AI Indexes
IT AI Index
Archive

Editions and the record

Every prompt, the versioned vendor table and each edition's report, archived permanently at stable URLs. The raw judge labels and full answers are sent on request.

Edition log

Each edition with the collection runs that produced it and the calibration repeat that set its noise floor. Monthly editions run on the first of each month at 06:00 UTC. Special editions follow major frontier model releases and are published as a comparison against the prior generation; they are added to the log when a release is announced.
EditionKindDateLabelsVendor tablethe change log is in the fileStatus
September 2026 EditionEdition2026-09-1780,280v2026-10.8Published
Collection run, smoke, small business, mid-market and enterpriseRun2026-09-176,000v2026-10.8Staged
Collection run, smoke, small business, mid-market and enterpriseRun2026-09-1711,831v2026-10.8Staged
Collection run, baseline, small business, mid-market and enterpriseRun2026-09-1762,449v2026-10.8Staged
Calibration repeat, 12 categoriesSets the noise floor for this edition.Repeat2026-09-1814,277v2026-10.8Measured
October 2026 EditionEdition2026-10-01177,409v2026-10.8Published
Collection run, monthly, small business, mid-market and enterpriseRun2026-10-0189,410v2026-10.8Staged
Collection run, smoke, enterprise,mid-market,smb · categories added to the October 2026 EditionRun2026-10-044,166v2026-10.8Published
Collection run, baseline, enterprise,mid-market,smb · categories added to the October 2026 EditionRun2026-10-0483,833v2026-10.8Published
Calibration repeat, 12 categoriesSets the noise floor for this edition.Repeat2026-10-0415,795v2026-10.8Measured
November 2026 EditionThen monthly on the first, through the November 2027 Edition. The full schedule →Edition2026-11-01pendingpendingScheduled
PublishedIn the public record at a stable URL, citable.MeasuredA calibration repeat, run and measured, feeding the noise floor.StagedThe data exists and is not public yet.ScheduledThe data does not exist yet.

The record

October 2026 Edition · vendor table v2026-10.8. The prompts, the model set, the vendor table and the report are free files. The raw judge labels and the full answers, with timestamp, model version and search flag, are sent on request. Every figure on the pages traces to the verbatim quotes shown beside it.

The raw judge labels and the full responses are sent on request, for research and reporting: ask for the record. The method files, the report and every figure on the pages stay free.

ArtifactOne row of it isSizeWhere
The raw recordJSON, one row per label or answer. The labels, the answers and the vendor table by request; the method files free.
edition-2026-10-scores.jsonJSONOne row per named product, with the name exactly as written and a verbatim evidence quote.64.4 MBBy request
edition-2026-10-responses.jsonJSONEvery call with its full answer text, timestamp, version string, search flag, cited URLs, latency and token counts.50.0 MBBy request
edition-2026-10.mdMarkdownThe derived report for the edition, including the appendix on loose paraphrase stability.1.5 MBFree now
prompts.jsonJSONEvery prompt verbatim: six variants across 136 categories for each buyer segment, 816 per segment. Each prompt carries its set; the September 2026 mid-market set, asked as a B2B software company, is kept under its own ids beside the current one.1.1 MBFree now
models.jsonJSONPinned models, endpoints, search tools and list prices as of the edition.17 KBFree now
vendor_aliases.jsonJSONCanonical names, aliases, category-scoped readings, exclusions and the change log.1.9 MBBy request
The calibration repeatThe same prompts asked again with nothing changed, over the twenty calibration categories.
mai-20261004-1101-calibration_b-scores.jsonJSONThe same prompts asked again on October 4, 2026 with nothing changed, over 12 categories. One row per named product, as in the edition file.5.7 MBBy request
mai-20261004-1101-calibration_b-responses.jsonJSONEvery call of the repeat with its full answer text, timestamp, version string, search flag, cited URLs, latency and token counts.4.4 MBBy request
mai-20261004-1101-calibration_b.mdMarkdownThe derived report for the repeat, the per-model flip rates behind the noise floor.141 KBFree now

The pages, the standings and the method files are published under CC BY 4.0, free to cite. Until 4 October 2026 the September and October 2026 records were offered for download under CC BY 4.0; copies obtained then keep those terms. From that date no edition's raw labels or full responses are offered for download; they are sent on request, under the record license: for the research or reporting it was sent for, with commercial use, redistribution and model training by agreement.

