Scaling Value: Data & AI Momentum Builds Across H1 2026

Momentum continues to build through H1 2026 as more organisations move from AI ambition to measurable delivery with Acora.

Acora has closed out the first half of 2026 with continued momentum in its Data & AI practice, securing nine new customer opportunities, driving impressive quarter-on-quarter growth in Q2. Organisations are continuing to move beyond experimentation and into scaled, production-grade AI adoption that is grounded in their own institutional knowledge and data.

Andrew Lindsay, Acora’s Managing Director of Data & AI, comments:

“Building on a strong Q1, which saw nine new Data & AI partnerships secured, the momentum has continued through Q2, with engagements spanning Legal, Professional Services, Manufacturing and Logistics.”

Where Q1 was defined by tactical, fast-turnaround projects proving early value, H1 has seen a clear shift toward longer-term transformation programmes, as customers move from proof of concept into embedded, firm-wide AI capability.

This shift reflects a broader pattern in the market: organisations, particularly those in complex or regulated environments, are no longer satisfied with point solutions or AI tooling alone. They are looking for partners who can help them build proprietary, governed systems of intelligence around their own data, safely and at pace.

Flagship win: HSF Kramer’s Sovereign System of Intelligence

Among the standout engagements of H1 2026 is Acora’s work with global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (HSF Kramer), delivered in partnership with Microsoft. Together, the three organisations have built HSF Kramer’s Sovereign System of Intelligence, a firm-contextual AI platform built on Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Foundry, and governed through Microsoft Purview.

The platform digitises HSF Kramer’s institutional legal expertise, combining data, governance, analytics and AI in a single scalable environment. This has allowed for previously unstructured knowledge locked in documents, spreadsheets and emails to be surfaced and interrogated through an applied ontology.

David Turner, Global CTO at HSF Kramer, described the platform as building a protective layer around the firm’s institutional knowledge, and credited Acora’s data expertise and pace of delivery with accelerating the firm’s wider AI strategy and Microsoft-based foundations.

This engagement builds on Acora’s growing presence in the legal sector and sits alongside the firm’s broader Microsoft Fabric-led approach to enterprise data foundations, reinforcing Acora’s position as a trusted partner for firms balancing innovation with governance and risk.

Further Data & AI wins across H1 2026

HSF Kramer wasn’t a one-off. H1 saw Acora extend its footprint in the legal sector further still, partnering with another top-25 UK law firm and a global offshore legal services business, both faced with the same challenge: valuable institutional knowledge scattered across documents, systems and email, with no safe way to surface it. As with HSF Kramer, Acora built the governed data foundations to change that, giving both organisations a single, structured view of information that was previously locked away.

The same story is also continuing to play out beyond legal. In several of these engagements, Acora worked closely with Microsoft, not just on the platform build, but on helping customers extract more value from Microsoft Enterprise Agreements they were already paying for.

Across all of it, the pattern is consistent: fragmented data becoming a governed foundation, built on Microsoft Fabric, delivered in close partnership with Microsoft, and increasingly focused on making existing Microsoft investments work harder before adding anything new.

The Private Equity Picture

As in Q1, Acora continues to see this economic value-led approach resonate strongly across private equity-backed portfolio companies, where Data & AI capability is increasingly recognised as a critical driver of operational efficiency, insight and long-term enterprise value creation. H1 2026 has seen continued activity with portfolio businesses backed by Inflexion, KKR, LDC, 3i and Vitruvian as these investors continue to invest decisively in data, analytics and AI to underpin growth ambitions.

Looking ahead

Acora’s expansion in Data & AI capability, accelerated by the 2024 acquisition of Elastacloud, continues to strengthen its ability to support customers across the full lifecycle, from Data Platform Modernisation through to Applied AI and Managed Services.

This capability remains underpinned by Acora’s close relationship with Microsoft and deep expertise in Microsoft Fabric, which continues to be the starting point for many customer journeys, ensuring foundations are built right the first time and ready to support AI as demand scales.

Andrew Lindsay concludes:

As H1 momentum carries into the second half of the year, Acora remains focused on turning Data & AI ambition into scalable, measurable outcomes for its customers.