Outlook 2026: Technology

Across industries, the market is accelerating. Yet it’s a nuanced environment, in which quality is king, strategic options are expanding, technology is transforming the landscape, and change is a constant. Overall, 2026 offers a wealth of potential for buyers and sellers who can navigate this complexity with strategic conviction and tactical creativity. Read our 2026 Outlook.

Here, we explore how these dynamics are driving M&A opportunities in technology.

Technology: Driving Differentiation and Better Performance

For businesses of all types and sizes, technology is essential to achieve critical goals like facilitating revenue growth, boosting operational efficiency, and differentiating from the competition. As a result, organizations around the world and across industries are prioritizing digital transformation and AI adoption to improve performance while providing customers with more value.

“Companies are looking for AI, advanced software, and tech-enabled services to increasingly automate workflows, enhance the customer experience, power cost-saving initiatives, generate useful data, and streamline operational decision-making,” says Michael Kim, a managing director and co-head of our Technology Group. “In 2026 and beyond, the demand for technology to deliver more value is expected to accelerate. This will drive investor interest in a diverse set of innovative technology providers.”

Below, we highlight key technology sectors for investors to watch in 2026 and a selection of clients that exemplify opportunities throughout the industry.

Built Environment: Tech Imperative Creates Opportunity

Real estate is the largest asset class in the world. For many individuals, their home is their most valuable asset and means for wealth creation. For institutional investors, real estate is a proven, tangible asset class that provides the opportunity to generate income, benefit from appreciation, hedge against inflationary pressures, and enhance long-term portfolio stability.

For these reasons, the technology developed and deployed to optimize the investment in and usage of real estate is essential. Technology and data are at the heart of innovation in this critical part of the global economy, and that’s driving significant private equity investment activity in property technology.

Within the built environment, there is strong demand for specialized technologies that assist with mission-critical, risk management functions across real estate and property management as well as architecture, engineering, and construction. Companies offering innovative tools that solve complex challenges throughout these categories will have significant growth potential in 2026.

“As the use of advanced technology becomes more vital to the built environment, investor appetite for purpose-built tools will continue to expand,” says Thierry Monjauze, a managing director and group co-head. “Many of the most sought-after solutions are unifying all constituents across the supply chain, from buyers and contractors to property managers and maintenance services, which provides a powerful network effect and helps achieve each party’s business and risk management objectives.”

Highwire and NetVendor are two best-in-class companies that demonstrate the sector’s growth opportunity within the supply chain risk management category. Highwire offers a cloud-based contractor risk management platform built to serve asset owners and general contractors in high-growth verticals. NetVendor, meanwhile, provides a scalable software platform that streamlines complex vendor compliance, credentialing, and property management.

Compliance Technology: Increasing Complexity and Risks

In today's uncertain and shifting geopolitical and regulatory environment, compliance technology is becoming more vital for success. “Companies across industries and geographies need a wide variety of compliance tools to stay ahead of constantly evolving rules, regulations, and requirements while managing the full spectrum of enterprise risk,” says Monjauze.

And amid this increasingly complex business landscape, strong and reliable supply chains are more critical than ever. As such, supply chain risk management solutions are in especially high demand to help organizations protect themselves and their employees as they extend their reach. In addition, businesses specializing in operational risk management as well as governance, risk, and compliance and cyber risk management are particularly sought after.

Sphera and A-LIGN, both leaders in these areas, illustrate the traits of compliance software and services companies that investors should prioritize. Sphera, for instance, provides SaaS software and proprietary data to help companies surface, manage, and mitigate operational risks related to the environment, health, safety, and sustainability. Harris Williams advised Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions on its significant growth investment in Sphera. A-LIGN, on the other hand, is a tech-enabled cybersecurity compliance platform providing audit management, assessment, and advisory services. Harris Williams advised Hg Capital on its strategic investment in A-LIGN.

