Corporate buzzwords have been a staple of office conversations for years, with phrases like “circle back”, “touch base”, and “leverage” surviving years of workplace mockery. In 2026, employees are being asked to “align” and “leverage” resources, and become “AI-native”, among other things.
Recent research from ICAEW suggests that some old favorites, like “going forward”, “plan of action”, and phrases that describe cooperation between people or departments, are among the phrases that many employees could do without. These phrases have been joined by newer terms shaped by the rise of AI.
Phrases like “let’s discuss this later” and “I’ll get back to you” are still in use, with the former meaning “let’s park that” and the latter meaning “circle back”. Other classic phrases include “do you have the bandwidth for this?”, meaning “do you have capacity?”, and “low-hanging fruit”, meaning “an easy opportunity”.
Some phrases become so familiar that we barely notice them, while others arrive with the latest workplace trend and quickly find their way into meetings, emails and LinkedIn posts. Newer phrases, like “agentic AI”, meaning “AI that can take actions and complete tasks more independently”, are also entering the workplace lexicon.
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Phrases like “job clutching”, meaning “holding tightly onto your current job because the job market feels uncertain”, and “bleisure”, meaning “combining a business trip with leisure time”, are becoming more common. Other new phrases include “feeling overwhelmed or exhausted by the constant pressure to use, learn, or keep up with AI”, and “the colleague you spend so much time with that you basically become an unofficial workplace duo”.
As the workplace continues to evolve, the language used will also evolve. The challenge is knowing when a new term adds meaning and when it is just another way of saying something already known. Sometimes, plain English is the best way to communicate.
Corporate jargon is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. As AI and hybrid working continue to shape the workplace, new phrases will emerge.