Cite this edition
IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. it-ai-index.com. Scored under vendor table v2026-10.8.
The subscriber app

The app reads this record for one company: every category it is named in, across all four indexes, what changed, who the models pick instead, and every answer behind every figure.

See the app

Seven days free, no card.

On request

The public index is a fixed scope, rescored every edition: 136 categories, three buyer segments, six framings, fourteen models. Everything below runs on one category for that category's subscribers, as an expanded run, and never enters the public standing.
CutWhat it is
The flagship modelsClaude Opus 5, Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-5.6 Sol, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Perplexity Sonar Pro, Muse Spark 1.3, on your category every month.
Job-to-be-done framingA seventh prompt per category that describes the work instead of naming the category.

Prices are on the Subscribe page. A cut that enough subscribers ask for can be promoted into the public index; that is announced in the edition log above and on the method page's change log, never done quietly.

Category roadmap

The addressable set across seven IT functions. The exceptions come first, because they are what the section is for.
136Categories coveredScored every edition, full record published.
6Out of scopeNamed below, with the reason.
7IT functionsThe addressable set.
20Planned, not yet scoredAdditions are announced in the edition log.
Out of scopeNamed, with the reason. These are the rows the section exists for.
The business applications domainAll 6 of its categories: ERP, HR and payroll, Finance and accounting, Collaboration and productivity suites, Project management, Marketing and sales tooling. Business applications rather than the infrastructure, security and engineering tooling an IT buyer asks an AI to recommend. The marketing and sales categories are the GTM index's. Not in the addressable set.Out of scope
Products named as something other than a candidateA warehouse named as a data source inside a CDP answer, an ad platform named as a destination inside an attribution answer, a buyer's own tooling: counted only where the answer treats the product as a candidate in the category asked about, under the scoring rule on the method page.Excluded
Covered, by functionEvery covered category is scored the same way; open a function for its categories with the landscape reference and analyst coverage.
Security operationsDetecting, investigating and reducing threats: SIEM, endpoint and extended detection, vulnerability and attack surface management, email security, awareness, data loss prevention, and the governance, risk and compliance that reports on it.31Open 31 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
AI security platformsG2: AI Security Solutions Software—
AI SOC agentsG2: AI SOC Agents—
API security platformsG2: API Security Tools—
Attack surface managementG2: Attack Surface Management SoftwareForrester Wave: Attack Surface Management Solutions (Q3 2024)
Breach and attack simulationG2: Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) Software—
Business continuity managementG2: Business Continuity Management Software—
Client-side protectionG2: Client-Side Protection Solutions—
Communications archiving and complianceG2: Digital Communications Governance Software; Email Archiving Software; Enterprise Information Archiving SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Communications Governance and Archiving Solutions (2025)
Compliance automationG2: Cloud Compliance Software; Compliance Management; Security Compliance Software—
Cyber risk quantificationG2: Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) Tools—
Data loss preventionG2: Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Software—
Data security posture managementG2: Data Security Posture Management (DSPM); Cloud Data Security Software; Cloud File Security Software; Data-Centric Security Software; Database Security Software; Sensitive Data Discovery Software—
Deception technologyG2: Deception Technology Software—
Digital risk protectionG2: Digital Risk Protection (DRP) Platforms; Dark Web Monitoring Tools—
Email securityG2: Cloud Email Security Solutions; DMARC Software; Email Anti-spam Software; Email Encryption Software; Email Security Software; Intelligent Email Protection Software; Secure Email Gateway SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security (2025)
Endpoint detection and responseG2: Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) Software—
Enterprise browsersG2: Secure Enterprise Browser Software—
Extended detection and responseG2: Extended Detection and Response (XDR) PlatformsForrester Wave: Extended Detection And Response Platforms (Q2 2024)
GRC platformsG2: Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Software; IT Risk Management Software; Operational Risk Management Software; Other GRC Tools; Regulatory Change Management Software; Risk Assessment Software—
Insider risk managementG2: Insider Threat Management (ITM) Software—
Managed detection and responseG2: Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Software—
Network detection and responseG2: Network Detection and Response (NDR) Software; Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) Software—
OT and IoT securityG2: OT Security Tools Software; IoT Security Solutions; OT Secure Remote Access Software—
Penetration testing as a serviceG2: Penetration Testing Services; Penetration Testing Tools; Red Teaming Tools—
SaaS security posture managementG2: SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) Solutions—
Security awareness trainingG2: Security Awareness Training Software—
SIEM platformsG2: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Security Information and Event Management (2025)
SOAR platformsG2: Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) Software—
Third-party risk managementG2: Third Party & Supplier Risk Management Software; Vendor Security and Privacy Assessment Software—
Threat intelligence platformsG2: Risk Intelligence Software; Threat Intelligence Software—
Vulnerability management platformsG2: Exposure Management Platforms; Risk-Based Vulnerability Management Software; Vulnerability Management Software; Vulnerability Scanner Software—
Breach and attack simulation——Planned
Privacy management——Planned
Security questionnaire automation——Planned
IT operations and endpointRunning the estate day to day: observability and monitoring, incidents and on-call, service management, and the laptops, phones and servers an IT team manages and patches.28Open 28 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
