GenAI has become the top source of information for enterprise buyers evaluating service providers, changing how selection starts but not how decisions get made. Buyers use genAI to speed research and compare options, but they double-check what it produces with people they trust, such as peers and advisors. As purchases grow more complex, especially when genAI features are involved, buying groups get larger to reduce risk, even if decisions take longer. This report explains how these shifts change buyer behavior and what service providers and technology leaders must do to stay influential in an AI-mediated buying environment.

The advent of cloud ecosystems and the rising role of technology in business have amped up pressure to get better outcomes from technology and service partners. The old model of engaging providers as vendors misses big opportunities to extract the full value from their investments in capabilities, alliances, and solutions. In a high-performance IT strategy, you will see partners as extensions of your teams, helping you deliver the capabilities your business needs. By focusing on business outcomes, aligned incentives, and blended teams, you will maximize the value you get from your partners. Adopt four co-innovation practices to improve results.

A traditional approach to service providers misses the innovation opportunity. The old approaches of RFPs, pricing inputs, and relying on the promise of innovation fail to deliver. Companies pursuing a strategy of high-performance IT take a different approach, innovating through ecosystems of cloud platforms and co-innovation partnerships. A co-innovation partner brings assets, alliances, and solutions and helps you transform by orchestrating the value of your internal and external ecosystems. Not every provider can be a co-innovation partner, but the ones you have should share the risks and rewards and be financially motivated to achieve your outcomes.

During a partner selection process, you will build your request for proposal (RFP) and prepopulate your evaluation with objective research. Where appropriate, use Forrester Wave™ reports — we analyze over 200 technology and service markets — to see how the providers line up in advance of their responses. This helps eliminate surprises.

Anthropic gave leaders a blunt signal about planning for LLM charges when it introduced blended pricing for enterprise users of Claude recently. Enterprises with over 150 seatholders will now pay a blanket per-seat charge ($20 per seat at the moment), plus a variable charge based on API usage and which Claude model they’re using. When […]

The year that made uncertainty a boardroom topic recently ended. Leading public technology service providers’ Q4 2025 earnings announcements contrast that uncertainty with a rosier outlook for 2026. Bookings grew, but margins slumped despite firms’ valiant efforts. More providers announced AI revenue, although it’s not always clear what counts as such. Recent industry developments foreshadow what’s coming; this report explores what they mean for technology executives.

During a partner selection process, you will build a shortlist of providers with the right capabilities, experience, ecosystems, and viability to address your business scenario. Where appropriate, use Forrester’s Landscape reports — we analyze over 200 technology and service markets — to build your shortlist.

AI will change the CIO role more than the last decade of digital transformation ever did. It will redefine the technology stack and, more importantly, what the CIO must govern and how. As software generates software and autonomous agents execute work, the CIO’s center of gravity shifts from building systems to governing outcomes. Savvy CIOs are already using AI to reshape decisions, influence the C-suite, and claim ground that once belonged to others. Over the next five years, CIOs who treat AI as an operating shift — not pilots — will expand influence and credibility, while those who don’t risk extinction. This report helps CIOs understand AI’s impact on their responsibilities and how to avoid irrelevance.

We’ve been listening carefully to many of you as you describe your successes and challenges in scaling AI. We’ll bring some of those lessons forward in a lively conversation to discuss experiences and challenges. This conversation, hosted by Forrester analysts Mark Moccia and Ted Schadler, will include open discussion with participants, so please bring your questions and experiences to share with the group. Questions for discussion:Who’s on the team for AI transformation? What roles does the IT organization play? What are common challenges and are you tackling them? Peer discussions are available exclusively to Forrester Decisions VIP Leaders and Leader license holders for their own participation.

The industrialization of services with AI machinery has destroyed the age-old and terribly convenient time-and-materials (T&M) pricing model. T&M has been the gold standard for tech, legal, consulting, agency, audit, tax, and recruiting services for generations. And for good reason: Under T&M pricing, you pay for labor by the hour. It’s simple, familiar, broadly applicable, […]