Today we released the 2026-2027 Tercera 30, our annual ranking of the top software and AI vendors for IT services firms and the partner ecosystems that offer the greatest potential for services growth. The vendors and trends highlighted in this fifth anniversary edition reflect the shift happening across IT services in the new AI era.
With the vendor landscape in chaos, traditional partner motions at risk, and new growth opportunities popping up daily, it’s not easy for services leaders and their investors to keep a pulse on the market. The Tercera 30 can help. You can download the full report here.
What’s New This Year?
Eleven vendors are new or have boomeranged back onto this year’s Tercera 30 list, underscoring how quickly the AI and software partner landscape for services firms is changing. Three new vendors – Anthropic, OpenAI and Palantir – join the Market Anchors category (vendors with large TAMs, large clients and broad platforms that can support a dedicated services business). That is the most movement in this category ever. The Anchors are listed in order of their Tercera 30 score for the first time.
This year’s Tercera 30 report also features a new Domain Leaders category, and a redesigned Builders categories. These changes reflect how IT services partners are becoming increasingly specialized by industry and required to have a level of data and AI depth to play at even the most basic level. Domain leaders are platforms that can serve as pillar partners for firms specializing in an industry or function. Builders are data and AI vendors that are becoming increasingly important to enterprise AI strategies.
This year’s report also includes key trends that are creating both risk and opportunity for IT services firms. These trends pull from our deep analysis of the vendors and ecosystems, along with qualitative insights gleaned from Tercera’s July 2026 IT services survey of 378 technology services leaders. One interesting statistic from that survey: only 5% of firms remained focused on a single software partner, down from 10% last year. Firms are increasingly moving from single-vendor platform implementations to orchestrating data, systems and agents around domain processes and clear business outcomes.
The Tercera 30 vendors were selected through a rigorous process that includes third-party data analysis, interviews with software executives, input from analysts and bankers, and Tercera’s annual services survey. More info on the methodology can be found here.
Download the report today to help assess partner strategies, identify promising AI partner ecosystems, and anticipate where demand might be heading in your sector.