AI IT support agentsG2: AI IT Agents Software—
AIOps platformsG2: AIOps Tools—
Application performance monitoringG2: Application Performance Monitoring (APM) Tools—
Business phone systemsG2: UCaaS Platforms; Cloud PBX Platforms Software; VoIP Providers—
Data center infrastructure managementG2: Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) Software—
Digital employee experienceG2: Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Management Software—
Endpoint protectionG2: Antivirus Software; Endpoint Protection Platforms; Endpoint Protection Software—
Enterprise architecture toolsG2: Enterprise Architecture Tools; Application Portfolio Management Software—
Incident management and on-callG2: AI SRE Tools Software; IT Alerting Software; Incident Management Software—
Infrastructure monitoringG2: Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring Software; Container Monitoring Tools; Enterprise Monitoring Software; Hardware Monitoring Software; Server Monitoring Software—
IT asset managementG2: IT Asset Management Software; Software Asset Management (SAM) Tools; Software Licensing Management Software—
IT documentationG2: IT Documentation Software—
IT financial managementG2: IT Financial Management (ITFM) Software—
IT service managementG2: IT Service Management Tools; Service Desk Software—
Log managementG2: Log Analysis Software; Log Monitoring Software—
Microsoft 365 managementG2: Microsoft 365 Management Tools—
Observability platformsG2: Observability Software; Software Intelligence Platforms SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Observability Platforms (2026)
Patch managementG2: Patch Management Software—
Process miningG2: Process Mining Tools—
Remote monitoring and managementG2: Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) Software—
Remote support and remote accessG2: Remote Support Software; Remote Desktop Software—
Robotic process automationG2: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Software—
SaaS management platformsG2: SaaS Management Platforms (SMP); SaaS Spend Management SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for SaaS Management Platforms (2025)
Telemetry pipelinesG2: Observability Pipeline Software—
Unified endpoint managementG2: Autonomous Endpoint Management (AEM) Software; Endpoint Management Software; Enterprise Mobility Management Software; Mobile Application Management Software; Mobile Device Management (MDM) Software; Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Software—
Video conferencingG2: Video Communications Software—
Virtual desktopsG2: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Software; Desktop as a Service (DaaS) Providers—
Website and synthetic monitoringG2: Website Monitoring Software; Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Monitoring (2025)
AIOps——Planned
Remote access and support——Planned
Status pages——Planned
Cloud and infrastructureWhere workloads run and how they are secured and paid for: hosting, posture management, containers, Kubernetes, infrastructure as code, cost, backup and storage.12Open 12 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
Backup and disaster recoveryG2: Data Recovery Software; Database Backup Software; Disaster Recovery Software; Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) Solutions; Email Backup Software; File Recovery Software; Hard Drive Cloning Software; IT Resilience Orchestration Automation (ITRO) Software; Online Backup Software; PC Backup Software; SaaS Backup Software; Server Backup Software—
Cloud cost managementG2: Cloud Cost Management Tools—
Cloud hostingG2: Bare Metal as a Service (BMaaS) Software; Cloud Application Hosting Platforms; Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) Software; Cloud Web Hosting Platforms; Dedicated Hosting Platforms; Managed Hosting Platforms; Other Hosting Platforms; Reseller Hosting Platforms; See All Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Software; Shared Hosting Platforms; VPS Hosting Platforms; WordPress Hosting Platforms—
Cloud security posture managementG2: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Software—
Cloud-native application protectionG2: Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP)—
Colocation providersG2: Colocation Hosting Platforms—
Container and Kubernetes securityG2: Container Security Tools—
Enterprise storage systemsG2: Block Storage Software; Hybrid Cloud Storage Solutions; Storage Management SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage Platforms (2024)
Infrastructure as codeG2: Cloud Infrastructure Automation Software; Configuration Management Tools—
Managed Kubernetes platformsG2: Container Engine Software; Container Management Software; Container Networking Software; Container Orchestration Tools; Containerization Software; Enterprise Kubernetes Management Software—
Object storageG2: Cloud File Storage Software; Object Storage Solutions—
Server virtualization platformsG2: Server Virtualization Software; Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Solutions—
Bare metal and edge compute——Planned
Virtualization and private cloud——Planned
Developer platformHow software is built and shipped: source control, CI/CD, feature flags, APIs, AI coding assistants, code security and error monitoring.16Open 16 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
AI coding assistantsG2: AI Code Generation Software; AI Coding Assistants Software—
API managementG2: API Management Tools—
Application security posture managementG2: Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) Software—
Application shieldingG2: Application Shielding Software; Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) Tools—
Artifact and container registriesG2: Container Registry Software—
CI/CD platformsG2: Application Release Orchestration (ARO) Tools; Build Automation Software; CI/CD Tools; Continuous Delivery Tools; Continuous Integration Tools; DevOps Platforms; Other Continuous Delivery Software—
Communications APIsG2: Communication Platform as a Service (cPaaS) Platforms—
Dynamic application security testingG2: Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Software; Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) Software—
Error and crash monitoringG2: Mobile Crash Reporting Software—
Feature flagsG2: Feature Management Software—
Internal developer portalsG2: Internal Developer Platforms—
Secure code trainingG2: Secure Code Training Software—
