Tech services firms are learning as they go, exploring new revenue sources while others dry up.
Lines between software and services are blurring, forcing firms to rethink everything from IP to partnerships.
Brand new firms built with AI at the core are changing the boundaries of client and investor expectations.
Winning Requires Rethinking
the 6 Elements of Scale
Explore How AI is Transforming Services
Frequently Asked Questions
An AI-native services firm is purpose-built, or fully rewired, to put artificial intelligence at the center of its operations, offerings and delivery models, blending human and machine intelligence to scale more efficiently and create differentiated value.
While traditional IT services firms rely heavily on human labor to deliver value, AI-native firms integrate AI into every aspect of their business, allowing them to operate more efficiently, and with higher margins.
Cloud-first firms were optimized to work with or build on cloud applications and platforms. AI-native firms go a step further by embedding AI across the entire service lifecycle, enabling automation, intelligence, and new forms of value creation beyond what cloud alone enables. Cloud is often the enabler.
AI-native firms are defined by their AI-first delivery models, flexible and flatter operating structures, and a strong focus on proprietary IP and automation of repetitive tasks. AI-native firms are being built across the Carbon + Silicon spectrum, but the further they progress towards Services-as-Software, the more ‘software-like’ their metrics look.
AI is rapidly automating low-level tasks, compressing delivery timelines, and reshaping how services are packaged and sold. It’s forcing services firms to rethink their models, talent and value propositions to stay competitive.
Because the firms that adopt and adapt AI today will take share tomorrow; inaction risks falling behind as clients demand faster, more intelligent, and more cost-effective solutions.
Firms that fail to adapt could see their core services commoditized, their margins shrink, and their best clients and talent migrate to more modern, AI-enabled competitors.
This is a long-term, structural change. AI is resetting the services industry’s rules, and firms that fail to transform risk becoming obsolete.
It’s a strategic guide for services firm leaders navigating the shift from cloud-first to AI-native, with practical insights on how to rethink the playbooks of the past for the age of AI. It includes guidance on how KPIs are changing as firms progress to a services-as-software model.
This eBook is written for founders, CEOs, and managing partners of IT services firms who want to lead in the AI era, not lag behind it.
You’ll learn what it means to be AI-native, how industry models and metrics are changing, and how to evolve your firm across six core elements of scale – talent, go-to-market, client service, delivery execution, innovation and finance and operations.
Yes! Using AI tools is a start, but it’s only a first step. Competing and winning in the AI era will require a rethinking of business models, delivery structures, growth strategies and the way talent is developed.
