The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're trying to see exactly how The Hackett Group, Inc. is structuring its business as it leans hard into Generative AI, and frankly, it's a masterclass in monetizing proprietary data. As a former analyst who's seen firms pivot before, I can tell you their model hinges on turning their massive database-over 26,000 studies-into actionable insights via platforms like AI XPLR™. Looking at their Q3 2025 results, where total revenue before reimbursements hit $72.2 million while they absorbed $3.1 million in restructuring for this AI push, shows you the near-term cost of this transformation. Dive in below to see how their key partnerships, deep executive relationships serving 89% of the Fortune 100, and focus on delivering 'Digital World Class®' performance are all mapped out in their nine building blocks.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at the core relationships The Hackett Group, Inc. builds its advisory and digital transformation services upon. These aren't just vendor relationships; they are deep integrations that feed proprietary intellectual property, like the AI XPLR™ platform, with real-world application data.

The firm's deep benchmarking history provides the foundation for these alliances. The Hackett Group has completed more than 17,850 benchmarking studies with major corporations and government agencies, including 93% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 90% of the Fortune 100, 80% of the DAX 30, and 57% of the FTSE 100.

Here's a breakdown of the key alliances and the associated quantifiable impact or status as of late 2025.

The strategic alliance with Celonis, announced in August 2025, is designed to merge Celonis process intelligence with The Hackett Group's intellectual property, including the AI XPLR™ and ZBrain™ platforms. This combination allows clients to benchmark performance against Digital World Class® standards using metrics like cycle time, automation rate, and rework rate.

For enterprise application deployment, the technology alliances are critical. Answerthink, a Hackett Group company, holds the SAP Platinum Partner status and is a member of United VARS, an alliance operating in over 80 countries. Similarly, as an Oracle Platinum Partner, The Hackett Group offers deep application experience for ERP and EPM deployments, focusing on configuring best practices directly into the implementation.

The focus on enterprise applications extends to specialized areas. The Hackett Group is a Coupa Premier Partner, leveraging benchmark data from more than 11,000 studies to drive procure-to-pay (P2P) performance. Furthermore, achieving the OneStream Diamond Partner status-the highest level-reflects expertise demonstrated by delivering over 150+ OneStream projects.

Channel partners are being mobilized to accelerate the adoption of The Hackett Group's Gen AI capabilities. The launch of AI XPLR™ 4.0 in September 2025 compresses traditional AI design and development cycles from months to days. This platform uses a proprietary Solutioning Language Model (SLM) trained on extensive transformation knowledge, where LLMs generally provide about 35% of the capability for designing high ROI agentic workflows, with The Hackett Group's SLM providing the essential complementary expertise. This focus aligns with the broader trend where 89% of executives are accelerating Gen AI initiatives in 2025, with early adopters seeing up to 25% improvements in productivity.

The alliance with ADP® centers on optimizing Human Capital Management (HCM) technology. This partnership provides ADP clients access to The Hackett Group's benchmarking and advisory services. This is particularly relevant as HR workloads are projected to rise by 10% in 2025 while budgets shrink by 1.5% and headcounts decline by 2%, creating a 12% productivity gap that AI-driven automation is critical to closing.

These partnerships are clearly designed to deliver measurable results. For instance, Digital World Class® Procurement teams, supported by these intelligence-driven models, deliver 2.6X greater return on investment (ROI) than peers while operating at 19% lower cost as a percentage of spend.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine of The Hackett Group, Inc. as they push hard into the AI consulting space. Here is the breakdown of what they are actively doing, grounded in their latest reported numbers through the second quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Delivering Gen AI strategic consulting and implementation services.

The Hackett Group, Inc. is positioning itself as a leading generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) consultancy. The market demand is clear: in The Hackett Group's 2025 Key Issues Study, 89% of executives across business functions reported advancing Gen AI initiatives, a massive jump from just 16% the prior year.

