Today India Inc. is at an inflection point where growth is increasingly powered by a vast array and environment consisting of external partners. Third-party vendors today are not just suppliers; they could be technology providers, innovation partners, and, as we have come to know in many a case, even an extension of the enterprise itself. Yet as organisations expand their third-party ecosystem to speed up and realise their digital transformation objectives, they are also exposing themselves to risks in many ways that in today’s digital-first world are becoming challenging to control through traditional approaches.At the same time, organisations are under constant pressure to modernise their operations, manage costs, adopt artificial intelligence (AI), and stay compliant with rapidly evolving regulations—whether it here in India or globally. Managing these priorities internally today can more often than not prove to be resource-intensive. It is, therefore, not a surprise that organisations are evaluating and rethinking how critical functions, for example, like third-party risk management, are delivered.The shift is apparent and clear, as stated in KPMG International’s Managed Services Outlook 2026, released recently. Managed services, once viewed as a cost lever, today have moved firmly into the strategic core of enterprise decision-making. As many as 99% of organisations consider managed services a strategic priority, with almost half putting them at the very top of their investment lists. This is in a way redefining the term of outsourcing, moving from transactional support to a transformation engine.The gradual shift is being driven by the fact that there exists a widening gap between innovation and execution. While teams across organisations are aligned on the need to adopt AI and drive consistent transformation, they are often held back by challenges and constraints around legacy systems, processes, and at times talent shortages. This is where managed services is increasingly being seen as a bridge that helps close this gap, thereby helping organisations develop new capabilities across operations, minus the delays associated with building them in-house.The aforementioned study shows that 87% of organisations have already integrated managed services into their digital transformation strategies. This level of integration reflects a deeper shift: organisations are no longer outsourcing isolated functions but are instead redesigning and revisiting their operating models to deliver outcomes through a combination of internal teams and external managed service providers.AI is now being viewed as a powerful catalyst in this transition, with managed services being looked at as a key tool for delivering AI on scale and adoption of AI. What this shows is AI today is not just a technology layer but needs a different operating model, one that can manage data, ensure security and compliance, and help with optimising performance. Managed services can provide this infrastructure backbone.Today the value that managed services brings to the table extends itself far beyond efficiency gains. Organisations are looking at it to drive growth, and innovation, more importantly, in areas that have become core and central to competitiveness in today’s complex and ever-changing business environment. The managed services model helps users access capabilities and skills in specialised areas, modern platforms, and analytics that sometimes are challenging to scale and build internally. In a world where speed and agility define success, this becomes a decisive factor.Another aspect is also the way organisations approach risks. The traditional methods of third-party risk management have been found to be fragmented, reactive, and literally all over the place where multiple vendors are hired by different functions, leading to a lack of integration. As ecosystems expand, the lack of integration and fragmentation leads to blind spots. Managed services help bring synchronisation, allowing for a more coordinated and integrated approach, be it standardising methods or using AI and automation to move from one-time screening to periodic checks and to continuous monitoring.Equally important is moving from cost-driven outsourcing to outcome-driven partnerships. Organisations today want to see value and better service quality, leading to faster resilience, further leading to faster innovation. This is leading to a redesign of relationships from vendor contracts to strategic collaboration with accountability.For India, the implications are significant. As a growing and expanding international hub for digital services, organisations and companies in India are functioning and operating within deeply interconnected global value chains. Managing these ecosystems in a systematic, organised, and secure fashion can become a key differentiator. Going forward, organisations must view managed services not as an adjunct but as a key structural element of how operations are shaped and delivered.Lastly, for India Inc., the message is clear. The question should no longer be about whether to adopt managed services but about how to use and leverage them to transform functions. In today’s interconnected world, resilience is no longer built within the organisation alone but across the whole ecosystem. And the managed services partner ecosystem is fast becoming the foundation of that resilience.The author is Partner and Head, Managed Services, Advisory, KPMG in India. Views are personal.(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)