The Hackett Group's 2026 SG&A Cost Study finds that selling, general, and administrative costs have reached five-year highs across North America and Europe [1][1], and that AI-enabled operating models, not economic cycles, are the primary path to profitable growth [1]. Channel partners are already positioned to deliver: 84.5% expect AI software to drive their 2026 growth [2] and 71% are actively selling it today [2]. With the channel AI ecosystem forecast to expand from $14,175.4M in 2024 to $41,817.75M by 2029 at a 36% CAGR [3], enterprise urgency and channel capacity are converging at a critical inflection point.
What is Covered in this Article
- SG&A cost pressure reaching five-year highs across North America and Europe [1][1]
- AI-enabled operating models as the next engine of profitable growth [1]
- Channel partner alignment to AI software and consulting demand [2][2][2]
- Channel AI ecosystem market trajectory and growth forecast [3]
The News: The Hackett Group (NASDAQ: HCKT), an ROI-led AI transformation firm, released findings from its North America and European 2026 SG&A Cost Study and Scorecard on July 27, 2026 [1][1]. The study reveals that SG&A costs have reached five-year highs across both regions [1], removing cost-reduction headroom that enterprises have historically relied upon. The Hackett Group concludes that the next generation of profitable growth will be driven by AI-enabled operating models rather than by economic conditions [1]. The findings arrive as channel partners report near-universal conviction that AI software and consulting will be their primary growth drivers in 2026 [2][2], and as the broader channel AI ecosystem accelerates toward a $41,817.75M market by 2029 [3].
Rising SG&A Costs Force Enterprises Toward AI Operating Models, Channel Ready
Analyst Take: The Hackett Group's SG&A findings reframe enterprise AI adoption from an efficiency initiative into a structural growth imperative [1]. With traditional cost levers exhausted and SG&A at five-year highs [1], enterprises face a binary choice: transform operating models through AI or accept structurally lower profitability. Channel partners, already mobilized around AI software and consulting, are positioned to be the primary delivery vehicle for that transformation [2][2].
SG&A Pressure Creates Durable Enterprise Demand for AI Transformation
SG&A costs reaching five-year highs across North America and Europe [1] signals that the conventional playbook, headcount rationalization, process standardization, shared services, has largely run its course. The Hackett Group's conclusion that profitable growth will now be driven by AI-enabled operating models rather than economic conditions [1] resets the enterprise investment thesis. This is not a cyclical cost squeeze; it is a structural inflection. Enterprises that delay AI operating model transformation risk falling permanently behind peers who move now. For AI platform vendors and their channel ecosystems, this dynamic converts discretionary AI spending into a near-mandatory investment category, broadening the addressable buyer base and shortening sales cycles.
Channel Partners Are Already Aligned to the Demand Signal
The channel's orientation toward AI is not aspirational, it is operational. According to the Futurum Group Channel Ecosystems Decision Maker Survey, 84.5% of respondents expect AI software (including copilots) to drive growth for their business in 2026 (n=284) [2], and 83.9% of respondents expect AI consulting to drive growth for their business in 2026 (n=248) [2]. Critically, 71% of respondents already sell AI software (including copilots) (n=400) [2], confirming supply-side readiness rather than mere intent. Depth of capability is also present: 55.6% of respondents state 'We have deep subject-matter expertise in AI' (n=333) [2], and 52.3% of respondents are using AI agents internally (n=333) [2], giving partners firsthand operational experience to advise enterprise clients work through the exact transformation Hackett identifies as essential. This sustained conviction is not a single-period spike, 85.7% of respondents expected AI software (including copilots) to drive growth for their business in 2025 (n=421) [4], confirming a durable multi-period shift.
Market Timing: Enterprise Urgency Meets Channel Capacity at the Right Moment
The commercial backdrop amplifies the strategic significance of Hackett's findings. The base-case forecast projects the channel AI ecosystem expanding from $14,175.4M in 2024 to $25,680.27M in 2026 and $41,817.75M by 2029, at a 36% CAGR from 2022 to 2029 [3]. That trajectory means the market is scaling precisely as enterprise demand for AI-enabled SG&A transformation accelerates. The Hackett Group's positioning as an ROI-led AI transformation firm [1] places it at the advisory layer of this ecosystem, translating research findings into implementation roadmaps that channel partners and platform vendors can operationalize. The convergence of rising cost pressure, channel readiness, and a rapidly expanding market creates a compounding growth dynamic that favors early movers across the entire AI platform and services stack.
What to Watch
- Enterprise AI budget reallocation: whether SG&A transformation programs capture incremental budget or displace existing IT spend in Q4 2026 and into Q1 2027
- Channel deal velocity: how quickly partners convert AI consulting pipeline into closed engagements as Hackett's findings circulate among CFO and COO buyers [2][2]
- AI ecosystem market growth confirmation: whether the channel AI ecosystem tracks toward the $25,680.27M 2026 base-case forecast as year-end data becomes available [3]
- Competitive advisory positioning: how rival research and transformation firms respond to Hackett's ROI-led framing [1] and whether differentiated methodologies emerge in Q4 2026 and beyond
Sources
1. The Hackett Group® Finds SG&A Costs Reach Five-Year Highs Across North America and Europe, Thehackettgroup, July 2026
2. 1H 2026 Ecosystems, Channels & Marketplaces Global Enterprise Decision Maker Survey Report, Futurum Research, March 2026
3. 2H 2025 Hyperscaler Marketplace Market Sizing & Five-Year Forecast, Futurum Research, December 2025
4. 1H 2025 GTM Channel Decision Maker Survey Report, Futurum Research, April 2025
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