{ "edition": "2026-07", "published": "2026-07-07", "methodology_version": "2.0", "composite": 59, "composite_exact": 58.73, "composite_delta": 0, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "gap_ratio": 1.5, "keep_up_rate": 0.69, "keep_up_pct": 70, "reviewer_agreement": 0.15, "mean_change": 55.7, "mean_response": 38.2, "display_line": "July 2026: 59, unchanged vs June. Industries are changing 1.5x faster than companies are responding.", "headline": "The Hyder Index held at 59 in July 2026, in the Narrow Gap zone. Industries are changing 1.5x faster than companies are responding. Healthcare & MedTech became the first industry to narrow its gap, after NHS England, England's public health service, committed AI tools to all its staff.", "zone_counts": { "green": 2, "yellow": 5, "orange": 8, "red": 0 }, "industries": [ { "rank": 1, "slug": "media-entertainment", "name": "Media & Entertainment", "score": 68, "score_exact": 67.75, "delta": 1, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 68, "response_score": 32, "keep_up_rate": 0.47, "keep_up_pct": 45, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.75, "talent": 3.25, "money": 3.25, "incentives": 2.25, "culture": 3.5, "disruption": 4.25 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.5, "capital_reallocation": 1.5, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 1.0 }, "note": "Media & Entertainment rose to 68, the widest gap on the Index. At Cannes, the advertising industry's yearly festival, the business celebrated AI creative tools one year after stripping awards from campaigns that used AI to fake results. Marketers say they use AI often, but few say they have redesigned how they work. The people moved, and the institutions did not." }, { "rank": 2, "slug": "technology-ai", "name": "Technology & AI", "score": 65, "score_exact": 65.25, "delta": 0, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 78, "response_score": 47, "keep_up_rate": 0.61, "keep_up_pct": 60, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 4.0, "talent": 4.0, "money": 4.5, "incentives": 3.0, "culture": 3.5, "disruption": 4.25 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 2.0, "capital_reallocation": 2.75, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 3.0 }, "note": "Technology & AI held at 65, the second-widest gap on the Index. SpaceX, the rocket company, began trading publicly in June and extended a run of big AI-era stock listings, while June layoffs slowed but stayed AI-led. Its Change Score of 78 is the highest on the Index. Even the industry building the disruption has not reorganized around it." }, { "rank": 3, "slug": "legal-professional-services", "name": "Legal & Professional Services", "score": 64, "score_exact": 64.42, "delta": 0, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 56, "response_score": 27, "keep_up_rate": 0.48, "keep_up_pct": 50, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.0, "talent": 2.5, "money": 2.5, "incentives": 3.5, "culture": 2.25, "disruption": 3.0 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.25, "capital_reallocation": 1.5, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 1.0 }, "note": "Legal & Professional Services held at 64. Steno, a legal AI company, raised a $49 million Series C, keeping money flowing into tools aimed at billable work. The August watch item: whether any major firm moves from piloting those tools to pricing around them." }, { "rank": 3, "slug": "education-edtech", "name": "Education & EdTech", "score": 64, "score_exact": 64.08, "delta": 0, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 49, "response_score": 21, "keep_up_rate": 0.43, "keep_up_pct": 45, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.0, "talent": 1.75, "money": 2.0, "incentives": 1.25, "culture": 3.5, "disruption": 3.25 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.0, "strategic_hiring": 0.75, "capital_reallocation": 1.0, "product_partnership": 1.5, "response_timing": 1.0 }, "note": "Education & EdTech held at 64 through the school off-season. Its Response Score of 21 is still the lowest on the Index. The industry that teaches everyone else remains the slowest to redesign its own work." }, { "rank": 3, "slug": "healthcare-medtech", "name": "Healthcare & MedTech", "score": 64, "score_exact": 64.0, "delta": -2, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 65, "response_score": 37, "keep_up_rate": 0.57, "keep_up_pct": 55, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.0, "talent": 3.5, "money": 3.5, "incentives": 3.0, "culture": 3.0, "disruption": 3.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.5, "strategic_hiring": 1.75, "capital_reallocation": 1.75, "product_partnership": 2.5, "response_timing": 1.75 }, "note": "Healthcare & MedTech narrowed by 2 points, the first industry on the Index to do so. NHS England, the public health service for England, committed AI tools to all of its staff. The decision followed its own 30,000-person trial. Response finally moved at scale, even though the pressure on the industry held steady." }, { "rank": 3, "slug": "hr-future-of-work", "name": "HR & Future of Work", "score": 64, "score_exact": 63.5, "delta": 1, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 65, "response_score": 38, "keep_up_rate": 0.58, "keep_up_pct": 60, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.0, "talent": 4.0, "money": 2.75, "incentives": 2.75, "culture": 3.5, "disruption": 3.