Alliances Will Extend Beyond Core Offerings as AI-driven Sales and Marketing Reshape Ecosystems

Traditional one-plus-one alliances are evolving into multiparty alliances, unlocking new growth opportunities across the technology ecosystem. This shift is being accelerated by AI adoption — particularly in sales and marketing — which lowers the cost of expanding alliances, introducing new portfolio offerings and reaching new clients. As a result, tighter alignment among ecosystem participants is raising client expectations for more seamless integrations and more favorable commercial terms.

IT services firms will push beyond traditional alliances in 2026

Early adopters of generative AI (GenAI) frequently cited sales and marketing efficiency improvements as relatively easy use cases for proving the technology’s value and ROI. As those AI-enabled solutions matured, IT services companies sought to leverage productivity savings into expanded offerings, reflecting both the success of their customer-zero use cases and the opportunities to serve as data and AI orchestrators.
 

 

But IT services companies have their limits, and clients have preferred technology vendors, leading IT services companies to look to alliances to drive new growth. We have seen this pattern before, but in 2026 we will see IT services companies extend those alliances into devices, connectivity and even silicon, requiring a multiparty alliance approach that will strain commercial models, sales strategies and alliance leaders across the ecosystem.
 

In 2025, TBR’s ecosystem intelligence research repeatedly showed that companies across the technology ecosystem that developed multiparty go-to-market strategies and sought to leverage alliance partners beyond their traditional pairings experienced steadier revenue growth. One roadblock stood out: IT services companies rarely partnered with OEMs, primarily due to misalignment around sales, client base and brand.
 

TBR expects a substantial shift in 2026 as IT services companies more readily embrace partnerships with chip, edge, connectivity hardware and OT providers to extend IT services companies’ reach into clients’ technology environments and to fully exploit AI’s possibilities.
 

A partner at a leading consultancy with a substantial IT services practice once told TBR that even if an OEM gave him a gold brick, he would not try to sell it to his customers, in part to protect his brand from being associated with selling a physical product. This sentiment will not last through 2026.
 

Explore more 2026 predictions for alliances and partnerships by downloading our special report 2026 Will be a Pivotal Year as AI Momentum Drives Deeper Ecosystem Alliances.