Research-led agentic AI outsourcing advisory

Research-led advisory for institutions preparing and managing agentic-era outsourcing and global capability centers.

Akholi helps Tier 1 financial institutions prepare for and manage agentic AI outsourcing, service engagements, and global capability centers. The firm’s authority rests on a delivery-side count, not on opinion.

The institutions studied run agentic AI outsourcing at the core of Tier 1 banking. The standard for it is being set now.

37.33%Of engagements already canceled (56 of 150), at a median age of five months
43.85%Mean customer satisfaction across the engagements studied
850Delivery staff who build and run the agents, surveyed April–June 2026
150Live engagements at Tier 1 financial institutions
The founding finding

Failure is on the buyer’s side of the boundary.

In the first half of 2026, 850 of the people who deliver agentic AI outsourcing described 150 live engagements at Tier 1 financial institutions. 37.33% had already been canceled. The median engagement was five months old.

The record supports one governing claim: in the engagements studied, outcomes track the conditions the buying institution builds rather than the deals it signs. Failure there is institutional in origin rather than technical, and the determinants sit within the institution’s own authority to change.

That last clause is the posture. The finding is that the levers are in the institution’s hands — not that the institution is at fault.

Where failure concentrates

Report · Part 2 →
The five problem areas, ranked by share of distressed ratingsExhibit · Report Part 2
20%40%60% Bank-side (client) preparation Bank–vendor co-management Vendor preparation & mgmt AI tools (technology) 3rd-party ecosystem 3.523.653.664.584.62 51.48%49.26%48.22%32.14%31.74%
Source: Akholi 2026, Table 6 (5 Failure Categories). Bars show the share of ratings in the distressed band (n ≈ 15,950 per area); the figure inside each bar is the mean score on a 1–10 scale, where higher is healthier. Amber marks the three institution- and relationship-side areas; grey marks technology and the third-party ecosystem. Vendor-side reporting, uncorroborated by client records.
In the engagements studied, outcomes track the conditions the buying institution builds rather than the deals it signs.
— The 2026 Akholi Report
Four pillars, one argument

From evidence to operating discipline.

01 · THE REPORT

Diagnose the problem

The primary research: 150 engagements, 850 delivery staff, method and limits disclosed in full.

Read the Report
02 · THE BOOK

Codify the response

The operating discipline the diagnosis demands: five lifecycle phases, five gates, one measurement floor. Releases Q4 2026.

About the Book
03 · THE ACADEMY

Teach the discipline

One foundational class on the full lifecycle; two master classes on governance and on performance.

The Academy
04 · THE PRACTICE

Run it on a live engagement

Five fixed-scope clinics across preparation, performance, and the control function. A 24-hour Crisis Response meets acute failure.

The Practice