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.5, "capital_reallocation": 1.5, "product_partnership": 2.25, "response_timing": 2.25 }, "note": "HR & Future of Work's gap widened to 64. AI was again the top stated reason for US job cuts, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a firm that tracks layoffs. Oracle, the software company, disclosed 21,000 cuts in a regulatory filing. Companies are starting to treat AI-linked layoffs as ongoing policy." }, { "rank": 7, "slug": "real-estate-construction", "name": "Real Estate & Construction", "score": 62, "score_exact": 61.92, "delta": 0, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 46, "response_score": 22, "keep_up_rate": 0.48, "keep_up_pct": 50, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 1.75, "talent": 3.0, "money": 2.5, "incentives": 2.0, "culture": 2.5, "disruption": 2.0 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.0, "capital_reallocation": 1.0, "product_partnership": 1.5, "response_timing": 1.0 }, "note": "Real Estate & Construction held at 62. Higharc, a company that automates home design and construction drawings, raised $95 million. That is new money pushing change into the industry, but builders have not yet shown they are using it. The watch item: whether builders adopt tools like it or just admire them." }, { "rank": 8, "slug": "energy-utilities", "name": "Energy & Utilities", "score": 61, "score_exact": 60.5, "delta": 0, "zone": "orange", "zone_label": "Significant Gap", "change_score": 65, "response_score": 44, "keep_up_rate": 0.68, "keep_up_pct": 70, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 2.5, "talent": 2.5, "money": 4.0, "incentives": 4.0, "culture": 2.0, "disruption": 4.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.5, "capital_reallocation": 2.5, "product_partnership": 2.75, "response_timing": 2.25 }, "note": "Energy & Utilities held at 61. Gartner, a research firm, projects data center power demand will rise 27% in 2026. That is faster than the grid can easily absorb. Demand now moves on AI timelines, while new supply still moves on permitting timelines." }, { "rank": 9, "slug": "direct-sales-franchising", "name": "Direct Sales & Franchising", "score": 59, "score_exact": 58.75, "delta": 0, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "change_score": 48, "response_score": 30, "keep_up_rate": 0.63, "keep_up_pct": 65, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 2.5, "talent": 2.5, "money": 3.0, "incentives": 1.75, "culture": 2.0, "disruption": 2.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.5, "strategic_hiring": 1.25, "capital_reallocation": 1.5, "product_partnership": 1.75, "response_timing": 1.5 }, "note": "Direct Sales & Franchising held at 59, with no meaningful movement this month. The watch item: whether agentic commerce, where AI agents buy on a consumer's behalf, starts to bypass the person-to-person selling this category is built on." }, { "rank": 10, "slug": "insurance", "name": "Insurance", "score": 58, "score_exact": 58.33, "delta": 0, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "change_score": 57, "response_score": 40, "keep_up_rate": 0.71, "keep_up_pct": 70, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 2.75, "talent": 2.75, "money": 3.0, "incentives": 3.0, "culture": 2.5, "disruption": 3.0 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 1.75, "strategic_hiring": 2.0, "capital_reallocation": 2.0, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 2.25 }, "note": "Insurance held at 58, with no meaningful change this month. The watch item for August scoring is incentives, meaning whether regulators or larger players start rewarding specific moves by insurers." }, { "rank": 11, "slug": "manufacturing-industrial", "name": "Manufacturing & Industrial", "score": 56, "score_exact": 56.17, "delta": 1, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "change_score": 53, "response_score": 41, "keep_up_rate": 0.77, "keep_up_pct": 75, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 2.0, "talent": 3.5, "money": 2.5, "incentives": 3.5, "culture": 1.5, "disruption": 3.0 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.75, "capital_reallocation": 2.25, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 2.25 }, "note": "Manufacturing & Industrial's gap widened by 1 point. Volkswagen, the German carmaker, is restructuring up to 100,000 roles, including plant closures. It was the largest single reorganization signal on the Index this month. When a symbol of industrial stability redraws itself at that scale, the change has already arrived." }, { "rank": 12, "slug": "transportation-logistics", "name": "Transportation & Logistics", "score": 54, "score_exact": 53.92, "delta": 0, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "change_score": 46, "response_score": 38, "keep_up_rate": 0.83, "keep_up_pct": 85, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 2.0, "talent": 1.75, "money": 2.5, "incentives": 2.25, "culture": 1.75, "disruption": 3.