The services that'll thrive moving forward

Author

Jeff Sauer
January 05, 2026

Betting on tomorrow's in-demand work

By 2027, nobody's going to pay you to deliver services that can be researched in 5 minutes using ChatGPT.

They're probably not going to pay you much for a lot of the services that are keeping agencies afloat right now.

Not because those things don't matter. Because AI will handle them with 10% of the effort that humans require.

I know that's uncomfortable. We’ve all spent years building expertise in areas that might get commoditized in 18 months. I get it - the uncertainty is real.

But here's what I'm seeing:

There's a specific set of services emerging that AI will only make more profitable. Services that'll command premium rates precisely because they require human judgment, strategic thinking, and the ability to connect dots across systems.

I'm making predictions about the market and restructuring everything around what I think will be in high demand in 2026-2027.

The last time I did this was with my first agency. We went from mid-six figures in revenue to nearly eight figures once we identified the right trends to follow. Not the trends everyone was already chasing - the ones that we considered inevitable (like search marketing, WordPress, and social media).

We stopped offering commoditized services or those that required a hard sell. Started building expertise in what clients would desperately need in 12-24 months.

It worked.

Could I be wrong this time? Absolutely. These are predictions, not guarantees.

But I'd rather bet on the future than cling to what's already fading.

Here's what I'm tracking:

The services that require true strategic thinking and architecture - not just technical execution. The ones where clients need experts who can interpret, advise, and make judgment calls that no AI prompt can replicate.

My research is showing several patterns. Client conversations are shifting. Budget allocations are changing. New pain points are emerging that most clients haven't even noticed yet.

Throughout January, I'll be sharing what I'm seeing in this newsletter. Specific services. Market trends. The skills worth doubling down on versus the ones being automated away.

This isn't just theory. This is what I'm literally restructuring my business around.

Community members have been asking for more on the “money model” behind measurement. The business model. How to actually build something sustainable when everything feels uncertain.

That's what this month is about.

Whether you run an agency, freelance, or work in-house, you're feeling this same uncertainty. You're wondering what to focus on. What to learn. What's actually going to matter.

I don't have all the answers. But I have a track record that has worked well before, and I'm applying it again.

Stay tuned. I'll be sharing more throughout the month.

To Your Measured Success!

--Jeff Sauer
Co-Founder of MeasureU

P.S. I'm hosting a workshop on January 22nd at 1:00pm Eastern where I'm breaking down everything I've researched about future in-demand services. It's a paid workshop (details coming soon), but if this resonates with you, block that time now. It'll be unlike anything we've done before - completely focused on what's coming, not what already happened.

Coming Up This Week at MeasureU

Wednesday, Jan 7, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

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