Mohit Taneja and Stephanus Meiring explore the last 12 months of deep-tech innovation, offering their thoughts on the future.
The deep-tech sector is often characterised by the way in which it evolves seemingly in the blink of an eye. Clever new innovations supersede previously tried and tested methods, novel research creates new areas to explore, and entire industries and sectors transform.
Mohit Taneja, a manager of engineering at HR software platform Workhuman, pictures today’s deep-tech landscape as “a modern Renaissance”, effectively showcasing a “shift where science, engineering and design thinking come together to solve problems once deemed impossible”.
The excitement, he noted, is in seeing how technologies that were once considered to be cutting-edge have now moved into the mainstream collective, to be joined in the future by a range of deep-tech innovations in areas that range from novel AI and quantum computing to advanced materials, green energy and space exploration.
“The deep-tech landscape is undergoing one of the most profound shifts in modern engineering,” agreed Stephanus Meiring, managing director at e-commerce company Rent the Runway. “You simply cannot talk about technology today without talking about AI. It is reshaping how we build, operate, and interact with digital systems.”
He finds that as we move from keyword-driven interactions, where the user applies their own logic, to prompt experiences where AI is essentially in the driver’s seat, we are witnessing an exciting change, but also one that is “a little unsettling”. He said: “Innovators continue to push boundaries while regulators work to keep pace, and finding the balance between progress and responsibility is essential.”
Taneja also ponders the importance of ensuring that deep tech doesn’t evolve into a technology that makes human connection or interaction surplus to requirements.
While he can see its value in solving complex problems and addressing many of the world’s most pressing issues, such as healthcare and the climate crisis, he is of the opinion that “true deep‑tech innovation requires patience, collaboration and a willingness to invest in research without receiving an immediate payoff”.
He said innovators in this space have a responsibility to stay human-centric at their core, investing in human capital and empowering others through recognition and humane approaches.
Moving with the times
And for the organisations and professionals keen to keep pace with an evolving sector, Taneja said that in his experience, those that thrive “don’t chase shiny gadgets”. Instead they forge a community, cultivate curiosity and practise empathy. “This is because deep-tech solutions address complex challenges, create intellectual property (IP) and can form strong moats.
“It’s a way for companies to build real, defensible innovation. The organisations that leverage deep tech effectively build cross-functional tech-radar loops, partner with universities and start-ups, co-create solutions and retain their core IP.”
Meiring is of the same opinion, noting: “The companies that win are those that resist the lure of shiny trends and focus instead on where AI creates sustained value.” For that to happen, organisations have to prioritise the utilisation of clean data, modern cloud platforms and strong observability.
“When AI enhances workflows and customer experience, it becomes a force multiplier,” he explained. “When used superficially, it adds noise rather than value.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that experts should forgo using new technologies as a means of cancelling out the noise, it is about ensuring that your tech stack is simple but effective. For Meiring, agentic AI is emerging as one of the most transformative developments in deep tech, as instead of “producing a single response, agentic systems coordinate multiple specialised AI agents that plan, reason, retrieve information and take actions, essentially a digital team collaborating end-to-end”.
This can unlock the automation of complex processes that previously required multiple human or system handoffs. It also demands strong governance, high-quality data and clear control boundaries, ensuring that the agent is an assisting tool, not a replacement for skilled professionals.
This is an element that is equally as important for Taneja, who said: “There are several emerging technologies that are reshaping industries and what’s underpinning all of this is a growing emphasis on AI governance and ethical frameworks.”
Describing regulation as a priority that resonates with his beliefs as an ‘AI humanist’, he explained that “technology should serve humanity”. A mentality that, if held by all STEM professionals, leaves the current deep-tech landscape in very capable hands moving into 2026.
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