Software composition analysisG2: Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) Software; Software Composition Analysis Tools; Software Supply Chain Security SolutionsForrester Wave: Software Composition Analysis (Q4 2024)
Source control hostingG2: Source Code Management Software; Version Control Hosting Software; Version Control Software—
Static application security testingG2: Secure Code Review Software; Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Software; Static Code Analysis ToolsForrester Wave: Static Application Security Testing Solutions (Q3 2025)
Artifact registries——Planned
Internal developer portals——Planned
Software supply chain security——Planned
Test automation——Planned
Data platformWhere data is stored, moved and modelled: databases, warehouses, streaming, pipelines, orchestration, vector search and machine learning.22Open 22 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
AI governance platformsG2: AI Governance Tools—
Data catalogs and governanceG2: Data Governance Tools; Active Metadata Management Software; Machine Learning Data Catalog Software—
Data masking and test data managementG2: Data Masking Software; Data De-Identification Tools—
Data quality and observabilityG2: Data Observability Software; Data Quality Tools—
Data virtualizationG2: Data Virtualization Software; Data Fabric Software—
Data warehousesG2: Columnar Databases; Data Warehouse Solutions; Real-time Analytic Database Software—
EDI platformsG2: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Software—
Embedded analyticsG2: Embedded Business Intelligence Software—
Enterprise AI assistantsG2: Enterprise AI Chatbots Software—
ETL and ELTG2: Big Data Integration Platforms; Cloud Data Integration Software; Data Extraction Tools; Data Integration Tools; ETL Tools; On-Premise Data Integration Software—
Intelligent document processingG2: Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) Software—
LLM gateways and observabilityG2: AI Agent Observability Software; AI Gateways Software; Large Language Model Operationalization (LLMOps) Software; Prompt Management Tools Software—
Managed file transferG2: Managed File Transfer (MFT) Software; File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Software—
Managed relational databasesG2: Database Management Systems (DBMS); Database as a Service (DBaaS) Providers; Relational Databases—
Master data managementG2: Master Data Management (MDM) Tools—
ML platformsG2: Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms; Low-Code Machine Learning Platforms Software; MLOps Platforms—
NoSQL databasesG2: Document Databases; Graph Databases; Key Value Databases; NoSQL Databases; Object-Oriented Databases; Other Non-Relational Databases Software; RDF Databases; Wide Column Database Software; XML Databases—
Proxy and web data providersG2: Proxy Network Software; Web Data Providers Software—
Streaming platformsG2: Event Stream Processing Software; Message Queue (MQ) Software; Stream Analytics Software—
Time series databasesG2: Time Series Databases—
Vector databasesG2: AI Search & Retrieval Infrastructure Platforms Software; Vector Database SoftwareForrester Wave: Vector Databases (Q3 2024)
Workflow orchestrationG2: Batch Management Software; Business Process Management Software; Digital Process Automation (DPA) Software; Process Orchestration Software; Workflow Management Software; Workload Automation SoftwareGartner Magic Quadrant for Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms (2025)
Data catalogs——Planned
Data quality——Planned
Identity and accessWho and what may reach a system: workforce and customer identity, MFA, privileged access, governance, passwords and secrets.11Open 11 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
Business password managersG2: Password Managers—
Certificate lifecycle managementG2: Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) Software; SSL & TLS Certificate Tools—
Customer identity and access managementG2: Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) SoftwareForrester Wave: Customer Identity And Access Management Solutions (Q4 2024)
Identity governanceG2: Identity Governance and Administration (IGA); User Provisioning and Governance Tools—
Identity threat detection and responseG2: Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Software—
Identity verificationG2: Identity Verification Software—
Multi-factor authenticationG2: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Software—
Non-human identity managementG2: Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) Solutions—
Privileged access managementG2: Privileged Access Management (PAM) Software—
Secrets managementG2: Encryption Key Management Software; Secrets Management Tools—
Workforce identity and SSOG2: Identity Management Software; Identity and Access Management (IAM) Software; Single Sign-On (SSO) Solutions—
Non-human identity management——Planned
Passwordless authentication——Planned
Network and edgeConnecting and protecting traffic: SASE, zero trust access, firewalls, SD-WAN, web application firewalls, DDoS protection and content delivery.16Open 16 →
CategoryReferenceAnalyst coverage
Bot managementG2: Bot Detection and Mitigation SoftwareForrester Wave: Bot Management Software (Q3 2024)
Content delivery networksG2: Content Delivery Network (CDN) Platforms; Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) Software—
Data center networkingG2: Data Center Networking Solutions—
DDI and IP address managementG2: DDI Management Platform—
DDoS protectionG2: DDoS Protection Solutions—
DNS filteringG2: DNS Security Solutions—
Load balancersG2: Load Balancing Software—
Managed DNSG2: Managed DNS Solutions—
MicrosegmentationG2: Microsegmentation SoftwareForrester Wave: Microsegmentation Solutions (Q3 2026)
Network access controlG2: Network Access Control Software—
Network monitoring and managementG2: Network Monitoring Software; Network Management Tools; Network Automation Tools—
Next-generation firewallsG2: Firewall Software; Unified Threat Management Software—
SASE platformsG2: Cloud Edge Security Software; Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platforms; Secure Service Edge (SSE) Solutions; Secure Web Gateway Software—
SD-WANG2: SD-WAN Solutions; WAN Edge Infrastructure Software—
Web application firewallsG2: Web Application Firewalls (WAF); Website Security Software—
Zero trust network accessG2: Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) Software; Zero Trust Architecture Software; Zero Trust Networking Software; Zero Trust Platforms—
DNS security——Planned
Network access control——Planned
Network detection and response——Planned
Network monitoring——Planned

