Services as software: why AI is rewriting the commercial logic of business services

Most Business Services firms are still selling AI-enabled work through commercial models built for a pre-AI delivery world, primarily by the hour. Yet AI is beginning to expand the commercial toolkit beyond traditional effort-based billing. Simon-Kucher’s Business Services AI Study 2026 explores how the market is evolving, why most firms are creating value faster than they capture it, what the Front Runners are doing differently, and why the firms that adapt their commercial models early are beginning to pull ahead. 

Across Business Services, AI is making firms more efficient. Yet for many firms, those gains are not translating into stronger profitability.  

• 90% of Business Services firms are already active with AI – or will be within 12 months
• 93% see AI as a growth opportunity
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