IT outsourcing is not a new topic – companies have been outsourcing technology capabilities to external vendors for decades. But the past six years have brought changes that are unprecedented in the history of the industry. The pandemic, the leap of generative AI, geopolitical tensions and a global shortage of technical talent have all combined to reshape what roles companies outsource, where they source them from and for how long.
1. 2020–2021: The pandemic as a catalyst
When the world froze in March 2020, IT departments faced unprecedented pressure. From day one, they had to ensure functional remote work for thousands of employees, digitize processes that had been waiting in a drawer for years, and manage the onslaught of customers on digital channels. Internal capacities were not enough - outsourcing became a lifeline.
Three categories saw the highest demand: cloud architects and engineers (migrating on-premise infrastructure), e-commerce and backend system developers, and cybersecurity specialists. The expansion of the network perimeter to the homes of millions of workers opened security holes that required immediate response.
A characteristic feature of this period was the emphasis on speed over price. Companies were willing to pay a premium for immediately available capacity – which significantly strengthened the position of nearshore and offshore suppliers from India, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine.
2. Year 2022: Normalization and the advent of the DevOps wave
After the acute phase of the pandemic, consolidation set in. Companies that had quickly moved infrastructure to the cloud found that they needed long-term management, cost optimization, and automation. DevOps engineers and Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) came to the fore – roles that ensure the continuous operation and scalability of cloud environments.
At the same time, the demand for data engineers and analysts has increased. The pandemic has shown how critical the ability to make decisions based on real-time data is. Companies have invested in data platforms and need people who can build and maintain them.
3. Year 2023: AI revolution and a new type of demand
2023 was a watershed year. The advent of tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot changed the dynamics of the market faster than anyone expected. The demand for AI/ML engineers and LLM specialists exploded – and companies’ internal capacities simply couldn’t keep up. Outsourcing became the primary way to quickly acquire AI competencies without lengthy recruitment.
At the same time, a new role that did not exist before was created: the prompt engineer and AI integrator – a specialist in integrating language models into existing company processes and applications. This role has become one of the fastest growing in the entire IT outsourcing space.
4. Year 2024–2025: Geopolitics and reshoring
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 set off a wave whose consequences were fully felt in 2024–2025. Companies that relied heavily on the Ukrainian IT scene – one of the most powerful in Europe – had to look for alternatives. Interest in nearshore locations in Central Europe has increased significantly: Poland, Romania, but also Slovakia and the Czech Republic have seen an increase in demand for outsourced capacities.
At the same time, a trend of selective reshoring emerged – companies began to bring strategic IT functions (security, architecture, product management) back in-house, while commoditized roles (testing, support, standard development) continued to be outsourced. Demand for QA automation engineers remained strong, while interest in manual testers declined significantly.
5. Year 2026: Where We Are Today
The current IT outsourcing market is more mature, sophisticated and fragmented than ever before. Several trends define today's situation.
AI-augmented roles are replacing traditional positions: instead of a pure full-stack developer, companies are looking for a developer who can effectively work with AI tools and integrate them into team processes. The value of a specialist does not lie in technical skills alone, but in the ability to combine them with AI productivity.
Cybersecurity remains a long-term deficit area - demand has grown continuously since 2020 and is not saturated even in 2026. The complexity of threats, regulatory requirements (NIS2, DORA) and expanding digital attack surfaces ensure that this role will remain in demand in outsourcing for years to come.
The data and AI layer – data engineers, MLOps specialists and AI architects – is the most dynamic segment. Companies that have not yet implemented AI into their core processes are now doing so under competitive pressure, which keeps demand at a peak.
Conclusion: What follows from this
Six years have taught us one fundamental lesson: IT outsourcing is no longer primarily about price and is increasingly about access to competencies that cannot be built in-house quickly enough. Companies that view outsourcing strategically – as an extension of their internal team, not a cheap substitution – achieve significantly better results.
The same lesson applies to suppliers and customers: the most valuable currency in this market is not cheap hands, but rare competencies. And those – in the areas of AI, security and cloud architecture – will remain in short supply for years to come.