Producing more, faster, and at the lowest possible cost. In short, this has been the prevailing formula for business success over the past decades a formula that, in this new era, requires a degree of adaptation.
The sixth macrotrend identified in NTT DATA’s Technology Foresight 2026 report focuses precisely on the evolution from “illusory efficiency” to sufficiency. It is perhaps the least obvious transformation shaping the near future: the shift toward intelligent growth in a context defined by energy constraints, increasing regulatory pressure, climate volatility, cost fluctuations, and rising societal expectations.
The traditional model optimizes resources and maximizes returns within the existing system. Sufficiency, by contrast, challenges some of the assumptions that until now have seemed immutable. According to this trend, organizations will no longer strive simply to produce more with fewer resources. Instead, they will seek to identify the optimal level of production at which sustainable value is created that is, where resources are consumed rationally according to a new set of criteria. The sufficiency paradigm envisions intelligent systems capable of operating within clearly defined ecological and social boundaries, prioritizing long-term resilience over short-term, unlimited growth.
This is not about aspirational sustainability commitments that remain confined to presentations and good intentions. Rather, it is about leveraging specific technological capabilities that make sustainability operational. A range of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, digital twins, the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced automation, and traceability platforms are enabling a new generation of decisions based not on endless expansion, but on optimal thresholds for the consumption of energy, materials, and other resources.
A clear example can already be seen today. There is a widespread perception that the more AI tokens you consume, the greater the business value you generate and the more advanced your digital transformation becomes. But that assumption is unlikely to hold true for much longer. Achieving the right balance between effectiveness delivering the desired outcome and efficiency achieving it with the least possible use of resources will become one of the defining business challenges of the coming years.
A Transition Already Underway
Far from being an abstract futuristic vision, numerous indicators suggest that this transition is already in progress. According to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), more than 1,400 global corporations had established net-zero targets by mid-2025. At the same time, it is projected that 65% of companies will use agentic AI-powered ESG software to manage sustainable sourcing.
Regulation is also accelerating this transformation. New standards are shifting the focus from simple declarations to verifiable, audit-ready evidence. In other words, organizations are increasingly expected to demonstrate measurable and traceable reductions in their environmental impact.
The Technology Foresight 2026 report outlines several concrete scenarios. One example is carbon-aware workload routing, where AI and cloud workloads are automatically shifted to regions with lower carbon intensity, even if this means accepting higher latency or additional cost. Another is the replacement of large-scale AI models with smaller, specialized, and more energy-efficient models capable of addressing specific business needs while consuming only a fraction of today’s computational resources.
This transformation also requires a new digital backbone. ESG systems must become integrated into core business operations through lifecycle analytics platforms, carbon accounting, traceability solutions, and intelligent circularity capabilities. Sustainability can no longer be treated as an annual reporting exercise; under the sufficiency paradigm, it becomes a continuous operational capability.
Verifiable Systemic Reduction
Manufacturing is one of the sectors where this shift is becoming most visible. Digital twins make it possible to model the entire lifecycle of components and products, enabling organizations to determine whether repairing, reusing, remanufacturing, or recycling is preferable to producing new items. In logistics, artificial intelligence optimizes circular routes and reduces material losses across warehouses and transportation networks. In smart buildings, IoT sensors and predictive analytics dynamically adjust energy consumption, lighting, and climate control. In every case, the objective is the same: achieving verifiable systemic reduction.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this macrotrend, however, is its cultural dimension. Sufficiency redefines the very concept of corporate progress. Business success is no longer measured solely by linear growth more customers, higher consumption, greater capacity, or larger infrastructure but by an organization’s ability to combine profitability, resilience, and responsibility within sustainable limits. In this sense, sufficiency opens a new era of innovation centered on durability, circularity, regeneration, and the intelligent use of resources.
This means fewer excesses and greater precision.
For CEOs, the challenge is no longer simply understanding how to scale operations. They must now determine which parts of the operating model need to be reinvented in order to achieve a sustainable balance between growth, resilience, and social legitimacy.
In short, sufficiency is moving organizations toward a future where the logic of “more” focused solely on effectiveness is replaced by the logic of “better”, where effectiveness and efficiency go hand in hand