The OneAdvanced Business Trends Report is a trusted benchmark for the care sector, offering actionable insights into a fast shifting landscape. Sam Vernon, new business sales manager at OneAdvanced, gives us an overview
The care sector stands at a defining moment. As we look towards 2026, the landscape is shifting rapidly, driven by technological advancement, regulatory changes, and evolving societal needs. Our 10th Annual OneAdvanced Trends Report draws on the latest insights from providers and leaders across the industry, benchmarking them against critical sectors such as healthcare and education. The findings reveal a sector confronting both unparalleled challenges and remarkable opportunities.
AI has evolved into the backbone of modern care, connecting services, platforms, and relationships amid geopolitical complexity, environmental pressures, and a focus on trust, resilience, and user outcomes.
AI at the centre: the new context for care
AI now sits at the heart of the care sector’s transformation. Far from being a peripheral toolset, AI is integral to managing everything from daily operations to complex service user needs. Macro forces like political, environmental, regulatory, cultural, and economic are converging to drive both the speed of change and the complexity of decisions care leaders face.
The pivotal role of responsible innovation was brought to the forefront at our recent OneAdvanced Social Care Summit 2025. This event signalled the sector’s appetite for change, bringing together leading voices for a day packed with insight. The central theme was responsible technology, with a special focus on the practical and ethical use of AI. The unveiling of the latest Care Trends report by Care England grounded our discussions in hard data, while sessions on AI governance, employee wellbeing, and regulatory updates provided a holistic view of the road ahead.
Learning from our neighbours: health and social housing
When we look at adjacent sectors like health and social housing, we see similar pressures but often different stages of digital maturity. The health sector has historically been quicker to adopt large-scale digital infrastructure, yet it often grapples with legacy systems that hinder agility. They have the data but moving it freely remains a challenge. Social housing, meanwhile, has arguably made faster strides in integrating tenant-facing portals with back-end systems.
The care sector sits uniquely between these two worlds. It requires the clinical precision of health but the community focus of social housing. This position offers a unique opportunity to learn from the stumbling blocks of adjacent sectors. We can observe how health has navigated interoperability, and how housing has improved user experience. The goal for care is to balance rapid digital adoption with the irreplaceable human element of service delivery.
Political factors like digital sovereignty and regulations shape workforce and digital strategies. Cyber resilience is vital for trust and stability, while environmental challenges demand innovative resource planning. AI-powered modelling helps anticipate risks, showing digital maturity is about sustainability as well as efficiency
The integration gap: challenges beneath the surface
Despite the rapid pace of technology adoption, integration remains the sector’s principal stumbling block. Our report reveals a ‘platform paradox’ – investment in digital solutions is strong, but providers continue to report high levels of software misalignment. Many organisations are stuck in ‘automation purgatory’, where disconnected systems and manual interventions undermine ambitions for seamless, efficient care delivery.
This is a burden on frontline staff. When systems do not talk to each other, care workers spend valuable time re-entering data, doubling their administrative load and increasing the risk of errors
The care sector can learn from healthcare’s shift to Integrated Care Systems (ICS), emphasising interoperability and a ‘single source of truth’ for patient journeys. For care providers, the future lies in ecosystems where data flows seamlessly, rosters linking to payroll, care plans to medication records, mirroring integrated care pathways. Misaligned platforms risk not just inefficiency but delayed critical care.
Human-machine collaboration: navigating the skills divide
AI presents potential for transformative results, but only if staff are equipped to use it. Technology is only as effective as the people using it. Our report highlights a significant barrier: a persistent workforce readiness crisis. Despite AI being a top business priority for leaders, skills development often languishes in spending plans.
The health sector has pushed for digital literacy among clinicians, acknowledging that digital tools are as vital as medical instruments. Social housing has focused on up-skilling staff to manage digital tenant relationships. The care sector risks falling behind if it does not prioritise similar workforce development. The gap is also about cultural readiness; shifting the mindset from ‘technology is a task’ to ‘technology helps me care better’.
This disconnect risks fuelling complacency. Emerging issues such as ‘shadow AI’ – the unauthorised use of AI tools by staff – add complexity. Staff may turn to public, unvetted AI tools because their provided tools are insufficient or an organisational policy is lacking. This widens disparities in digital confidence and raises compliance risks. Unless organisations invest in robust training and prioritise a culture of continual learning, the full benefits of AI will remain elusive.
Value realisation and the cybersecurity imperative
It is no longer enough to invest in digital transformation; leaders must ensure those investments drive measurable value. The report reveals a perception gap where executives believe they realise significantly more value from technology than their frontline staff perceive. Unless value is shared and visible at every level, digital transformation will stall.
Barriers to value remain stubborn, including economic uncertainty and skills gaps. However, there are bright spots. Leaders point to tangible benefits from increased cloud collaboration, automation of core processes, and executive-driven analytics.
Crucially, the report shines a light on cybersecurity not as an IT issue, but as a business-critical function. While many organisations plan to increase investment, it often sits lower on the priority list than it should. As cyber threats grow in sophistication, protecting technology platforms and sensitive data must become central to all digital strategy.
The care sector’s sensitive data makes it highly vulnerable, similar to the health sector, a frequent ransomware target. Its fragmented market complicates coordinated defence, but adopting health sector protocols and social housing standards offers a strong blueprint for a secure ecosystem. Trust in care relies on robust cybersecurity to protect it.
The way forward: priorities for sustainable progress
The 2026 OneAdvanced Trends Report highlights the need for leaders to treat platform integration, workforce skills, and cybersecurity as interconnected pillars. Technology and AI investments must align with integration and skill-building to achieve success.
Recommended actions for sector leaders include shifting focus from acquisition to integration to build operating models that enhance real outcomes. Closing the skills gap by embedding digital capability development into every stage of the employee journey is also vital. Furthermore, elevating cybersecurity to a board-level conversation recognises its role in enabling trust and business continuity.
AI is not a standalone trend. It magnifies every existing challenge while opening up new opportunities. By translating ambition into action through better integration, an empowered workforce, and an unrelenting focus on security, the care sector can unlock greater value. The journey will not be without obstacles, but with clarity of purpose and a commitment to service user outcomes, the sector can build a future that is agile, efficient, and resilient.
We will also be producing a Care Trends Report in collaboration with Care England, so watch this space for further insights.
Download our 10th Annual Trends Report today - https://www.oneadvanced.com/trends-report/
Sam Vernon
Sam joined OneAdvanced in March 2019, following their acquisition of Docman, as part of the Health and Care Sales Team. With extensive experience in sales and business development, Sam has been instrumental in driving growth and delivering innovative solutions for the care sector. His expertise and dedication support OneAdvanced’s mission to empower care organisations through technology
