Giants in the tech stock space are battling it out this week with the news from AI developer Anthropic (creator of Claude AI) that it will be investing more heavily in goal oriented tools when it comes to their AI products. This comes off the back of our recent article about Open.AI segmenting their own product into specialized versions for healthcare and more.
Existing software companies are feeling the pressure as artificial intelligence creeps into their unique sectors of the market, from the creative tools at Adobe to the CRM capabilities of Salesforce, tax software Intuit and Equifax, and even legal software with LegalZoom all saw significant hits to their overall stock value this week.
Whether AI is a bubble waiting to burst or on the cusp of emerging to even greater heights remain to be seen, but the evaluations being put forward continue to be eye watering. Even Tesla is entering the race there after the merger between Tesla and xAI (Elon Musk’s own AI product) with a private evaluation of their SpaceX sector estimated at $1.25 trillion. Are these figures based in reality or being propped up by the speculative nature of artificial intelligence in general?
Needless to say, investors are not convinced as the as the Dow dropped 600 points this Thursday, marking a third day of stock sell offs. There is also the ever growing threat of more regulations and class action lawsuits to claw back protections for data that have largely been overlooked as a means to progress AI domination worldwide.
Tech stocks weren’t the only things that saw a tumble this week, for the first time since 2024 Bitcoin fell below $67,000, again a reflection that digital assets and digital investments are at risk for an extreme reevaluation as actual reality confronts the speculative nature of virtual reality. It’s also worth noting that the current value is nearly half of the high it reached just this October ($126,000).
For everyday business owners you may be looking at all this and wondering, what technology upgrades are safe to invest in in 2026?
Luckily, we have a list of four bullet proof IT investments that will strengthen your business’s technological footing for 2026 and beyond:
1) Zero Trust Security Architecture
Security threats are more sophisticated than ever, and breaches are now a question of when, not if. Zero Trust isn’t a buzzword anymore, it’s a strategic shift.
Practical investments include:
- Identity-centric controls (MFA, conditional access, least-privilege models
- Network segmentation and micro-segmentation
- Continuous verification and endpoint attestation
Why it’s bulletproof: Attacks will continue to outpace perimeter security. Zero Trust aligns defenses with real risk, not outdated trust boundaries.
2) Cloud-Native Governance & Cost Optimization
Most organizations are already in the cloud, but unmanaged cloud spend and technical debt are huge drains.
Key investments:
- Governance Frameworks
- Tagging policies, budget alerts, and cost accountability models
- Autoscaling controls
Why it’s bulletproof: Efficient cloud operations directly impact the bottom line. Regardless of tech trends, optimized cloud governance reduces waste and improves agility.
3) Modern Identity & Access Infrastructure
Strong identity foundations are the backbone of secure digital operations.
Investments here include:
- Enterprise Identity Providers (Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.)
- Privileged Access Management (PAM)
- Single-Sign-On (SSO) and secure API authentication
Why it’s bulletproof: Secure, user-centric access isn’t optional. Identity is the new perimeter, and strong identity reduces risks from ransomware to insider threats.
4) Data Protection & Resilient Backup/Recovery
With ransomware and regulatory compliance rising, recovery readiness is critical.
Priority investments:
- Immutable backups and air-gapped storage
- Disaster Recovery
- End-to-end encryption at rest & in transit
- Robust retention, classification, and recovery testing
Why it’s bulletproof: Every business must reliably recover from failures or attacks. Better backup and recovery isn’t just defensible, it’s essential.
While we believe investing in AI is important, it’s even more important not to overlook the benefits of longstanding, common sense derived technology upgrades to your business’s technology that will protect your data, improve efficiency and build resiliency no matter what is occurring in the world at large. Valley Techlogic can help you plan and strategize on ways to thoughtfully introduce new technologies in your business while supporting the day to day tech that keeps your business running. Learn more today with a consultation.
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This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, leading provider of trouble free IT services for businesses in California including Merced, Fresno, Stockton & More. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on X at https://x.com/valleytechlogic and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/valley-techlogic-inc/.