Coffee With Kyle: 2026, The Year of Creative Opportunity
Hey Everyone,
Happy New Year. Welcome to 2026!
I hope you all had a great holiday season. On my end, we managed to squeeze in a short family trip and then followed that up by everyone getting sick (flu, colds, the full package). That is also why I missed a couple Coffee with Kyle updates, but I am back now and ready to roll.
I want to kick off the year with an open discussion.
Where do you see technology, online business, and your own business heading in 2026?
I will share a few thoughts below, but the main goal of this post is to hear from you and get a strong community discussion going.
We Are All Becoming Creators.
One big shift I see continuing into 2026 is how creative power is spreading to everyone.
Over the last few months, I have seen more creativity inside the community than ever before. People are building things they simply could not have built a year ago.
AI has already:
- Changed how we create written content
- Dramatically changed how we create images
Now you can take almost any idea in your head and bring it to life visually. That was not realistic even a few months ago at this scale.
What Comes Next After Images.
Right now, images are in a very strong place.
Video is improving quickly, but in my view it is not fully there yet. I use and test all of the major tools regularly. They are impressive, but not quite at the same level as image creation.
That said, I would not be surprised if by the end of 2026, video creation reaches the same point. When that happens, anyone will be able to turn ideas into high-quality video without traditional production skills.
Beyond that, I believe the next major shift will be product design. Being able to take an idea and turn it into a physical or manufactured product is coming, even if it is still a few years out.
Ideas Are No Longer the Bottleneck.
Most people have always had ideas. The problem was implementation.
AI is removing that barrier. You can now:
- Test ideas quickly
- Visualize concepts instantly
- Build and iterate without large teams or budgets
This is opening the door to new opportunities, new roles, and new ways to build businesses. Those who lean into this creator-driven world are going to thrive.
What I Want From You.
I want your input on two things:
- Where do you think things are heading in 2026? This can be technology, AI, online business, or your own niche.
- What do you want us to build for you this year? Tools, features, training, workflows, or anything that would help you grow your business.
We have some big projects underway that you will start seeing in the coming weeks, and your feedback plays a big role in shaping what comes next.
It is going to be a great year. I am excited about what is ahead for the community and excited to see what you build in 2026.
Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and let’s get the conversation started.
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Recent Comments
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Kyle - I think for content creators this year and beyond will open the chest for new and unique and creative ways of integrating image, video and the power or words. Still there are quite a lot of people not clear on the how to use AI. I'm still playing around with what we have to offer in WA so don't have any concrete suggestions for new ideas as yet. Will definitely let you know as soon as something comes up.
Yeah, the clarity is really starting to come together as so much has happened within the AI world, so quickly. One thing that I think people are going to realize (even laypeople with now tech experience) is that they are becoming capable creators. Anything that they can envision, they can create...and this is going to extend to video very soon (minus the very high costs).
I think in the coming year some of the most creative works that we have seen will be released, and gain tons of traction. And this work will be done by people that never would have had the opportunity to accomplish this without AI.
And yes, if you ever have any suggestions we are all ears...but we are also working on a lot of things behind the scenes. :)
Hey Kyle,
I'm really looking forward to seeing what this year brings! AI keeps getting better and better and as you said, the ideas that people are coming up with to use it in a positive way are just amazing!
In one of my marathon sessions with Chat GPT, I tried to get a quartet of Golden Retrievers to sing Sweet Adeline, while dressed in traditional barbershop garb. Needless to say, it fell short. So, if I had to ask for something to be created on this wonderful platform, it would be for an AI video creator that could handle things like that. But I know that may be a stretch, at least today.
By the way, I think you should go with the high school boy/boy band hair style!!
Thanks for everything you do! And Happy New Year! Cheers!🎉☃️🥂
Tim 🎼
AI does keep getting better, and it is allow us to get better and better at things and more capable. There was a time when I couldn't create memes or a quality image, without investing half my day. I could never integrate the WA logo into the scene. I couldn't create industrial product designs, and I certainly could dream up of concepts and have them made in seconds.
So time efficiency is one thing, but there is something beautiful about being able to imagine things and bring them to life. Or to give AI a broad idea, and to be able to soundboard or give it feedback in a progressive manner to drum up ideas that have never been thought of...or images that have never been created...or programming concepts that have yet to exist.
The sky is the limit, but it is key that we embrace it as quick as it comes...and allow it to make us more capable than ever and solve bigger problems than ever. You are doing to see a lot of fun implementations of this as we move forward, and we are really look forward to it.
As for the hairstyle, not sure if that is going to be my new look...but you never know! lol
Happy New Year to everyone here! I believe 2026 is going to be a great year for personal development as well as business growth. There is so much potential that is easily achievable with the current tools at our disposal and I know they will just continue to get better and better.
I'm excited to see what the new projects that yall have been working on are. Can't wait!
Happy New Year to you as well Elizabeth! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the year ahead, and I agree in both cases (for everyone). These are always things that we can work on improving and growing!