This activity is translating into measurable client results. Companies that have deployed Gen AI solutions are reporting up to 25% improvements in areas like quality, productivity, and operating cost reduction, with some even seeing gains of 40% or greater. Furthermore, over 50% of organizations plan to use Gen AI specifically to enhance customer satisfaction and experiences.

Conducting proprietary enterprise benchmarking and best practices research.

The foundation of The Hackett Group, Inc.'s advisory work remains its proprietary research. Their expertise is grounded in benchmarking the world's leading businesses. As of the second quarter of 2025, this coverage includes 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 90% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40, and 51% of the FTSE 100.

This research informs specific functional areas, like procurement, where 64% of procurement leaders expect AI and Gen AI to transform their roles within five years. Still, a 9% efficiency gap is projected for procurement in 2025, as workloads are expected to rise 10% while budgets only grow 1%.

Providing digital transformation and business process optimization consulting.

The core consulting work continues across enterprise functions, which is reflected in the segment performance. The Global S&BT segment, which houses much of this broad consulting, showed strength in the first half of 2025. The Hackett Group, Inc. also offers best practices-based support for enterprise business performance management, including deploying or upgrading SAP or Oracle platforms.

Continuous development and enhancement of the AI XPLR™ and ZBrain™ platforms.

The platforms are central to their delivery model, described as ideation through implementation platforms. The company is aggressively investing in these tools. For instance, they released AI XPLR V4 on an accelerated timeline during the second quarter of 2025, designed to identify and design Gen AI solutions at unprecedented speed. However, as of the Q2 2025 earnings call, the licensing side for AI Explorer had not yet seen the expected impact, as the company was still making meaningful improvements before releasing a licensable product.

Managing three core segments: Global S&BT, Oracle Solutions, and SAP Solutions.

The operational structure is managed across these three distinct segments, with revenues reported before reimbursements. You can see the performance divergence in the second quarter of 2025.

The first quarter of 2025 showed a different mix, with the SAP Solutions segment down 8% YoY to $13.2 million and Oracle Solutions down 3% YoY to $20.4 million. The total company revenue before reimbursements for Q2 2025 was $77.6 million, exceeding the high end of guidance.

The overall financial health supporting these activities includes:

• Q2 2025 Adjusted Gross Margin: 42.8% of revenues before reimbursements.
• Q2 2025 Adjusted SG&A: $18.2 million.
• Consultant Headcount (End of Q2 2025): 1,382.
• Cash Balances (End of Q2 2025): $10.1 million.
• Debt Outstanding (End of Q2 2025): $23.0 million.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets that power The Hackett Group, Inc.'s advisory services, the stuff that lets them claim they enable Digital World Class® performance. It's not just people; it's the data and the platforms they've built on top of it.

Proprietary intellectual property (IP) and methodologies.

The foundation here is the massive repository of performance data. The Hackett Group® has completed more than 27,000 business benchmarking studies. This content comes from their proprietary business best practices database, which is the result of nearly a quarter century of performance benchmarking involving more than 9,100 organizations globally. This repository defines over 2,000 best practices across nearly 100 process areas, breaking functional processes down to the activity level. This IP is the engine behind their advisory work.

Here's a quick look at the scale of their knowledge base as of late 2025:

The AI XPLR™ V4 ideation and implementation platform.

The Hackett Group, Inc. launched AI XPLR™ 4.0 in September 2025, which fundamentally transforms how organizations conceive, design, and deploy Gen AI solutions. This platform features the proprietary Solutioning Language Model (SLM), a specialized Gen AI model trained on their deep transformation knowledge and benchmarks. The SLM is key because research indicates that generic large language models provide only about 35% of the capability needed to design high ROI agentic workflows, but their uniquely informed SLM provides the critical capabilities to fully execute solutions. This new version introduces capabilities that compress traditional AI design and development cycles from months to days. The prior version, AI XPLR™, allowed companies to complete a process-level assessment in 30 days or less and included more than 200 actionable use cases.

