KUNGFU.AI Wins First Place in HFS Research's Inaugural Services-as-Software Awards
HFS Research named KUNGFU.AI the first-place winner in the Best Startup/Emerging Firm category of its inaugural 2026 Services-as-Software Awards. The recognition came from a pool of more than 250 submissions, with 31 finalists competing across four categories and 12 total honorees selected.
What the Award Recognizes
HFS created the Services-as-Software Awards to spotlight organizations leading a structural shift in how enterprise work gets done: services becoming more software-like, software taking on more of the repeatable work so people can focus on judgment and strategy, and a new class of companies built around that convergence. For the enterprises adopting this model, it's changing the basis of competition, with speed, scale, and outcomes now separating the leaders from the pack. As HFS Research CEO Phil Fersht put it, "The old deal is dying: services firms selling more people, software firms selling more licenses, and enterprises being left to stitch it all together."
KUNGFU.AI was built for what comes next: strategy and engineering on one team, delivering production systems rather than more people or more licenses.
The Work Behind the Win
For Triumph Financial, KUNGFU.AI automated 70% of more than $18 billion in annual loan factoring, cutting funding time from one to two days down to 30 seconds across more than 25 million transactions a year. That speed matters beyond the balance sheet: truck drivers and carriers who once waited one to two days to get paid for a load now see funds in seconds, easing the cash-flow strain that keeps small trucking operations running. It's a clear example of production-grade AI replacing manual, people-heavy processes with measurable, outcome-driven results, not a pilot or proof of concept sitting on a shelf.
Why This Matters
The award program's broader findings point to where enterprise delivery is headed: AI embedded directly into workflows instead of bolted on as a separate tool, reusable intellectual property driving scale, commercial models tied to outcomes rather than hours, and human expertise redirected toward judgment and oversight. That's the model KUNGFU.AI has been building toward as an AI-native management consulting and engineering firm, and this recognition from HFS Research validates the approach.
We're proud of the team and the client partnership behind this result, and we're just getting started.
Read more about our work with Triumph Financial
