INDUSTRY VIEW
WHY TRUSTED ECOSYSTEMS WILL DEFINE THE NEXT PHASE OF AI GROWTH IN EMEA
TAREQ MASOUD, COUNTRY MANAGER, UAE, SNOWFLAKE
Global AI spending is set to hit US $ 2 trillion in 2026, and that level of investment is reshaping expectations across the technology industry. Across EMEA, organisations are under growing pressure to scale AI while navigating complex regulatory environments, fragmented infrastructure landscapes, and varied levels of digital maturity. AI is being treated as a business priority that influences budgets, partnership models, service delivery, and competitive strategy. This is creating a new market dynamic where success depends less on access to a single tool and more on the ability to connect technologies, people, and governance into a scalable model. In this environment, the companies best placed for growth will be those that help customers turn ambition into enterprise-wide value.
While it can never be certain what will take place in the future, the common theme across the predictions is the undeniable impact AI will have on developing a more open, integrated ecosystem to better drive customer strategies and outcomes.
Increased M & A and strategic partnerships will accelerate AI-driven outcomes
In 2025, we saw a number of high-profile M & A transactions occur, such as Kipi. AI’ s acquisition by WNS and subsequent acquisition by Capgemini, alongside Hakkoda’ s acquisition by IBM. This trend is unlikely to slow down in the year ahead as companies focus on accelerating customer AI journeys for full-scale enterprise implementation to drive AI-driven business outcomes. Running in parallel, we’ re seeing more and more tech vendors expanding their partnerships as they scale AI outcomes for customers, with many companies continuing to leverage the support of technical partners and AI vendors.
The combination of M & A activity and increased partnerships will enable improved interoperability between different vendor solutions, the ability to more easily build AI and data products, and ensure the democratisation of AI by getting the right tools and data in the hands of all people within the business. The path towards a successful AI journey cannot be done alone – it will require strategic and dedicated collaboration across vendors and partners.
Ecosystem Integration: The channel’ s new competitive edge
In 2026, the channel will shift from traditional reselling to“ ecosystem integration”, helping customers orchestrate and navigate multiple clouds, data and AI capabilities into a unified, interoperable, governed, and outcome-driven architecture.
As organisations accelerate AI adoption, they will seek partners who can bridge the gaps between platforms, data governance, security, skills, and business processes. The channel’ s competitive edge will no longer lie in technology procurement and integration alone, but in the value added in a partner’ s ability to integrate ecosystems, align stakeholders, and embed responsible AI and data practices into operations. Those partners who master cross-vendor collaboration and deliver measurable business impact for customers will become the strategic backbone of the next wave of digital transformation.
The New Consulting Mandate: Unlock AI’ s Promise
Success in the AI era demands a commitment to open standards and a collective focus on building trust. As AI dissolves traditional technology walled gardens and isolated architectures, only the partners who embrace openness and shared innovation will lead.
This evolution requires consultancies to shift their operating models from traditionally slow, low-value, and resource-heavy migrations to solving the productivity gap emerging in employee AI usage. While AI prototyping is accelerating, large-scale adoption is trailing. In McKinsey’ s State of AI survey, nearly two-thirds of
34 www. intelligenttechchannels. com