Lots to look forward to here within WA (as always), and we look forward to continuing to innovate here to keep the community ahead of the curve! :)
Hello Kyle,
A very happy New Year to you and your family.
I'm sorry that you have all been under the weather, that's not much fun, but I'm pleased that you are getting back to normal, which is great news.
It's interesting what you are saying about AI videos and how it's moving forward, but it probably won't be until the end of the year. I think for some things AI videos will work, but at the same time, if, for example, I wanted a review of Wealthy Affiliate, I would still want to see the real thing. If I go on an AI – how-to or review video, I can't click away quick enough, but that's just me, I just want the real deal and to see a real person. So, in some cases, maybe for children stories, fun things, AI video may be good, but not for more serious things, etc.
I like watching old tractor videos and videos on farm machinery, etc, but sometimes an AI video will appear from somewhere and really, it's just a load of rubbish! It may be something silly like a tractor ploughing a field with a one wheeled tractor or something very zany, just so far from the truth or the real thing!
For myself, I see myself going deeper with YouTube and a few other things, including my Facebook page, which is relatively new, but I'm building it. I'm also going deeper with LinkedIn, but I don't want to take on too many platforms, otherwise it's just overwhelming.
Just regarding your Image Studio, Kyle, it's brilliant! I'm using it all the time for YouTube thumbnails, Facebook pictures, LinkedIn, etc, so bravo for making it so great! I'm actually thinking of creating a YouTube video promoting Image Studio, but then sharing everything else that comes with Wealthy Affiliate.
Have a great and productive year.
Roy
I pretty much agree with everything you said, although, maybe for different reasons.
Bob
Thank you, Robert, much appreciated!
Great minds think alike!
I trust that you are doing well.
A very happy New Year to you.
All the best.
Roy
Yeah, video really isn't there yet to replace existing video. But there are a lot of funny, captivating, entertaining, and shocking videos that people are creating with significant reach. Some are quite beautiful as well and there are going to be a lot of applications and opportunities that spin out of the AI video side of things.
You are going to see a lot of progression in that space in the year ahead.
I look forward to seeing your Youtube and your Facebook to scale. So glad you are enjoying Image Studio and you will be able to leverage it in both of those areas. When video is ready and a bit more affordable for the masses, we will also allow for that. It's getting pretty close.
Wishing you a productive and great year as well!
Good morning Kyle,
I can imagine that AI videos for many things, like filmmaking and easy watching, will probably change how we do everything, so, it will be interesting to see what happens. But I think when it comes to business or review type videos, people may still like the real thing! But I have been wrong before!
I have never used AI video software, so once it becomes more affordable and more usable, maybe I will start using, who knows!
Thank you, Kyle, I have some other things I'm working on as well as YouTube and Facebook, but let's see what the New Year brings. Will be interesting if you add video to the image studio, which I think is what you mean.
All the best and have a great week.
Roy
As I have been really preaching from the rafters, we are entering into a world where we can all be the creative director and bring our ideas to life. Whether that is content, whether that is video, whether those are more complicated ideas or solutions to problems, whether that is visual imagery....or even product design.
It's all coming, and the technical hurdles are being removed for everyone to be able to explore their creativity.
This is all going to be very fascinating, Kyle, I look forward to trying the new technology in the future.
It's hard to believe that I can ask Image Studio, to create me a YouTube thumbnail and then return a few seconds later, and it's all done!
Have a great day.
Roy
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Kyle,
Love the video as always, including the retro WA mug!
Question 1)
Clearly AI will continue to progress. It's hard to believe just how quickly these changes are coming, and it's hard to keep up with all the tools. I'm considering a course to familiarize myself with more AI tools, I see courses in ads but I'm not sure which are legit and helpful. For creators this is truly levelling the playing field as you said. I just hope as far as AGI that people listen to Geoffrey Hinton, known as the 'Godfather of AI,' who is fairly (seriously) concerned. If I see one more video of him warning us about how AI is showing evidence of possibly getting out of control and the very real need for guardrails, I'm going to sneak myself into Zuckerberg's underground bunker! ;)
I also think most people are unprepared for how blockchain tech (crypto) is going to be underpinning most everything in finance within a year or three. Just my opinion.
2) There is so much to offer here as far as training and tools that I still have so much to go through. One thing that I hope to see in the future, and after watching your video I assume that will be available when the tech is there, is tools for video creation. In particular, I have been interested in creating animations, in fact I have a few episodes of a children's series written. To have that professionally produced, I have found, is cost prohibitive at this point. I lack the skills currently to animate on my own. The video creation tools, in particular animation if it's not already available, is something I look forward to quite a bit!
Thanks for reading, forgive my AI concerns, but if I see a company called Cyberdyne pop up, I'm moving to Greenland pronto!! (actually that company is here and its named Anduril, (shout out to LOTR fans) 60 minutes can be a really scary program). Happy New Year WA! Let's crush it this year (If we survive...) I'm kidding, kidding, LOL. I just love conspiracy theories, not sure how to properly monetize that niche but I'm workin on it.