Report: Enterprises Rely on Managed Services to Scale AI

New research has found that an overwhelming majority of executives view managed services as essential for the delivery of agentic AI.

Boosting AI with managed services

According to the global KPMG Managed Services Outlook Survey 2026, more than 90 percent of executives believe managed services are essential to their agentic AI journeys, and 87 percent of respondents have already woven managed services into their digital transformation plans.

The survey highlights that these respondents believe managed services are a shortcut for implementing agentic AI and help address the technical debt and talent gaps that can stall AI investment.

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Over half of those surveyed report leveraging managed services in at least one business unit

Managed services are now a strategic priority for 99 percent of organizations, with two-thirds expecting managed services to drive major operating, business, and strategic impact within 24 months.

Nearly 60 percent of companies reported using managed services in either an entire business function or at scale across the organization.

“Despite the need to accelerate AI, many companies still operate in hybrid tech environments, including both legacy on-premises systems and cloud platforms,” said Ron Walker, Global Head, Managed Services, KPMG International. 

“Companies are turning to AI-enabled managed services to benefit from new technologies more quickly. They want managed services to bridge the gap and prepare them for continued innovation, through ongoing systems integration, cross-functional data management, and AI governance. By combining sophisticated tech with domain knowledge and strategic collaboration, leading providers help companies get AI traction in critical processes, so they don’t fall behind competitors.”

Why AI capabilities have become the top consideration for managed service providers

Leaders participating in the survey cite AI capability as their top consideration in managed services, followed by overall tech proficiency, data expertise, and a strategic transformation mindset.

Diving deeper into the numbers, 56 percent of buyers cite AI management as their top priority for managed services investment over the next two years, with cybersecurity being the next priority at 33 percent.

“In today’s AI-driven landscape, organizations operate in an environment where speed, adaptability, and continuous innovation are prerequisites for competitiveness,” said Bill Latshaw, Analyst, IDC. “Managed services provide the operational backbone that enables enterprises to adopt and scale emerging technologies.”

ROI from managed services for organizations

AI-enabled managed services are critical to helping companies reduce costs and improve efficiency, but they also offer other ROI metrics.

Companies measure ROI from managed services through:

• Cost savings (54 percent)
• Operational efficiency (53 percent)
• Service quality improvements (50 percent)
• Risk reduction (43 percent)
• Innovation enablement (42 percent)
• Business agility (41 percent)
• Level of revenue (37 percent)

“To be sure, modern managed services have the potential to reduce total cost of operations by 15 to 45 percent. Some of these savings may come from ongoing process optimization; others may come from tangible reduction in technical debt, leading to faster, more efficient AI and cloud operations,” the report states. 

“Across the board, managed services are answering the call: More than 90 percent of respondents say the model has met or exceeded their expectations on cost savings and efficiency.” 

Balancing legacy SaaS with next-gen AI tooling

While managed services are seen as an AI accelerator, most companies still operate in hybrid environments. Managed services need to balance AI with a steady reliance on Software as a Service (SaaS) workflow tools and on-prem platforms.

Leading managed service providers will be skilled at bridging the gap between legacy and the future, with capabilities in systems integration, AI governance, and data management.

AI and agentic (42 percent), automation (42 percent), and process mining (41 percent) are anticipated to play key roles in these companies’ managed services programs over the next two years. 

Following those technologies, however, are cloud-based applications (39 percent), digital assistants/chatbots (38 percent), and blockchain (35 percent).

The KPMG report surveyed over 1,200 senior leaders from large, global organizations throughout North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific who are involved in managed services decisions. The leaders involved represent companies with at least $100 million USD in revenue, and the majority have revenue of $1-$10 billion USD.