H1 2026 in review: what changed for EU software teams

Half a year is enough to separate noise from signal. Four things genuinely changed the way we build and ship for European clients in H1 2026 — here's the short, practical version of each.

1. AI agents grew up — and got a price tag

The conversation moved from "can it work" to "what does it cost to run". Teams that shipped agents in 2025 spent H1 2026 paying the running bill and learning to control it with model routing and prompt caching. If you're budgeting one now, we wrote the numbers down: what an AI agent actually costs in 2026.

2. The EU AI Act started to bite

It stopped being a future problem. Transparency and governance obligations now shape how AI features get designed and documented — and "we'll deal with it later" got more expensive. The practical, non-panic version is here: EU AI Act in practice.

3. NIS2 put security on the calendar

National transposition turned cybersecurity from a vague "we should" into dated obligations for a large set of companies and their suppliers. If you're in scope (or sell to someone who is), the 90-day playbook still applies: NIS2 readiness in 90 days.

4. Search moved to answer engines

AI overviews and answer engines kept eating clicks off the classic results page. The teams winning visibility are the ones writing structured, quotable, well-sourced content — exactly what gets pulled into an AI answer. Our take on adapting: generative engine optimization.

Want help turning any of these from a headline into a plan? Tell us which one is keeping you up at night. Talk to us.