Highly experienced, specialized consulting and advisory professionals.

The expertise of the professionals is directly tied to the IP they create and use. For instance, one of their Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leaders has spent over 25 years studying procurement and business changes. These professionals use platforms like AI XPLR™ and ZBrain™ to help organizations achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results. The firm's ability to deliver client-specific Gen AI solutions relies on this deep expertise combined with the SLM.

Strong brand reputation as a 'Digital World Class®' performance enabler.

The Hackett Group, Inc. positions itself as an IP and platform-based, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that enables Digital World Class® performance. This reputation is built on the track record derived from their benchmarking, which includes analysis of 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 93% of the Fortune 100, 73% of the DAX 40, and 52% of the FTSE 100 through their platforms. The focus in 2025 is on helping clients move from pilot projects to enterprise-wide impact, as 89% of executives are now accelerating Gen AI initiatives.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

Enabling Digital World Class® performance means delivering quantifiable results that surpass even other top performers.

• Digital World Class® companies typically have a 29% lower overall cost of operations.
• Digital World Class® companies typically have 83% higher net margins.
• Digital World Class® companies typically have 55% higher total shareholder return than their peers.
• Digital World Class® IT organizations enjoy a 22% cost advantage over peers.

You can achieve significant cost reductions across core functions by adopting best practices.

The Hackett Group, Inc. helps accelerate Gen AI adoption from pilot stages to enterprise-wide transformation.

• In 2025, 89% of enterprises are actively advancing Gen AI initiatives, a jump from just 16% the prior year.
• Over 50% of organizations plan to use Gen AI to improve customer experience.
• Early Gen AI adopters in Global Business Services (GBS) reported measurable gains in productivity and cost savings in 63% of cases in 2024.
• Companies implementing Gen AI report improvements of up to 40% or greater in specified areas.
• Execution hurdles to scaling AI include process and technology complexity at 59% and data quality concerns at 58%.

Fact-based advisory services are grounded in proprietary benchmarking data derived from thousands of engagements.

• The Hackett Group, Inc. provides insights backed by over 27,000 benchmarking engagements globally.
• Procurement benchmark studies cover more than 57,700 procurement metrics.
• Benchmarking coverage includes 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials and 90% of the Fortune 100.
• Adopters of procurement outsourcing services report an 83% overall satisfaction rating for service experience and value.

Specialized expertise spans core functions, with specific 2025 Digital World Class® Matrix reports available for areas like Accounts Payable and Master Data Management (MDM).

• GBS leaders in 2025 expect accelerated Gen AI deployment in Finance, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Procurement.
• The 2025 Digital World Class® Matrix evaluates 15 Accounts Payable solution providers across 10 core capabilities.
• In Accounts Payable, leading solutions achieve 60% touchless, straight-through processing and deliver 59% faster AP cycle times.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how The Hackett Group, Inc. builds and maintains its connections with clients; it's heavily weighted toward deep, ongoing partnership rather than transactional sales.

High-touch, strategic, and long-term executive advisory relationships.

The core relationship is executive-level advisory, built on proprietary data and benchmarking. This is the foundation for long-term engagements. The firm's focus on Digital World Class® performance means relationships are centered on sustained improvement, not one-off fixes. For instance, the firm's executive advisory programs are a key component of its service mix, designed to provide continuous, high-level guidance to C-suite leaders.

Dedicated consulting teams for complex, multi-year transformation projects.

Complex transformation work, especially around enterprise applications like SAP and Oracle, necessitates dedicated teams and multi-year commitments. The revenue generated from these large-scale projects reflects the depth of the relationship. For example, The Hackett Group's SAP Solutions segment generated $57.1 million in revenue in fiscal year 2024, indicating substantial, ongoing client investment in those transformation areas. Similarly, the Oracle Solutions segment saw its profit increase to $19.1 million in 2024, driven by higher revenue and headcount usage, which speaks to the scale of those dedicated teams.

