini API, Google AI Studio
• Action for Practitioners: Review the 100 Google I/O announcements and evaluate the feasibility of integrating the Gemini API.

3. AI Inference Costs Drop by 80% — Surge in Production AI Economics

Industry analysis shows that AI inference costs have decreased by 80% during the first half of 2026. This has completely transformed the economics of frontier models, prompting many companies to aggressively push forward with AI production deployments that were previously delayed.

• Why it matters: As cost barriers are removed, AI adoption is spreading from large enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses, driving fundamental changes in software architecture and deployment strategies.
• Companies/Projects: Major AI providers including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic
• Action for Practitioners: Re-analyze cost-effectiveness to re-evaluate the ROI of previously reviewed AI projects and adjust priorities.

4. GitHub Actions — Visual Studio 2026 Runner Image Public Preview

GitHub is providing a public preview of new Windows runner images, including Visual Studio 2026. This will run in parallel with the windows-2025 image, providing a secure validation path for future migrations to the default Windows image.

• Why it matters: As CI/CD pipelines synchronize with the latest development tools, enterprise build automation is being modernized, reflecting the rapid evolution of the Windows developer ecosystem.
• Companies/Projects: GitHub Actions, Visual Studio 2026
• Action for Practitioners: Begin testing workflow compatibility with the windows-2026 runner image.

5. Growth of AI-Driven Publisher Solutions in MarTech

With Google introducing Preferred Sources for publishers in AI Overviews and AI Mode, competition among MarTech and content platforms to maintain visibility in the AI search era is intensifying. This confirms that AI-based search is establishing itself as a primary traffic channel.

• Why it matters: The "AI-fication" of search engines requires a fundamental change in content distribution and SEO optimization strategies. Both developers and publishers must design new AI-friendly content structures.
• Companies/Projects: Google AI Overviews, MarTech platforms
• Action for Practitioners: Establish strategies to optimize content visibility in an AI search environment.

1 sources

martech.org

martech.org

Deep Analysis

1. Democratization of AI Costs Accelerates Production Shifts The 80% cost reduction is not just a price drop; it provides the economic foundation to integrate AI into core business logic. The release of GPT-5.1 and Gemini 3.5 Flash combines this price competitiveness with performance improvements, pointing toward a massive wave of AI adoption in the second half of 2026.

2. Shift from Prompts to Agents is Underway Many of the 100 announcements at Google I/O focused on "agents" and "automated execution tools." This means developers should move beyond simple chatbots to build agent systems capable of autonomous decision-making. Developing LLM-based agents is expected to be the hottest area of mid-2026.

3. AI Search Becomes Core Infrastructure, Demanding Content Strategy Overhaul With features like Preferred Sources and AI Overviews, traditional SEO and social media marketing are no longer sufficient. Developers and publishers must invest in structured data, API-based content delivery, and machine-readable formatting favored by AI search engines.

Notable Moves

• Phasing out OpenAI o3 and GPT-4.5: OpenAI is pushing for a transition to GPT-5.1, with a 90-day sunset period for older models. It is necessary to audit existing prompts and API calls.

• Strengthening Android Security: Google is expanding Failed Authentication Lock and Identity Check features, requiring mobile app developers to utilize new security APIs.

• Microsoft AI Adoption Report: Global AI usage rose from 16.3% to 17.8% in Q1 2026, serving as a signal of market expansion for enterprise solution developers.

Checklist for This Week

• Review documentation for GPT-5.1 customization and experiment with tone/style settings in a test environment.
• Select 3–5 items from the 100 Google I/O announcements that are relevant to your project and evaluate them.
• Perform an ROI simulation by recalculating costs for existing AI projects.
• Evaluate your team’s agent development capabilities and establish a learning roadmap (Agentic AI is expected to be an essential skill by late 2026).