New research from CRN reveals the top trends shaping the U.S. channel in 2026, from AI and infrastructure to security and the evolving MSP model.
As AI dominates boardroom conversations, most U.S. channel partners are discovering that the real opportunity lies elsewhere. Behind every generative AI project sits a growing need for security, data readiness, cloud optimization, infrastructure upgrades and managed services. At the same time, rising memory costs and component constraints are bringing hardware economics back into focus for the first time in years. Together, those forces are creating a fundamentally different channel landscape from the one partners operated in just 24 months ago.
Based on research from CRN sister brand IPED and CRN audience behavior, five trends are defining the U.S. channel in 2026.
1. AI Has Become The Channel’s Demand Engine
AI is now the front door to virtually every major customer conversation.
Data from CRN’s generative AI service, CRN Answers, shows AI accounted for 19 percent of all queries during 2026, making it the most actively researched topic across CRN and its sister titles. AI and machine learning now rank among the top themes across global IT audiences.
Yet partners consistently report that customers rarely stop at AI.
IPED’s Channel Census research suggests that AI engagements frequently expand into larger projects involving data preparation, software integration, cloud migration, security compliance and business process transformation. The conversation may start centered on large language models, but spending quickly shifts toward the technology foundations required to make AI work.
For partners, that creates a powerful multiplier effect.
Rather than viewing AI as a standalone practice, many of the highest-growth firms are using AI as an entry point into broader consulting, managed services and transformation opportunities.
2. Security Has Become The Default Attach Opportunity
If AI is generating demand, security is where many partners are monetizing it.
IPED research places security among the channel’s most important strategic investment areas alongside AI and networking. At the same time, security-focused content continues to rank among CRN’s strongest-performing editorial output, underscoring the market’s ongoing appetite for cybersecurity insight.
What’s changing is the nature of the security conversation.
Customers are increasingly asking questions around AI governance, data exposure, cyber resilience, compliance and operational risk. Security is no longer merely a technology discussion. It is becoming a business continuity discussion.
For solution providers, that shift creates significant opportunities in managed detection and response, compliance services, cyber resilience planning, recovery preparedness and security consulting.
As customers race to adopt AI, security is becoming the guardrail that makes adoption possible.
3. The MSP Model Is Becoming The Industry Model
The traditional distinction between reseller, systems integrator, consultant and MSP is becoming increasingly blurred.
According to IPED’s Channel Census research, recurring revenue now represents more than half of revenue across all major partner profiles, while most solution providers operate across multiple business models simultaneously. Pure-play resellers are increasingly uncommon.
The fastest-growing partners share several common characteristics:
- Services revenue growing faster than product revenue.
- Recurring revenue growing faster than project revenue.
- Greater focus on business outcomes rather than purely technical outcomes.
This evolution is changing the entire structure of the channel.
Partners are investing in automation, intellectual property, recurring services and customer lifecycle management rather than relying solely on hardware margins and product transactions.
In effect, the managed services mindset has become the blueprint for the broader partner ecosystem.
4. AI Is Bringing Infrastructure Economics Back To The Forefront
Perhaps the most overlooked trend in the channel today is the resurgence of infrastructure economics.
AI may dominate headlines, but memory pricing, component availability and infrastructure costs are increasingly affecting partner strategies and customer purchasing decisions.
Evidence of this appears throughout CRN’s own audience behavior. Several of the highest-performing U.S. news stories this year centered on rising memory costs and the vendor responses that followed, including coverage of Cisco compute promotion changes, HPE pricing adjustments and revisions to partner contract terms. These stories generated a strong audience response because they directly affect partner margins, pricing models and deal economics.
Meanwhile, IPED research shows partners with data center capabilities and AI expertise are experiencing strong growth as enterprises invest heavily in AI-ready infrastructure. Channel Census research notes particularly strong momentum among enterprise-focused providers serving data center and infrastructure requirements.
The result is a channel environment where hardware decisions once again matter. For much of the cloud era, infrastructure became a background discussion. AI has brought it back to center stage.
The winners will be the partners that can help customers navigate both the technical and economic realities of AI deployment.
5. Vendors Must Become Far More Precise About Partner Engagement
While technology is evolving rapidly, channel relationships are also changing.
IPED research reveals that partners are inundated with vendor communications. Eighty percent report being contacted multiple times per month by vendors they already work with, while 77 percent receive regular outreach from vendors with whom they have no existing relationship. Eighty percent also engage with vendors multiple times per month via email.
In this environment, volume is losing effectiveness.
Channel Census research emphasizes that different partner profiles require different support models. Services-led partners often prioritize technical enablement, access to specialist resources and scalable service-building opportunities. Product-led partners, meanwhile, tend to place greater emphasis on supply chain reliability, vendor alignment and product availability.
This is forcing vendors to rethink channel strategy.
The era of broad, one-size-fits-all partner programs is fading. Increasingly, success depends on understanding exactly which partners are positioned to grow in AI, security, cloud, infrastructure and managed services and tailoring investments accordingly.
The Bottom Line
The U.S. channel’s AI boom is not simply an AI story.
It is a services story. A security story. An infrastructure story. A profitability story.
AI may be generating demand, but the real winners are emerging in the areas that surround AI: recurring services, security practices, data readiness, infrastructure modernization and trusted advisory relationships. At the same time, rising memory costs and infrastructure constraints are reminding the industry that hardware economics still matter.
The channel leaders that thrive over the next 18 months are unlikely to be those selling the most AI. They will be those best positioned to help customers turn AI ambition into operational reality.
