The GIS Debate 2026
Is GIS dead yet? Round two.
In 2023 we asked whether commercial GIS was on its way out. It wasn’t. Now AI writes the script, drafts the query and reads the satellite image. So who’s doing the GIS work, and who’s checking it?
Grab the 2026 eBook
AI moves in
AI isn’t a feature on the side of GIS any more. Assistants now sit inside commercial GIS software, writing ArcPy, drafting SQL and explaining the error you’ve been staring at, while open source users pair general AI coding tools with PyQGIS and PostGIS. Earth foundation models, trained on decades of satellite imagery, have turned months of labelling into a few hundred examples, and one has even run in orbit. But a confident answer in the wrong projection is still wrong, and a model can’t sign off a flood map. A person still has to.
See where AI helps, and where it trips
Inside the 2026 edition
Eight chapters, ten community surveys and one new contestant. Here’s what you’ll find.
Chapter 03 · The one to read
AI Moves In: The New Co-Pilot
Assistants inside the tools, agents that plan the analysis, and where AI still trips over.
Surveying the Landscape: 10 Questions for 2026
5 from 2023, revisited5 new, on AI
GIS in 2026: What Changed
A growing market, QGIS 4.0 and ArcGIS Pro 3.7, cloud-native data and open data at serious scale.
Unveiling the Contenders
Open source, commercial, and the wildcard: AI platforms and Earth foundation models.
Open Source GIS: Underdog with a Punch
Free to use, open to change, and easier to learn now that AI can write the PyQGIS.
Commercial GIS: Feature-Rich, Costly and Now AI-Powered
Polished platforms with AI built in, and the licence, lock-in and beta questions that come with them.
The Middle Ground: Hybrid, with AI as the Glue
Most organisations we work with run both. Here’s a five-step playbook for doing it well.
What This Means for Your Organisation
Five honest questions that shape a GIS strategy for the next few years.
The 2026 numbers at a glance
86%
use AI in their GIS work, at least occasionally
92%
wouldn’t use AI-generated analysis unchecked for anything important
90%
of desktop preference goes to ArcGIS Pro and QGIS combined
From the ten community surveys in the 2026 edition.
The middle ground, with AI as the glue
In 2023 hybrid was taking the lead. In 2026 it isn’t close. Most organisations we work with run ArcGIS and open source side by side, and AI has taken much of the friction out of moving between them: an ArcPy script becomes PyQGIS, a file geodatabase workflow becomes PostGIS SQL. The eBook closes with a practical five-step playbook for building AI into a hybrid GIS strategy.
Get the hybrid playbook
Download The GIS Debate 2026
Ten surveys, eight chapters and an honest look at AI in GIS, from GIS People’s research and market experience. Complete the form and your download will start straight away.