MUMBAI/DELHI-April 23, 2026- AI represents a significant opportunity for growth and margin expansion in tech services. Spend on technology services is starting to turn, and by evolving offerings, automating delivery, reusing assets, and shifting to platform-based delivery, tech services providers have the opportunity to capture this spend shift and help clients accelerate time to value, while improving their own economics, according to Bain & Company's latest Tech Services Buyer Survey.

Customers of technology services expect their overall IT spending in 2026 to remain broadly in line with 2025 levels, but spending on technology services is set to increase modestly as customers look for support in security and AI.

Three in four of the 280 North American and European executives surveyed said they expect at least 5% to 10% of tech spending to focus on AI/ML. Some sectors plan to invest even more aggressively, with a significant share of retail, institutional banking, and oil and gas respondents indicating more than 20% of their tech budgets dedicated to AI.

"AI is becoming a core element of enterprise transformation and the CIO agenda," said Megha Chawla, head of Bain & Company's Global Technology Services sector. "As companies scale their investments, the focus is moving beyond experimentation toward how AI can support broader business priorities and create value across the enterprise."

Executives have also increased their expectations for productivity improvements, particularly in developer productivity, testing and contact center automation. Expected gains are rising to approximately 15% to 17% across these areas. This will shift conversations from curiosity about capabilities to frank discussions about results.

These findings also build on Bain's recent study, The New Growth Equation for Tech Services, which highlighted that while AI and its related productivity benefits may be the most visible disrupters, they also create new opportunities that are more than enough to offset the risks.

This demand signal is significant for tech services providers, but only those that evolve how they compete will be positioned to capture it. Bain's research identifies platform-based delivery, outcome-based pricing, and multiservice solutions as the critical levers - a shift from selling individual capabilities to delivering integrated results tied to business outcomes. Buyers are ready to spend; they will reward providers that come to the table with repeatable, scalable platforms and measurable results rather than customized, time-and-materials engagements.

As these priorities evolve, access to the right talent remains a critical constraint. Cybersecurity, AI/ML engineering and data science are among the hardest skills to source talent for, according to survey respondents. In addition, the skillset expectations are changing rapidly with the usage of AI tools embedded in service delivery. Bridging the talent gap will require providers to fundamentally rethink their talent strategies: aggressively reskilling workforces for AI-led delivery, redesigning roles as automation absorbs routine tasks and investing in developing capabilities that go beyond technology, such as creative problem-solving and domain expertise.

"Tech services providers that treat talent transformation as a strategic imperative - rather than a downstream HR question - will be best positioned to deliver on the converging client priorities the survey identifies" said Parvathy Kailasam, partner at Bain & Company.

"The window to act is now, and the gap between leaders and laggards will widen fast. Providers that move decisively will be the ones that capture this spend shift. Those that wait risk seeing 30% or more of their revenue base erode as buyers route their budgets to firms that can deliver measurable results," concluded Chawla.

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