A category enters the addressable set when it is a product a buyer asks an AI to recommend for going to market. Additions and removals are announced in the edition log and on the method page, never done quietly.

Who is asking

Every prompt set is one combination of four choices: how big the buyer is, what industry it is in, how the question is framed, and who answers. Each added value multiplies the prompt set, so these are taxonomy decisions first and scope decisions second.

Company size
Small business Prompts reframed for a small team and budget. Prompt ids cNN-s1 to cNN-s6.
Covered
Mid-market The scale prompt says 500 people. Prompt ids cNN-1 to cNN-6.
Covered
Enterprise Thousands of users, predictable total cost, SSO, SOC 2 and procurement review. Prompt ids cNN-e1 to cNN-e6.
Covered
Industry
B2B company Every prompt today says a B2B company.
Covered
Financial services Regulated, compliance-heavy stack.
Planned
Healthcare Privacy and consent constraints change the answers.
Planned
Public sector Procurement rules and data residency change the answers.
Planned
Manufacturing Operational technology beside the corporate stack.
Planned
Question framing
Category question The buyer names the category: "what is the best SIEM for…". The six variants on the methodology page.
Covered
Job to be done The buyer describes the work, not the category. The model names the category as well as the product.
Planned
Who answers
AI models Fourteen models on the standard tier, fresh session per prompt.
Covered
Human buyers The same questions put to human buyers, published beside the model answers.
Planned
Cadence

A monthly edition on the same date. A special edition within days of a major frontier release, published against the prior generation. Quarterly written analysis, only once enough editions have accumulated to say something with substance.

Rescoring policy

When the vendor table changes, every edition in the series is regenerated under the new version, so the series is never a mix of table versions. A trend that appears only after a table change is tooling, not model behavior.

If the project ends

The historical series is the part that gets harder to replicate the longer it runs. Every edition stays at its stable URL, and the final edition is marked final on the site.