Consulting Will Rebound in 2026

After a period of relative softness, consulting revenues are expected to rebound to high-single- or low-double-digit growth as pervasive uncertainty pushes enterprises to seek external guidance. Demand will be particularly strong around risk mitigation, strategic planning and AI adoption, positioning forward-deployed engineers (FDEs), supply chain management (SCM) and people advisory services as leading revenue drivers in 2026.

Managed services shifts from delivery model to growth engine

AI-driven complexity will accelerate demand for consulting, particularly around data modernization, transparency, and helping enterprises understand the organizational impact of new software and AI capabilities. Popularized by Palantir, the FDE model will continue to permeate across IT services companies and consultancies in 2026, primarily as a marketing term but also backed by actual organizational changes, new hires, and adjusted ways of delivering value to clients.
 

AI integration work is increasingly performed by FDEs — engineers positioned close to clients who translate AI systems into business outcomes. Demand for FDEs is exploding, and hyperscalers and GSIs are building these roles, with Infosys viewed as an early leader and McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and KPMG expected to position FDEs as premium integration talent. FDEs will likely follow the pattern of data scientists and other specialized roles within IT services companies and consultancies, responding to market demand and providing companies and firms with a new way to describe their AI-enabled offerings and solutions.
 

Listen now: 2026 Predictions for Managed Services, featuring Principal Analyst Bozhidar Hristov

 

Higher consulting demand will also come in an increasingly unstable geopolitical and economic world. Although uncertainty fueled by immigration issues, tariffs, fluctuating interest rates, and political instability dampened IT services and consulting growth in 2025, TBR expects an upturn in consulting revenues in 2026 even as those underlying conditions worsen. Navigating stormy seas demands a proven crew and trusted advisers; anyone can sail a ship in calm waters. TBR has seen a steady rise in investments into supply chain consulting, including increasing capabilities around the underlying technologies, such as blockchain and analytics. Combined with increasing investments in cybersecurity, TBR anticipates the three fastest-growing areas in consulting in 2026 will be risk mitigation (SCM and cyber, especially), strategy, and AI adoption.
 

But keep an eye on human capital management consulting. The IT services companies and consultancies will spend the next few years sorting out their own staffing models, adjusting the traditional apprentice-model pyramids to reflect AI-enabled roles and responsibilities changes (here come the obelisks). And these companies and firms will bring their lessons learned to enterprise clients, particularly around building highly functioning human-plus-robot teams, adjusting promotion and compensation packages, and budgeting for the expected higher costs of adopting AI at scale.
 

In all this consulting growth, TBR expects the leaders will be those IT services companies and consultancies that have refined and scaled their managed services offerings. This may come as a surprise to the longtime strategy consultants in leadership positions at many of these firms, but TBR’s research indicates revenue and growth at leading IT services companies and consultancies have been increasingly tapping into consulting opportunities identified through ongoing managed services engagements. Who knows more about underlying problems than the people working day-to-day with the client in their environment? TBR anticipates greater investment in managed services offerings and increased leadership attention paid to how those engagements underpin sustained consulting revenue growth. Managed services is no longer your mess for less but a Trojan horse for higher-margin consulting.
 

Explore more 2026 predictions for managed services in our special report In 2026, Managed Services Shifts from Delivery Model to Growth Engine.