IT Services and Cybersecurity: Navigating an Evolving Environment

IT service providers will continue to be highly valuable business partners in 2026, bringing end-to-end technology solutions and the skillsets to navigate an ever-changing IT landscape.

Meanwhile, the lines between IT services categories are blurring. Leading providers are now offering a broader array of capabilities beyond traditional IT support—from cybersecurity, application, and cloud services to an expanding focus on compliance and digital transformation—creating new opportunities across an expanding buyer universe of business services and software investors.

Providers with specialized vertical capabilities are especially in demand. “Companies are facing intensifying cybersecurity threats, expanding compliance complexities, and rising third-party risk—all while the cost of failure is increasing,” says Kim. “Together, these factors are driving growth opportunities for those with differentiated industry knowledge that can better manage sector-specific compliance needs, customer data, and digital infrastructure.”

Our recent client HITRUST is a prime example, helping solve these challenges through an integrated framework, assessment, and certification platform that gives organizations confidence in their cybersecurity, compliance, and risk management programs. Another is Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT solutions, including cybersecurity and compliance, cloud and connectivity, NOC/SOC support, disaster recovery, and network monitoring, that specializes in a variety of regulated industries.

Healthcare Technology: Leveraging Purpose-Built Solutions

As we move through 2026, several themes will drive ongoing investor interest in many segments of the HCIT ecosystem. For example, as healthcare information continues to grow and flow more freely, the need for interoperability, security, and compliance will intensify. Meanwhile, enhancing revenue cycle management and boosting operational and clinical efficiency remain essential for managing more patients and achieving value-based care. And finally, the proliferation of AI and advanced data analytics is helping to reduce costs and uncover new insights across all healthcare operations.

“Spending on these HCIT capabilities is driven by healthcare providers’ goals of higher-quality care, lower costs, improved patient engagement, higher clinician satisfaction, and equitable access,” says Kim.

By leveraging technology built for specific tasks, healthcare providers can transform manual efforts into faster and more secure digital processes. Softway Medical, for instance, develops, hosts, and integrates software solutions for the public and private healthcare systems in France, Canada, and Europe.

Another example is medical record retrieval, which is undergoing a digital transformation to better support growth in property and casualty insurance claims and litigation and workers’ compensation fraud. Highlighting this segment’s expansion opportunity is Ontellus, a leading medical and billing record exchange platform providing insurance carriers, law firms, and healthcare record custodians with efficient, compliant, and cost-effective record retrieval solutions.

Legal Technology: Changing Needs Drive Tech Adoption

Throughout the legal sector, jurisdictional differences, increasingly complex regulations, intensifying competition, and higher customer expectations are driving a greater need for purpose-built technology and automation.

Against this backdrop, the legal technology and services space will continue to offer a variety of exciting investment opportunities in 2026. “As digital transformation persists in the legal industry, innovative platforms that drive efficiency through automation, leverage data to deliver differentiated outcomes, and create high-quality customer experiences are poised for long-term success,” says Monjauze. “Companies that combine in-demand capabilities with efficient and scalable technologies are particularly well positioned for growth.”

ABC Legal demonstrates this potential, leveraging its proprietary technology platform to facilitate the delivery of legal documents in support of legal proceedings across different geographies at scale. The business focuses on end markets where service of process is critical and managing complex, fragmented regulatory regimes as well as delivery and route optimization is vital to success.

What’s Next

Companies of all kinds continue to emphasize digital transformation, seeking advanced software, AI-powered solutions, and connectivity to drive differentiation, harness data for decision-making, boost productivity and efficiency, and take full advantage of the opportunities 2026 presents. And as technology adoption continues to accelerate across industries, leading software and tech-enabled services businesses will see heightened demand and investor attention.

“Best-in-class technology businesses are creating highly scalable, integrated platforms that solve a wider range of complex challenges,” says Monjauze. “Those with advanced solutions that serve high-growth end markets and a diverse set of customers will be positioned for long-term growth and investor interest in 2026 and the coming years.”

Learn more about the Harris Williams Technology Group.