The scale of these engagements can be seen in the overall financial footprint supporting the client base:

IP-based subscription model for continuous access to best practices and research.

The Hackett Group is actively pivoting to embed its Intellectual Property (IP) into recurring revenue streams. This moves relationships beyond pure consulting hours. You see this in the focus on platforms like ZBrain and the new AI XPLR platform. The company is continuing to add licensed clients to the ZBrain platform, which is a clear indicator of a subscription-like relationship model. The goal is to have AI Explorer and ZBrain function as the client's 'AI platform' for licensing, ensuring continuous engagement.

Co-creation of Gen AI solutions using the client's existing technology footprint.

The current relationship strategy heavily involves Generative AI (Gen AI) co-creation. This is a highly collaborative approach, as the AI solutions must integrate with the client's specific environment. The release of AI XPLR V4 is designed to fully consider the client's existing automation footprint and data sources to design agentic workflows, which accelerates implementation success. In the third quarter of 2025, the split between Gen AI implementation revenue and consulting/discovery revenue was estimated to be approximately 50/50, showing a balanced, hands-on approach to building these new solutions with the client.

Post-implementation support and optimization services.

The advisory and transformation work naturally flows into support and optimization, ensuring clients realize value over time. This is supported by the firm's expertise in continuous process improvement programs and application managed services. The focus on improving the Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), which stood at 37 days in the 2025 Working Capital Survey, shows the long-term optimization mindset applied post-major implementation. You need ongoing support to maintain or improve those metrics.

The nature of these relationships is characterized by:

• High reliance on proprietary benchmarking data.
• Significant investment in Gen AI platform licensing (ZBrain, AI XPLR).
• Deep integration into client ERP/application ecosystems (Oracle, SAP).
• A growing shift toward recurring revenue from IP access.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how The Hackett Group, Inc. gets its value proposition-that intellectual property-based executive advisory and consulting-into the hands of clients as of late 2025. It's a mix of direct, program-based, and platform-driven routes.

The direct sales force targets large enterprise consulting engagements, which is evident in the segment revenue performance. For instance, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, the Global Strategy & Business Transformation (S&BT) segment, which houses much of this core consulting work, brought in $42.6 million in revenue before reimbursements, marking a 6% year-over-year increase. To be fair, the technology-focused segments have seen some softness; the Oracle Solutions segment revenue was $20.4 million (down 3% YoY in Q1 2025) and the SAP Solutions segment was $13.2 million (down 8% YoY in Q1 2025).

The Executive Advisory Programs and research reports serve as a crucial, recurring revenue channel and a source of lead generation. The firm heavily promotes its research, such as the 2025 Key Issues Studies across functions like Procurement, HR, and Supply Chain. This advisory model is grounded in benchmarking the world's leading businesses, including expertise derived from work with 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials and 90% of the Fortune 100. Furthermore, The Hackett Group, Inc. launched a premium Gen AI Executive Advisory Program, led by an expert who has implemented over 100 AI-driven systems across 20 industries.

Technology partner channels are integrated, especially for implementation services related to major platforms. The Oracle Solutions and SAP Solutions segments represent this channel, even as they face headwinds. The company is actively looking to expand this reach, noting that the differentiated capabilities of its platforms are attracting interest from large systems integrators and enterprise software companies, leading to opportunities for expanded reach through these technology relationships. A specific example of this channel expansion is the announced strategic partnership with Celonis.

Digital platforms are key for scalable delivery of The Hackett Group, Inc.'s intellectual property. The AI XPLR™ platform is central to this, with version 3 released in Q1 2025 and version V4 released in Q2 2025. This platform helps design sophisticated Gen AI solutions and is expected to help attract channel partners. The company's overall TTM (Trailing Twelve Months) revenue as of September 2025 stood at $309.11M.

The physical presence supports global consulting delivery across these channels. The Hackett Group, Inc. maintains a global footprint across the required regions, with its Corporate Headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States.