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.5, "capital_reallocation": 2.0, "product_partnership": 2.0, "response_timing": 2.0 }, "note": "Transportation & Logistics held at 54. Fuel-cost repricing was already counted in June, and nothing new moved the score. The watch item: whether the World Cup demand surge spills from hotels into freight and passenger networks in the August data." }, { "rank": 13, "slug": "retail-cpg", "name": "Retail & CPG", "score": 52, "score_exact": 52.25, "delta": 0, "zone": "yellow", "zone_label": "Narrow Gap", "change_score": 53, "response_score": 48, "keep_up_rate": 0.91, "keep_up_pct": 90, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.75, "talent": 2.0, "money": 2.25, "incentives": 1.75, "culture": 2.75, "disruption": 3.25 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 2.5, "strategic_hiring": 2.0, "capital_reallocation": 2.5, "product_partnership": 2.5, "response_timing": 2.5 }, "note": "Retail & CPG held at 52. Many consumers say they expect AI to handle part of their shopping within a year. Today, AI agents touch about 3% of transactions. The distance between what shoppers expect and what they do is the window retailers have to prepare." }, { "rank": 14, "slug": "financial-services-fintech", "name": "Financial Services & FinTech", "score": 46, "score_exact": 46.0, "delta": 0, "zone": "green", "zone_label": "Keeping Pace", "change_score": 50, "response_score": 58, "keep_up_rate": 1.16, "keep_up_pct": 100, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.0, "talent": 2.5, "money": 3.0, "incentives": 2.5, "culture": 1.5, "disruption": 2.5 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 3.25, "strategic_hiring": 2.75, "capital_reallocation": 2.25, "product_partnership": 3.0, "response_timing": 3.25 }, "note": "Financial Services & FinTech held at 46, in the Keeping Pace zone. Its Response Score of 58 is the highest on the Index, so banks are moving at least as fast as the pressure on them. The watch item: whether that response lead holds once agentic commerce reaches money movement." }, { "rank": 15, "slug": "hospitality-travel", "name": "Hospitality & Travel", "score": 44, "score_exact": 44.17, "delta": 0, "zone": "green", "zone_label": "Keeping Pace", "change_score": 38, "response_score": 50, "keep_up_rate": 1.3, "keep_up_pct": 100, "evidence_count": null, "evidence_strength": null, "change_ratings": { "customers": 3.25, "talent": 1.5, "money": 1.5, "incentives": 0.75, "culture": 1.5, "disruption": 3.0 }, "response_ratings": { "earnings_call": 3.0, "strategic_hiring": 1.5, "capital_reallocation": 2.0, "product_partnership": 3.0, "response_timing": 3.0 }, "note": "Hospitality & Travel held at 44, in the Keeping Pace zone. The World Cup is shifting demand across host cities, and hotel demand over the July 4 weekend was reported up 48% year over year. Companies responded as fast as the pressure grew, so the score did not move. This is what a healthy gap under pressure looks like." } ], "stories": [ { "slug": "healthcare-medtech", "title": "Healthcare & MedTech narrows its gap as NHS England rolls out AI to all staff" }, { "slug": "media-entertainment", "title": "Media & Entertainment reaches the widest gap on record" } ], "signal_watch": [ { "signal": "Customers: The Silent Ballot", "item": "A third of consumers say they expect AI to handle part of their purchases within a year. Today, agents touch about 3% of transactions. In addition, 57% of consumers say they would let an agent switch brands for better value.", "sources": [] }, { "signal": "Talent: The Human Tide", "item": "AI was the top stated reason for US job cuts for the fourth month in a row. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a firm that tracks layoffs, counted 101,743 AI-cited cuts in the first half of the year. Oracle, the software company, disclosed 21,000 cuts as ongoing policy.", "sources": [] }, { "signal": "Money: The Market Bet", "item": "Capital kept moving into AI-native markets even where the legal and operating risks are unresolved. Suno, an AI music company, raised $400 million while record labels were suing it. Steno, a legal AI company, raised $49 million for tools aimed at billable work.", "sources": [] }, { "signal": "Incentives: The Weighted Lever", "item": "The incentive shifted from watching AI regulation to proving governance before anyone asks. Formal state deadlines are further off than they first looked. Colorado replaced its original AI law in May 2026, and its new law takes effect January 1, 2027.", "sources": [] }, { "signal": "Culture: The Tectonic Plates", "item": "The World Cup is already shifting demand across 16 host cities. Cannes, the advertising industry's yearly festival, pointed to the same pressure from another angle. Live, emotionally engaged attention is getting more valuable as AI floods everything else.", "sources": [] }, { "signal": "Disruption: The Switchboard Effect", "item": "Gartner, a research firm, projects data center power demand will rise 27% in 2026, faster than the grid can easily absorb. In the same window, NHS England, the public health service for England, moved from a trial to national AI deployment. That shows disruption widens the gap only when response stays stuck.", "sources": [] } ], "quote_line": "Per the Hyder Index, the July 2026 reading is 59, and industries are changing 1.5x faster than companies are responding.", "press_summary": "The July 2026 Hyder Index held at 59, industries changed 1.5x faster than companies responded, and Healthcare & MedTech became the first industry to narrow its gap.", "data_window": { "start": "2026-06-01", "end": "2026-06-30" }, "citation": "The Hyder Index (hyderindex.com), created by Shama Hyder." }