Industry Report 2026: How Professional Services Firms Are Driving Growth in an Uncertain Market
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Julie Sergent
Content Manager
April 23, 2026
5 min
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In 2026, the market for IT services companies and consulting firms is evolving within an increasingly uncertain environment shaped by major economic, technological and geopolitical shifts. Following a pivotal year in 2025, professional services firms must now navigate slower growth, increased pressure on margins, and rising client expectations.
In this context, the key challenges are clear: identifying new growth drivers, demonstrating the value of engagements, integrating artificial intelligence, and adapting organisational models.
This 2026 industry report explores the key trends shaping the IT Services and consulting market, as well as the strategies required to remain competitive.
Instability is no longer cyclical — it has become the new normal. The IT services and consulting market is entering a phase of moderate growth, characterised by constant trade-offs and heightened strategic discipline.
"I would not say that the market is declining; rather, it is returning to a level of normality after an exceptional period."
Damien Lasou Managing Director France, Expleo
In this environment, IT services firms and consulting firms must adapt by activating new growth levers:
Long-term planning alone is no longer sufficient. Leaders must adopt a rolling 12 to 18-month planning approach, enabling them to continuously reassess assumptions.
The challenge is no longer to wait for visibility, but to act with strategic assertiveness.
"This year is about focus, adaptation and expertise. The objective is not to spread ourselves thin across R&D or explore areas where we have less mastery, but rather to concentrate on our core capabilities, where we deliver the greatest value, in order to secure client engagements."
François Tourrette - Founder and Chief Operating Officer, BRAPI
The market is becoming more demanding, and it is essential for professional services firms to clarify their positioning and optimise their portfolio of activities and talent. This will enable them to adapt to evolving client expectations and diversify their offering.
In 2026, the balance of power has shifted towards buyers. Clients now expect:
The traditional model based on daily rates is being challenged. Clients increasingly prioritise Time-to-Value, measuring performance by how quickly and effectively results are delivered.
42% of executives now consider the ability to demonstrate ROI as the primary decision-making criterion.
Smart Resourcing is becoming the new standard:
“A commercial pitch or the simple provision of resources is no longer sufficient."
François Tourrette – Founder and Chief Operating Officer, BRAPI
Trust is becoming a strategic asset for IT services firms and consulting firms.
It now relies on several key pillars:
The Trusted Advisor is becoming an architect of meaning, ensuring effective execution.
"We place our primary focus on our clients’ processes and, above all, on delivering tangible business value."
Helmut Tiemann - Managing Director Business Technology Consulting AG
In an unstable geopolitical context, sovereignty becomes a key criterion in the choice of partners.
Issues of sovereignty will become decisive, more so than we might previously have imagined. The time for debate has passed; it is now a matter of taking action.
Laurence Laroche - Senior advisor (ex-La Poste et Saint-Gobain) et Présidente, Quartz-L
42% of IT services firms are already actively supporting clients on sovereignty-related issues.
Reassurance is essential to remove barriers to transformation. Sovereignty acts as both a psychological and regulatory prerequisite, given the clear expectations of client organisations.
To meet these expectations, organisations must:
"Low trust at senior level can place entire service organisations at risk."
Sébastien Baert - Partner, Bignon De Keyser
Artificial intelligence is now at the heart of transformation in the consulting sector.
After a phase of experimentation, the challenge in 2026 is clear: delivering measurable economic impact.
A “Popcorn Effect” is emerging:
Three profiles can be identified:
68% of firms report productivity gains, but only 16% measure a direct impact on margins.
AI enables organisations to:
"The focus is clearly on improving both productivity and efficiency.."
Patrick Oelze - Partner, Grant Thornton
This standardisation leads to a reassessment of the profiles required for successful project delivery and disrupts the existing operating model.
The rise of AI is fundamentally reshaping the organisational model of IT services firms and consulting firms.
The traditional pyramid model is evolving into a “diamond-shaped” structure:
"We need to foster a real synergy between senior and junior professionals, which requires a cultural shift: seniors must accept and integrate the unique expertise that juniors bring to the table. This allows them to combine their expertise within a team environment to deliver optimised, service-oriented results."
Recardo Jackson - Executive Vice-President and Managing Director, MSG Group
One of the major human challenges this year is redefining human value. The combination of business expertise and AI skills is becoming the new standard. 90% of the executives interviewed consider critical judgement essential to validate AI outputs and make sound decisions in complex situations.
"Skills are evolving. Today, the challenge lies in knowing how to interact effectively with systems, understand their outputs, and maintain a critical perspective on the results."
François Tourrette - Founder and Chief Operating Officer, BRAPI
Skills are evolving rapidly:
"Adaptability is no longer an individual quality. It has become an organisational prerequisite."
Damien Lasou - General Director France, Expleo
This trend is reinforced by the gradual disappearance of repetitive tasks. Organisations must rethink learning pathways to prevent skill atrophy.
Organisations must now manage skills as strategic assets in order to:
Organisations must now reassess their approach to address the three key lessons of 2026:
In 2026, IT services firms and consulting firms must shift from agility to adaptability.
In a persistently uncertain environment, performance will depend on three key pillars:
The challenge is no longer to wait for stability to return, but to turn uncertainty into a sustainable competitive advantage.
In 2026, the fundamental challenge remains the ability to stay the course and turn instability into an opportunity for sustainable leadership by 2027.
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