As we move from 2025 into 2026, staffing firms are navigating rapid change driven by artificial intelligence, evolving client expectations, and shifting growth models. The blog posts highlighted below explore how IT and engineering staffing leaders are responding—examining real-world AI applications, the expanding role of recruiters, new approaches to sales and ROI, and strategic moves into consulting and SOW-based work. Together, these perspectives offer timely insight into the forces shaping the year ahead.
Winning Sales in a Shifting Market: Real Strategies for Sustainable Growth
In a market shaped by longer sales cycles, heightened buyer caution, and increasing competition, succeeding in IT and engineering staffing demands more than just persistence—it requires deliberate, data-driven sales strategies and a culture built for performance.
Industry leaders from high-growth firms shared how they’re navigating today’s complex sales environment and offered tangible insights into hiring, training, KPIs, and new business development. While approaches vary, one theme emerged clearly: agility and intentionality are more important than ever.
How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Staffing: Real-World Tools and Success Stories
Artificial intelligence continues to transform recruiting and staffing, offering new ways to source, screen, and engage candidates faster and more effectively. Three industry leaders shared how they’ve adopted AI to address specific hiring challenges, from automating interviews to expanding sourcing reach to filtering out spam applicants, and the results they’ve seen so far.
How Staffing Firms Can Win in the Age of AI-Powered Search
In a landscape rapidly transformed by artificial intelligence, the way businesses and candidates search for staffing partners is evolving fast. Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) is no longer the sole path to online visibility. Instead, AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and others are reshaping how companies get discovered and how authority is established. For staffing firms, adapting to this new environment is critical.
Reinventing IT Staffing: How AI Is Accelerating the Shift to Consulting
The IT staffing world is entering a period of profound change—one marked by economic uncertainty, rapidly evolving buyer expectations, and an AI revolution that is rewriting how work gets done. For many firms, the traditional staffing model that fueled decades of growth is beginning to show its limits. Rates are compressed, roles are filled through new channels, and procurement continues to narrow access to business stakeholders. At the same time, AI is creating demand for project-based, outcomes-driven services.
Evolving, Not Extinct: How AI Is Reshaping the Recruiter’s Role in IT Staffing
“AI is not going to replace recruiters. Recruiters who are using AI are going to replace recruiters not using AI. It’s simple.” That’s how Tim Glennie, Managing Partner, BridgeView IT, framed the debate that has rippled through the staffing industry: is the recruiter role dying, or is it evolving?
The question is more than a philosophical one. As artificial intelligence and automation transform the recruiting process—from sourcing and screening to communication and analytics—staffing leaders are reexamining what truly defines a recruiter’s value. Across the industry, the consensus is clear: technology can enhance efficiency, but it cannot replicate empathy, culture, or trust.
Expanding from Staffing to SOW: Strategic Growth Opportunities for Tech Staffing Firms
In today’s increasingly complex IT services market, firms must evolve beyond traditional staffing to stay competitive and meet rising client expectations. One of the most effective ways to do so is by expanding into SOW — statements of work. Rather than just filling seats, SOWs are about solving problems and delivering measurable business outcomes.
Adding Statement of Work to the Mix: Real-World Lessons and Practical Advice from IT Staffing Leaders
In today’s rapidly evolving IT services market, traditional staffing alone often is not enough to meet client expectations. More and more firms are discovering that building a Statement of Work (SOW) offering is strategic for long-term relevance and growth.
For leaders like Anna Frazzetto, Founder and CEO of AFM Strategic Partners, the growing buzz around SOW isn’t surprising. “SOW has become a hot topic,” she explained. “But let’s set the stage clearly — this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one organization might not be the right path for another, and that’s okay.”
AI in Action: Real-World Tools Driving Results for TechServe Members
TechServe members are rapidly adopting AI to solve real business challenges. In a recent showcase, four leaders shared in-depth details on how specific tools are streamlining operations, enhancing recruiting, and creating measurable impact across their organizations. Below are deeper highlights from each presenter, reflecting not just what they use, but how they use it and the lessons learned along the way.
Confronting a Growing Threat: How Staffing Firms Can Fight Candidate Deception in the Age of AI
As the technical hiring landscape becomes more competitive and complex, staffing firms are facing a challenge that’s both urgent and rapidly evolving: candidate deception. While resume embellishment has long been a part of the hiring equation, today’s tools—especially AI—are giving candidates unprecedented means to misrepresent their skills and identities.
9 Strategies That Will Maximize ROI in IT Staffing
For IT staffing firms, staying ahead means doing things differently. The market keeps evolving, and 2025 is going to look different than 2024. This means what worked last year won’t cut it anymore.
If you are a business owner, recruiter, or sales leader, adapting to these changes with the right responses is critical for maximizing ROI and staying competitive.
Industry expert Barb Bruno, founder of Good as Gold Training, shares her top 9 actionable strategies to overcome client and candidate challenges, develop stronger teams, and increase placements.
