This year's
Most years there are at least a few firms that, competent and capable as they may be, still lack certain qualities that make them a strong choice for inclusion. Make no mistake: These are still successful firms with skilled professionals and happy clients, and many of them are quite innovative in their own right. Still, they're all clearly missing some key element or another to be considered, and so are usually an easy 'No.'
That did not happen this year. 2026 brought us an extremely strong crop of contenders that, truthfully, was very difficult to winnow down. When we took a close look at all the submissions that came in, there weren't any that could be discarded from the start. This meant every application became an intense debate over what it meant to be a Best Firm for Tech.
Tech budgets, pricing models, service offerings, KPI tracking, cybersecurity postures and much more served as fodder for these debates. How integrated is their tech stack? How automated are their processes? What's their AI governance like? What's their change-management process? What's the significance of this factor next to that factor in the context of their answer here? We consider these things every year, but this year we had to consider them extra hard.
And as we did, certain patterns began to emerge among these firms.
One of the strongest commonalities between them all was a broad strategic approach to technology not as a support function for other parts of the firm, but as a core part of the overall growth strategy. Technology for these firms is seen as not just supporting value but creating it directly. While many firms buy technology, these firms organize around it as a guiding principle.
"Our approach to technology is deliberate and business-led. We do not view IT as a support function. We view it as a growth engine," said Jeremy Shen, chief strategy officer of Virginia's YHB, in just one of many examples of this mindset across this year's Best Firms for Tech.
They're also all focused on building a highly integrated tech stack that can easily allow data to flow in and out from system to system in a unified information environment. We can see this in the fact that no firm's tech stack was less than 50% integrated and some even boasted of full integration. We also see this in repeated mentions of pursuing holistic data systems that will better enable automation across different workflows, as well as in firms seemingly looking to move away from specialized point solutions and into more holistic platforms that can unify tools and data, particularly where it concerns artificial intelligence.
"Going forward, our strategy emphasizes: platforms over point solutions, ensuring data flows seamlessly across the client life cycle rather than being trapped in disconnected systems; democratized access to AI and digital tools, so innovation is embedded into everyday workflows for all roles, not limited to specialists; [and] data-led client service, using high-quality data to deliver deeper insights, faster decisions, and a more personalized client experience," said James Watson, chief solutions officer at Top 25 Firm CLA.
Speaking of AI, they also all take governance seriously. These are not tech CEOs moving fast and breaking things; these firms are definitely deploying AI in great amounts, but they are also all emphasizing supervision and oversight with an understanding of the great stakes involved. Every firm in the list has AI guidelines and policies, and every firm list requires that AI outputs be verified by a human being before going out into the world.
"At the core of our oversight philosophy is a companywide standard: AI output is always a starting point, never an endpoint. Regardless of the tool, the task, or the confidence of the output, human review is required 100% of the time. No AI-generated content, analysis or recommendation is acted upon without a qualified person verifying its accuracy, relevance and appropriateness. This applies universally — there are no exceptions based on task type or perceived risk level," said Scott Sanders, chief information officer for Chicago-based Top 50 Firm Sikich.
And what are they doing with AI? Mostly reducing low-value work so the humans can pay more attention to higher-value judgment-based work.
"Ultimately, our goal is not to eliminate human involvement. It is to make humans more effective. AI helps reduce repetitive work and provides a starting point, but accountability and final decisions always remain with our team," said Mike DeKock, CEO of Iowa's MJD Advisors.
Another interesting pattern is that a large majority of the firms make their own custom software, many of them provide it to clients, and some of them even sell it on the open market. A few firms, like Synexus Tax Solutions, have made such bespoke solutions a fundamental part of their service offering, allowing clients to replace their legacy systems with new ones entirely of their own design.
"We created a platform that provides clients with real‑time visibility into their operational tax spend, complete with auditable data flows, configurable workflows, and secure, scalable financial processing. Unlike legacy systems that require months of lead time for even minor enhancements, our platform empowers clients to initiate inquiries, request changes, and adapt configurations directly within the application — without waiting for extended development cycles or navigating restrictive vendor timelines," said Brielle Ferrante, chief marketing officer for the Atlanta-based firm.
Also of note is that several firms on this list have also been experimenting with new billing models directly as a result of technology. These firms recognized how the efficiencies and time savings from AI and automation directly clash with the billable-hour pricing model. As a result, they have been looking into things like value-based pricing, subscriptions, or results-based models.
"We are still early in this transformation. Most of our firms still operate primarily on T&M. But we have strong conviction that value-based pricing is the right model for AI-enabled professional services, and we are building the tools and data infrastructure to make that transition possible across the portfolio," said Tucker Haas, chief technology officer for Tampa, Florida-based Crete Professional Alliance.
As one might imagine, these firms are also highly automated. The majority said that more than half of their workflows are automated, and a significant portion said that more than three quarters are automated. But many are not doing them all in Excel anymore: The majority said at least 50% of their workflows do not involve Excel or an Excel-like spreadsheet app; MJD Advisors said none of their workflows do.
Overall, what we see are firms approaching tech not as overhead but as a key driver of their success, if not the key driver. We see recurring patterns surrounding integration, controlled AI adoption, workflow redesign, advisory uplift, and disciplined change management. Firms are no longer just "using" technology to support their work; they are rearchitecting their entire business models around it.
For profiles of this year's 10 Best Firms for Technology,
