In this blog post we will be taking a slightly different approach – rather than focusing on a framework, best practice, or way to think differently about the business, I will be trying to organize all my notes about what happened to our clients and contacts in 2025 and what I think it means for 2026. If you want more of the standard content – check out recent posts on When to Know if It Is Time for a Services-Led Growth Model and The Death of T&M and the Future of PS Pricing.
Typically, I would share these thoughts on LinkedIn, but I needed a longer format and I wanted something that we can look back on in a year (LinkedIn deletes posts after a year) and see how these predictions stacked up. Feel free to check back in 12 months and leave a comment about everything I got wrong.
First, looking backwards: 2025 was a year of change.
Not transformation (yet). Not reinvention (yet). Just, change.
A change in perception about what PS does and what is possible. I would say this impacted SaaS the most, but across all industries – there was a rethinking of the question “What role does PS play in supporting our business’ goals”?
Why? The Way 2024 Ended and 2025 Began: Pressure From All Sides
At this point, it feels lazy to blame “AI” for everything that changed in 2025, but in so many ways, the rise of productivity tools, efficiency expectations, fears about competitive threats, investment reallocations to establish baseline capabilities, and more, created an unprecedented start to the year. The first half of 2025 felt reactive for many PS organizations.
In addition to AI, many industries were facing economic uncertainty, slowed growth, and therefore a lack of predictability.
Layered on top of this was a clear executive narrative: Everyone needs to step up. All functions were hit with growth targets and it was clear, Professional Services needed to play a more meaningful role in driving growth. Not supporting growth, but being responsible for it.
In some of our clients, that growth looked very different. Two very different examples:
- Embedded PS team grew YoY advisory & consulting revenue from $40M to $75M by controlling their own destiny and embracing selling & upselling in addition to the enterprise sales organization
- Large enterprise SW company’s creation of cross-organization “solution” (product + implementation + managed services) tied to outcomes to grow its product market share more than any competitor in its space
But in many organizations I’ve talked to – this expectation arrived before there was alignment on what “growth contribution” actually meant for PS. So they spent the year with higher expectations, but largely doing things the old way.
The Mandate Is Now Widely Acknowledged
Our survey and research from earlier last year reinforced what many Professional Services leaders were already experiencing firsthand: the mandate has expanded, but operating models have not kept pace.
Three signals consistently showed up across the data and conversations.
1. Growth Expectations Have Outpaced Capability
Professional Services leaders report rising expectations to contribute to:
- Account expansion and renewals
- Faster realization of customer value
- Measurable business outcomes tied to delivery
At the same time, far fewer organizations report having made corresponding investments in:
- New service design
- Advisory enablement
- Outcome-based metrics
In short, PS is being asked to do more before it has been retooled to do so.
2. Service Portfolios Remain Largely Activity-Oriented
Despite the shift in expectations, most service catalogs we reviewed are still structured around:
- Implementation phases
- Defined activities or deliverables
- Time- or effort-based pricing constructs
Only a minority of organizations have meaningfully redesigned services around:
- Customer outcomes
- Business milestones
- Value realization
This gap shows up repeatedly in both survey responses and leadership interviews and it is one of the most common barriers to scaling impact beyond delivery.
3. Advisory Is Expected but Not Enabled
Nearly every leader we spoke with expects consultants to:
- Engage credibly with executives
- Frame recommendations in business terms
- Identify expansion or follow-on opportunities
Far fewer organizations have:
- Defined what “advisory” means in practice and what the bounds are in where different customer facing (post-sale) functions start and stop
- Updated role definitions to reflect it
- Aligned incentives and success metrics
- Invested in enablement beyond technical skills
As a result, advisory behavior remains dependent on individual talent rather than organizational design.
The Implication
This isn’t simply about selling more services. It’s about Professional Services influencing revenue outcomes across the customer lifecycle.
As we enter 2026, the question has clearly shifted from:
“Should PS play this role?”
to
“How do we actually make this work?”
What Professional Services Leaders Should Focus on Now (Early 2026)
This is where 2026 becomes a turning point.
Leaders are no longer just acknowledging the need to evolve. They are beginning to invest deliberately in how Professional Services operates.
Based on our research and ongoing work with PS organizations, four priorities consistently separate intent from execution.
1. Be Explicit About the Role PS Plays in Growth
Is PS expected to:
- Source expansion opportunities?
- Influence renewals?
- Improve adoption that leads to product growth?
- Monetize advisory services directly?
Trying to do all of the above without prioritization creates confusion and internal friction. The most effective organizations are explicit about where PS creates growth and where it does not.
Early step: Design a light charter – document 2–3 specific growth responsibilities PS owns, and align leadership around them.
2. Redesign Services Around Outcomes, Not Effort
Customers increasingly buy services to achieve outcomes: faster adoption, reduced risk, measurable impact, or accelerated ROI.
Organizations making progress in 2026 are:
- Reframing services around outcomes
- Packaging and pricing around value
- Designing offers that scale insight, not just labor
This shift is foundational to solutions-led growth.
Early step: Define what the outcome shift would look like – identify one high-impact service, select the outcome that is measurable and attributable to your services, and use that to inform what the steps you are going to take to move towards outcomes in the next 3 months (tracking delivery against outcomes, selling based on outcomes, pricing and/or contracting based on outcomes, etc.).
3. Invest in Advisory Capability—Systemically
Advisory capability depends on:
- Commercial awareness
- Executive-level communication
- Comfort with ambiguity
- The ability to connect delivery insight to business value
This is often interpreted as a talent gap, but it’s often an operating model disconnect. Roles, expectations, incentives, and enablement must reinforce the behavior.
Early step: Clearly define what role you need your team to play and why. What does “advisory” mean in your context and where it is expected in the delivery lifecycle? What are the current gaps holding the team back from playing that role. Many of these changes take time, but expectation resetting is often the quickest and easiest.
The Bigger Picture
TSIA has described this period as the “era of services.” That framing captures the opportunity—but not the complexity.
There is no single operating model that works for every organization.
Some will productize services aggressively.
Others will keep PS high-touch and strategic.
Many will blend services, customer success, and product-led motions in new ways.
Organizations that treat Professional Services as a deliberate growth lever, and design for it, are positioning themselves for long-term relevance and resilience.
Looking Ahead – Why This Matters for 2026
The data suggests that PS is becoming more central to growth, but to do so, organizations must be willing to redesign how services are defined, delivered, and measured will fully capture that value.
That’s why 2026 feels like a pivot point.
And for organizations ready to move toward solutions-led growth, the opportunity and the urgency are real.
For many Professional Services organizations, that will make this a defining year.
Anthony Paluska is a partner at McMann & Ransford, where he helps embedded Professional Services teams evolve into advisory-led growth engines. He advises PS leaders on portfolio transformation, service monetization, and go-to-market clarity.
He is also co-host of The Consultant’s Way, a podcast focused on highlighting industry leaders and expertise to help PS teams grow with intention.
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