Scott Galloway at OMR 2026: Sharp Predictions and Straight Talk
The OMR Festival 2026 is known for big stages and big names – and one of the highlights on day one was the appearance of Scott Galloway. The professor at the NYU Stern School of Business has long established himself as one of the most outspoken voices in the global tech debate. This year, anticipation was especially high: according to his own account, Scott Galloway’s predictions for 2025 were 100% accurate. Expectations for his “Predictions 2026” were accordingly high – and Scott Galloway delivered.
Right from the start, Scott Galloway set the tone with a statement that reframes the current AI boom: the data center bubble is bursting. The global expansion of infrastructure around artificial intelligence, he argued, is in many places outpacing actual demand. At the same time, he pointed to a striking shift in sentiment: fewer than 10% of young people feel optimistic about AI. For Scott Galloway, this highlights a growing gap between technological momentum and public perception. Still, he pushed back firmly against widespread fears about the labor market, emphasizing that AI will create more jobs than it destroys – though in different fields and with different skill requirements.
Scott Galloway also expects shifts among the major tech players. The current dominance of Nvidia and OpenAI, he said, will come under pressure as competition intensifies and the market evolves. As a standout pick, Scott Galloway pointed to Amazon – not because of its core retail or cloud businesses, but due to its long-term potential in industrial robotics and autonomous driving.
Looking beyond traditional tech, Scott Galloway highlighted new arenas for growth. Space, he argued, is becoming the next big thing, driven by companies like SpaceX that are pushing commercial access to orbit. At the same time, he offered a deliberately provocative investment idea: TikTok US may be the best investment most people cannot access.
The media industry, too, is undergoing rapid change. Short-form video and AI are putting increasing pressure on Hollywood. Content is being produced faster, consumed faster, and often distributed directly to audiences – without the traditional studio system as a gatekeeper. Alongside these shifts, Scott Galloway also pointed to developments in more traditional sectors. Real estate markets in London, Milan, and Genoa, he suggested, could be on the verge of a boom as global capital looks for attractive and stable locations.
On education, Scott Galloway was equally clear: the widely circulated narrative that “college is dead” does not hold up. Higher education remains, in his view, a key driver of economic success and social mobility. At the same time, he is observing a broader societal shift. Relationships with AI systems are becoming more common and increasingly normalized in everyday life.
This is where Scott Galloway turns personal. Despite all technological progress, he stressed one simple idea: people need to get out, meet others, build relationships, and live their lives in the real world. His pointed remark that men only truly function when they are in a relationship added a provocative edge to that message.
Scott Galloway’s “Predictions 2026” are not a grand, unified vision of the future, but rather a series of sharp, practical observations. After a year of strikingly accurate forecasts, they carry particular weight – not because they promise the next big thing, but because of the clarity with which Scott Galloway cuts through the noise. And perhaps that is his most important takeaway: in a world driven by technology, the analog still matters.