Organizations had high ambitions for 2025, driving more innovation and costs to manage. AI continued to expand its reach and complicate spend, especially as more autonomous systems entered the mix. Mobility became an even more critical, and costly, part of daily work as fleets expanded and security risks grew. Telecom costs didn’t disappear, but they evolved in ways that challenged old assumptions.
From an IT expense management perspective, Tangoe’s experts expected those pressures to show up in specific ways. Some did. Others didn’t. A few surprised us entirely. Let’s talk about it. Why did some trends take hold while others didn’t, and what does it all mean for the year ahead?
AI Governance Didn’t Arrive in 2025 Like We Thought It Would
More advanced forms of AI like GenAI and Agentic AI demand more compute, more data movement, and more integrations – and with them, higher costs, greater risk, and more scrutiny around sustainability. With AI advancing so quickly, the expectation was that governance would follow close behind. But it didn’t play out that way.
AI adoption did move forward in 2025, just not in ways that demanded serious governance. Many organizations stuck to low-risk, assistive use cases: cleaning up writing, summarizing information, automatingsmall tasks. Useful, but not risky.
AI is still treated as a productivity boost, but it won’t be this way forever. Governance always follows impact. Once AI starts making decisions that affect revenue, compliance, security, or trust, the rules will come fast. As Agentic AI goes mainstream, we could turn that corner at any moment.
The smart move is to get ahead of it. Companies that put guardrails in place now will be far better positioned when AI shifts from experimentation to execution. A FinOps-certified platform helps by bringing visibility into how AI uses data, how much infrastructure and energy it consumes, how those costs hit the budget, and how governance can scale alongside innovation instead of scrambling with a reactive approach.
AI + Mobile Security Definitely Intensified
According to IDC, the average worker uses 2-3 devices daily. The attack surface is wider than ever, and bad actors got a lot smarter about how they use it in 2025. AI-powered scams quickly became one of the biggest mobile security concerns for businesses. Voice cloning, deepfakes, hyper-personalized phishing messages – all pushed straight to the device in someone’s hand. These kinds of incidents aren’t rare anymore. They’re becoming part of everyday operations, and organizations need to be prepared for them across every device their employees rely on.
Looking ahead, this trend won’t slow down. Organizations that want to protect both data and budgets will need unified visibility across devices, users, and services plus the ability to act quickly when something looks off. That’s why we predict that Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) as part of Managed Mobility Services (MMS) will boom in 2026.
Mobile Data Pricing Indeed Hit a “Sea of Sameness”
We predicted that provider switching alone would stop being a reliable savings lever, and it proved true. By midyear, a lot of companies realized they were looking at essentially the same offerings across carriers: similar networks, similar pricing, similar promises.
When pricing looks the same everywhere, optimization becomes the differentiator. Savings come from understanding how data is used across locations, roles, and device types and then aligning plans accordingly. It also means negotiating smarter by leveraging this usage intelligence along with industry-leading benchmarks.
Local nuances still matter. Some carriers perform better (and cost less) in specific geographies, but unlocking the most value requires granular insight and ongoing management. 2026 will continue driving this shift toward intelligence-led mobility optimization where analytics, automation, and strategic sourcing work together to control costs. Tangoe’s Managed Mobility Services (MMS) solution and advisory servicesdeliver the best of both worlds.
The “Demise” of BYOD Was…Complicated
We didn’t predict BYOD would disappear in 2025, but we did expect a bigger dent. It stuck around in roles where devices are optional or where employee experience outweighs tighter control. At the same time, pricing changes shook up business strategies. Smartphone prices had been trending downward for several years, easing the cost impact of corporate-owned devices, but our experts are now seeing signs of upward pressure driven by memory constraints like DRAM, increased demand for AI-capable chips, and rising component costs.
This all makes device decisions harder to time and harder to standardize, which is why device strategy remains highly individualized. Industry norms, workforce expectations, regulatory pressure, and company culture all play a role.
Where do we stand in 2026? Whether your organization leans on BYOD, corporate-owned, or a hybrid approach like corporate-owned, personally-enabled (COPE) or Choose Your Own Device (CYOD), pricing volatility remains a big part of the equation. Security does, as well. Arguably the biggest driver toward corporate-liable is security – when you own the device, you control access to your data – but there are many other factors at play.
The key is managing it all deliberately – balancing security, cost, and employee experience. Competitive sourcing, contingency planning, approved alternates, flexible refresh timing, and inventory cleanup all help keep price swings from dictating outcomes, while consistent device policies and controls reduce risk. An MMS platform like Tangoe One Mobile delivers the deep visibility and control needed to make mobility decisions that stay strategic vs. reactive.
The Telecom Trajectory was Right, but the Cost Outcome Wasn’t
Heading into 2025, the expectation was that growth in IoT, M2M communication, and edge computing would send telecom costs through the roof. Instead, competition intensified and prices fell.
Increased demand brought scale efficiencies. Providers pushed harder to win and retain business. Organizations negotiated better terms. Many ended up with more bandwidth, stronger guarantees, and better performance at a fraction of prior costs. This level of price compression surprised nearly everyone.
The upside? Organizations were able to expand without the budget shock they had braced for. The risk? Lower baseline costs can mask unchecked growth if there’s no visibility into usage.
The opportunity in 2026 is to bank the benefits of price compression instead of letting growth erase them. Proactive management is a must: monitoring usage, adjusting plans, and negotiating with data in hand. Without strict oversight, savings can (and will) evaporate. See how Tangoe One Telecom saves you more while streamlining financial management.
Looking Ahead
Technology doesn’t move in straight lines, and neither do its costs. Organizations that pair deep visibility and integration with experts by their side will measurably pull ahead – adapting better, saving more, and reducing risks, even as the market gets more complicated and disruptive.
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