Manhattan Associates (MANH Quick QuoteMANH - Free Report) is building an artificial intelligence monetization story, but it is deliberately paced. Active Agents pilots launched in the first quarter of 2026 as 90-day paid engagements, with conversion conversations for the first cohort already beginning and a focus on subscription-based uplifts. Management frames the potential economics as SaaS-like, which would complement the company's subscription margin profile if adoption scales. Q1 cloud revenue, however, benefited from non-recurring catch-up overage fees and unusually low churn, suggesting that growth rates may not sustain at current levels in out-quarters. Until multi-quarter conversion and consumption data arrive, the AI angle remains a 2027 thesis rather than a 2026 driver.

Manhattan Associates' ActivePlatform Expands the Ecosystem

Manhattan is rapidly widening the infrastructure around its agent strategy. The company unveiled Manhattan Marketplace as a major addition to ActivePlatform, creating a shared ecosystem where customers and partners can discover and deploy intelligent agents, extensions, and accelerators for Manhattan's Active solutions, with all published agents running natively on ActivePlatform and inheriting the same deterministic guardrails as core software. Manhattan also launched Solution Design Studio, an AI-powered workspace enabling business users to configure complex supply chain systems using natural language, sitting alongside ProActive and Agent Foundry within ActivePlatform. Together, these launches mark a deliberate move toward a platform ecosystem rather than individual point solutions.

MANH Active Agents Pilots: What Investors Should Watch

Remaining performance obligations stood at $2.35 billion as of March 31, 2026, and Manhattan targets 18% to 20% RPO growth for full-year 2026, implying a year-end range of $2.62 billion to $2.68 billion. Pilot-to-subscription conversion rates and expansion in consumption after go-live will be the key signals. Over 55% of new cloud bookings in Q1 2026 came from net new logos, indicating that new customer acquisition, not just installed base upsell, is currently the primary growth engine. That mix suggests Active Agents still needs to prove installed-base penetration before it can materially move the needle on recurring revenue.

Manhattan Associates' Planning Push Adds Another Growth Vector

In April, Manhattan announced commercial availability of three new AI agents — a Store Associate Agent, a Contact Centre Agent, and an OMS Configuration Agent — embedded within Manhattan Active Omni. SAP (SAP Quick QuoteSAP - Free Report) is simultaneously advancing AI agents for supply chain orchestration, showcasing end-to-end manufacturing and logistics capabilities at Hannover Messe 2026. SAP SE plans to launch more than 200 agents spanning finance, procurement, supply chain, and customer experience, framing orchestration across workflows as the central value driver rather than isolated task automation. Oracle (ORCL Quick QuoteORCL - Free Report) is pursuing a comparable strategy. Oracle announced new AI agents embedded within Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications in February 2026, designed to help supply chain leaders accelerate decision-making across planning, procurement, manufacturing, and logistics. Both Oracle and SAP SE are pushing agents through existing ERP installed bases, giving them broad distribution leverage that pure supply chain vendors must work harder to match.

MANH Near-Term Reality: AI Is Not Yet the Main Driver

Manhattan's full-year 2026 cloud revenue guidance was raised to a midpoint of $495 million, representing 21% growth, while total revenue guidance stands at $1.147 billion to $1.157 billion. Services revenue growth is guided at a modest 3%, supported by approximately 120 new services hires added in Q1 2026. CFO Linda Pinne noted that the macro environment remains volatile and that clarity from external variables remains limited, which informed management's decision to retain conservative guidance for the second through fourth quarters despite strong first-quarter execution. Macro and foreign exchange headwinds, large-deal timing risk, and services utilization lag are near-term friction points that investors should weigh alongside the AI narrative.

Manhattan Associates' Bottom Line on the 2027 Setup

For Manhattan Associates, the 2027 upside rests on validating agent conversion economics over several quarters while sustaining cloud execution — a setup that merits patience rather than urgency. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), consistent with that wait-and-see posture. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Another competitor, Descartes Systems Group (DSGX Quick QuoteDSGX - Free Report) introduced its Fleet Data Intelligence platform, combining AI agents and machine learning on its Global Logistics Network to improve on-time delivery performance and reduce cost per delivery. Descartes Systems Group reported record fiscal 2026 results with revenue rising 12% to $729.0 million and adjusted EBITDA growing 16%. Oracle, SAP SE, and Descartes Systems Group are all advancing agent-based capabilities with demonstrable financial momentum, raising the competitive bar.

Conclusion

Manhattan Associates is building a credible AI platform but lacks near-term monetization proof. Active Agents pilots, expanding RPO, and steady cloud adoption lay the groundwork, yet macro volatility, non-recurring Q1 tailwinds, and intensifying competition from Oracle, SAP SE, and Descartes Systems Group make this a story for 2027, not today.