Anthropic, OpenAI and Palantir join Tercera 30 list of top IT services partners

Most movement ever among Market Anchors

Tercera, an investment and advisory firm for AI and technology service firms, published the list on Oct. 16, 2026. The Tercera 30 ranks the top software and AI vendors for IT services firms, along with the partner ecosystems that offer the greatest potential for services growth.

Eleven vendors are new or have returned to the list this year. According to Tercera, this shows how quickly the AI and software partner landscape is changing. The three additions to Market Anchors, which the firm defines as vendors with large TAMs, large clients and broad platforms, represent the most movement in that category ever, according to Tercera.

The 2026-2027 Market Anchors are Databricks, Snowflake, Anthropic, ServiceNow, OpenAI, Palantir, Microsoft, Google Cloud, AWS and Salesforce. Tercera describes them as large vendors that can support a dedicated services business.

Domain Leaders and Builders redesigned

The report also features redesigned Domain Leaders and Builders categories. Tercera says this reflects how IT services partners are increasingly specialized by industry and are required to have data and AI depth.

• Domain Leaders: platforms that can act as pillar partners for firms specializing in an industry or function. They are Oracle, SAP, Guidewire, Atlassian, Workday, HubSpot, OneStream, Saviynt, commercetools and Ada.
• Builders: data and AI vendors representing different layers of the AI stack. They are Nvidia, VAST Data, MongoDB, Cohere, Dynatrace, Glean, Dataiku, Quantexa, Denodo and Credo AI.

Fewer firms rely on a single software partner

Tercera's July 2026 survey of 378 technology services leaders found that only 5% of firms focused on a single software partner, down from 10% last year. The company says firms are moving away from single-vendor platform implementations and toward orchestrating data, systems and agents around domain processes and clear business outcomes.

"The services market is radically shifting," said Chris Barbin, CEO of Tercera. "The vendor landscape is in chaos, traditional partner motions are at risk, and new growth opportunities are presented daily, often at the intersection of data, AI, software and services."

How the list was built and who should use it

According to Tercera, vendors were selected through data analysis, interviews with software executives, input from analysts and bankers, and insights from its annual services survey. The firm says more detail on the methodology is available alongside the full report.

Tercera recommends that services leaders use the report to assess partner strategies, identify the most promising AI partner ecosystems and anticipate where demand is heading. For IT services firms, the inclusion of Anthropic, OpenAI and Palantir among the Market Anchors signals, in Tercera's view, that AI model and data platform vendors are now seen as partners capable of supporting dedicated services businesses.