Here's a quick look at the confirmed office locations as of late 2025:

The firm's overall financial structure shows a focus on profitability from its IP, with an Adjusted Gross Margin of 42.8% reported in Q2 2025 on revenues before reimbursements. The company also maintains a consistent return to shareholders via its dividend, which was declared at $0.12 per share quarterly, representing an annualized $0.48 per share and a 2.5% yield.

You can see the mix of direct and platform-driven revenue streams reflected in the quarterly performance:

• Q2 2025 Total Revenue (Including Reimbursements): $78.9 million.
• Q2 2025 Total Revenue (Before Reimbursements): $77.6 million.
• Q1 2025 Adjusted Diluted EPS: $0.41.
• Q1 2025 Cash Flow from Operations: $4.2 million.
• Market Capitalization (as of December 6, 2025): $518.73 million.

The Executive Advisory Programs are designed to provide ongoing access to The Hackett Group, Inc.'s veteran advisors and their repository of best practices, which is critical for clients looking to achieve Digital World Class® performance. The research itself is a channel, as 89% of executives are reportedly fast-tracking Gen AI initiatives based on the 2025 Enterprise Agenda.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at who The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) is actually selling its advisory and transformation services to right now, late in 2025. It's not a scattershot approach; they are laser-focused on the top tier of global business, especially those wrestling with massive system upgrades and the new wave of AI integration.

The core of their client base is definitely the large global enterprise. Honestly, these are the companies with the budget and the complexity to need the deep benchmarking The Hackett Group, Inc. provides. We see this reflected in their client roster, which includes benchmarking insights from 90% of the Fortune 100 as of their Q1 2025 reporting. That's serious penetration at the top end of the market.

The conversation is almost always with the C-suite-your CIOs, CFOs, and CPOs. These executives aren't looking for minor tweaks; they are driving enterprise-wide digital transformation. For instance, in finance, Digital World Class® organizations-the top performers The Hackett Group, Inc. benchmarks-spend 68% more time on forward-looking analysis and strategic insights, a direct result of the digital enablement they pursue. They are the ones signing off on the big Gen AI and ERP modernization projects.

It's no surprise that companies running major enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are key targets. The Hackett Group, Inc. structures its business around these platforms, with dedicated segments for Oracle Solutions and SAP Solutions. To give you a sense of scale from the first half of 2025, Oracle Solutions generated revenues before reimbursements of $20.5 million in Q2 2025, while SAP Solutions brought in $13.5 million in the same period. These numbers show where significant implementation and advisory work is concentrated.

Cost optimization and operational efficiency are perennial drivers, but now they are being addressed through a digital lens. Organizations seeking sustainable cost leadership are The Hackett Group, Inc.'s bread and butter. Their research shows that Digital World Class® finance teams operate at 45% lower cost as a percentage of revenue compared to peers. Furthermore, top-quartile companies in SG&A management operate with costs roughly six percentage points lower than median performers. If a company is €10 billion in size, hitting that Digital World Class® level across SG&A functions could mean an annual cost advantage of €246 million. That's the kind of tangible result that gets a CFO's attention.

Finally, the acceleration of Gen AI initiatives is a massive segment driver right now. Businesses are scrambling to figure out how to deploy this technology for real productivity gains. The Hackett Group, Inc. sees this directly in IT spending: Digital World Class® technology organizations dedicate 34% of their IT spend to AI, automation, and emerging tech-that's three times more than their peers. You're hiring before product-market fit, but The Hackett Group, Inc. is selling to those who have already decided AI is the path forward.

Here's a quick look at how these customer needs map to the firm's structure and the associated performance metrics The Hackett Group, Inc. tracks:

The types of executives they engage with are clearly defined by these high-stakes projects. You'll find them talking to leaders who need to:

• Achieve $76 million in potential annual cost advantage within Finance, HR, and IT alone for a €10 billion company.
• Reduce SG&A costs by roughly six percentage points versus median peers.
• Accelerate finance cycle times, with Digital World Class® teams providing 57% faster forecasts.
• Improve procurement ROI by 2.6X over peers through intelligence-driven models.
• See 52% average improvement in procurement data management automation via outsourcing adopters.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the costs The Hackett Group, Inc. incurs to deliver its advisory and consulting services, especially as it pivots hard into generative AI. The cost structure reflects significant investment in proprietary technology alongside the high fixed costs associated with expert human capital.

