--- title: "Our ten software trends, rescored: 3 became budget lines, 2 faded" summary: "The ten developments our December 2024 post named, rescored against spending, loss and adoption figures published up to September 2026." url: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/top-10-software-tech-developments-that-shaped format: Note desk: "SaaS & business software" published: 2026-07-29 facts_checked: 2026-09-30 author: TechBag (The TechBag Journal) tags: ["technology trends","generative AI","Gemini","Kubernetes","DORA","Meta Reality Labs","AR/VR","data centres","IEA","CERT-In","DPDP"] cover: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/covers/top-10-software-tech-developments-that-shaped.png --- # Our ten software trends, rescored: 3 became budget lines, 2 faded *The ten developments our December 2024 post named, rescored against spending, loss and adoption figures published up to September 2026.* Note · SaaS & business software · By TechBag · Published 2026-07-29 · Facts checked 2026-09-30 · Canonical: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/top-10-software-tech-developments-that-shaped Three of the ten developments this blog listed at the end of 2024 became lines in an Indian IT budget; two faded for buyers; one went into reverse. The list itself had already aged before it was published: it named Bard, which Google had renamed Gemini on 8 February 2024.[1] Here is the same list, rescored with what was known by September 2026. ## Rescored: what each trend became **Figure: Three of our ten 2024 trends became budget lines; two faded for buyers** *The ten developments in our December 2024 post, by what they became for a buyer, as of September 2026* Became a budget line generative AI, cloud-native, security 3 Folded into what you already buy low-code, analytics, DevOps 3 Faded for buyers blockchain, AR/VR 2 Reversed sustainability 1 Not a software purchase IoT 1 | | Value | | --- | --- | | Became a budget line | 3 | | Folded into what you already buy | 3 | | Faded for buyers | 2 | | Reversed | 1 | | Not a software purchase | 1 | Source: TechBag rescoring of its 30 December 2024 post against the sources below · as of 30 September 2026 · a judgement under a stated rule, not a survey TechBag countHow we scored A trend “became a budget line” if an Indian mid-sized company now buys it as a separately priced item, and “folded in” if it arrived inside software already being paid for. “Faded” means no category guide on TechBag covers it as a purchase. Ten trends, one verdict each. ## The evidence behind the verdicts **Generative AI** became a line, then partly folded in: Google added Gemini to its Workspace business plans on 15 January 2025 instead of selling it as an add-on.[2] **Security** grew because regulation made it compulsory; Gartner forecast Indian information-security spending at US$3.4 billion for 2026.[3] **Cloud-native** stayed a line and stayed wasteful: Cast AI measured average Kubernetes CPU use at 8% and memory at 20% in its 2026 report.[4] We cover that in [a separate piece](https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/taming-kubernetes-wild-west-perfectscale-brings-order). **Low-code** and **analytics** folded into suites already on the invoice, as our pieces on [low-code](https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/rise-low-code-development-implications) and [AI analytics](https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/ai-analytics-future-data) found. **DevOps** folded into the toolchain, and AI did not speed it up: Google’s 2024 DORA report estimated that as AI adoption rose, delivery throughput fell 1.5% and delivery stability 7.2%.[5] **AR/VR** faded for buyers while its largest backer kept spending: Meta’s Reality Labs lost US$16.1 billion in 2023, US$17.7 billion in 2024 and US$19.2 billion in 2025, on revenue of US$2.2 billion in the last of those years.[6][7] **Sustainability** went into reverse: the IEA put data-centre electricity use at about 415 TWh in 2024 and projected about 945 TWh by 2030, with AI the largest driver.[8] Our view Our view: the useful lesson is not which trend won. It is that the winners reached buyers through two doors, a regulation that made the spend compulsory or a suite that bundled it, and the losers had neither. **For an Indian buyer.** The AI that arrived by the bundle door is priced in rupees: Google Workspace Business Standard, with Gemini, is ₹1,080 a user a month, plus 18% GST.[9] The security spend arrived by the regulation door, and the dates are fixed: CERT-In’s six-hour reporting rule since 28 April 2022, and the DPDP Rules, notified on 13 November 2025, with security and breach-notice duties from 13 May 2027.[10][11] How we did this Figures as of 30 September 2026 The ten trends are the ten headings of our 30 December 2024 post, unchanged. Each verdict applies the rule in the scoring note to the sourced figures above; it is a judgement, and a different rule would move low-code and analytics. Meta’s figures are Reality Labs segment operating losses from its annual results releases. Every figure was published on or before 30 September 2026. Spotted an error? Write to us; corrections are published at the foot of the piece. Sources 1. [Google, Bard becomes Gemini](https://blog.google/products/gemini/bard-gemini-advanced-app/) — 8 February 2024 2. [Google Workspace blog, Google Workspace enables the future of AI-powered work for every business](https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/empowering-businesses-with-AI) — 15 January 2025 3. [Gartner forecast via CXOToday, Information security spending in India to total US$3.4 billion in 2026](https://cxotoday.com/media-coverage/gartner-forecasts-information-security-spending-in-india-to-total-3-4-billion-in-2026/) — 9 March 2026 4. [Cast AI, 2026 State of Kubernetes Resource Optimization: CPU at 8%, memory at 20%](https://cast.ai/blog/2026-state-of-kubernetes-resource-optimization-cpu-at-8-memory-at-20-and-getting-worse/) — 21 April 2026 5. [Google Cloud, Announcing the 2024 DORA report](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/announcing-the-2024-dora-report) — 23 October 2024 6. [Meta, Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results (Reality Labs segment)](https://investor.atmeta.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2025/Meta-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2024-Results/default.aspx) — 29 January 2025 7. [Meta, Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results (Reality Labs segment)](https://investor.atmeta.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2026/Meta-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025-Results/default.aspx) — 28 January 2026 8. [IEA, Energy and AI, as reported by DatacenterDynamics](https://datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/iea-data-center-energy-consumption-set-to-double-by-2030-to-945twh) — April 2025 9. [Google Workspace, Pricing (India), Business Standard ₹1,080 a user a month, tax extra](https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_in/pricing.html) — vendor pricing page, undated 10. [CERT-In, Directions under section 70B(6) of the IT Act (six-hour reporting)](https://www.cert-in.org.in/Directions70B.jsp) — 28 April 2022 11. [DPDP Rules 2025, commencement timeline](https://legismith.com/dpdp-rules-2025-timeline/) — notified 13 November 2025 Related on TechBag: the [DevOps guides](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/devops) and the [security guides](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/security) cover the two budget lines that grew. **Disclosure.** TechBag is a software reseller: it earns a margin when a reader buys through it, including from vendors named here. The analysis is TechBag’s own; no vendor paid for or saw this piece before publication. Facts are labelled reported, TechBag count or our view. Go deeper on TechBag - [Security guides](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/security) — the budget line regulation made compulsory - [DevOps guides](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/devops) — cloud-native and the toolchain, priced