The third quarter of 2025 showed clear, specific charges related to this transformation. For instance, restructuring costs tied to the Gen AI pivot hit $3.1 million in Q3 2025. This expense reflects the necessary, though painful, alignment of the workforce with new strategic demands.

Personnel costs remain a dominant factor. While we don't have a specific salary line item for consultants, the Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses rose to $21.2 million in Q3 2025, up from $18.7 million in the prior year period. Management noted this increase was driven by higher compensation costs, which is exactly what you'd expect when retaining and recruiting specialized, experienced advisory staff needed for high-end Gen AI work.

Non-cash expenses also weigh on the GAAP figures. The non-cash compensation expense recognized from the stock price award program was $4.8 million for the third quarter of 2025. This is a significant non-operating cost that impacts reported net income.

The investment in the AI platform is a key cost driver, even if the R&D spend isn't itemized as a single line item in the immediate results. The Chairman and CEO confirmed aggressive investment in the highly differentiating AI XPLR platform, noting the release of AI XPLR V4 in September 2025. This development is central to future service delivery and cost efficiency.

Here's a quick look at the key cost and revenue metrics from Q3 2025 to frame these expenditures:

The cost structure also involves managing the fixed overhead for global operations. You see this reflected in the overall SG&A figure, which covers the infrastructure supporting The Hackett Group, Inc.'s global reach. The firm is actively managing its cost base, as evidenced by the decrease in Cost of Services to $42.4 million in Q3 2025 from $46.4 million the year prior. This reduction was attributed to lower non-cash stock-based compensation and reduced bonuses.

The major cost categories driving the operational spend are:

• Significant investment in Gen AI platform development, specifically the AI XPLR platform.
• High personnel costs for specialized, experienced consultants and advisory staff, reflected in rising SG&A compensation.
• Restructuring costs for the Gen AI pivot totaling $3.1 million in Q3 2025.
• Non-cash compensation expense of $4.8 million in Q3 2025.
• General and administrative (G&A) expenses for global operations and sales, totaling $21.2 million in Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) generates revenue primarily through professional services across its defined segments, supplemented by recurring revenue streams from its intellectual property (IP).

Consulting and implementation fees from Global Strategy & Business Transformation (S&BT) projects accounted for $42.9 million in Q3 2025.

Fees derived from Oracle Solutions implementation and advisory services were $16.5 million for the third quarter of 2025.

Revenue from SAP Solutions implementation and advisory services reached $13.7 million in Q3 2025.

Licensing and subscription revenue from proprietary IP and platforms, which includes the recently released AI XPLR V4 platform, contributes to the recurring revenue base.

The total revenue before reimbursements for The Hackett Group, Inc. in Q3 2025 was $72.2 million.

The recurring revenue component, which includes executive advisory, IP as a service, and application managed services contracts, represented approximately 22% of total company revenues before reimbursements in Q3 2025.

Here's a look at the Q3 2025 revenue breakdown by segment:

The revenue composition is further detailed by the nature of the service delivery:

• Consulting and implementation fees from Global S&BT projects (Q3 2025: $42.9 million).
• Fees from Oracle Solutions implementation and advisory (Q3 2025: $16.5 million).
• Fees from SAP Solutions implementation and advisory (Q3 2025: $13.7 million).
• Licensing and subscription revenue from proprietary IP and platforms (e.g., AI XPLR).
• Total revenue before reimbursements for Q3 2025 was $72.2 million.
• Recurring, multi-year, and subscription-based revenues constituted approximately 22% of total revenues before reimbursements in Q3 2025.