Our verdict
66degrees calls itself the second-largest pure-play Google Cloud services firm in North America since its 2022 Pandera deal, and it won Google Cloud’s 2026 Partner of the Year award for Artificial Intelligence, its fourth Partner of the Year award. It suits a large company that runs on Google Cloud and wants AI agents built into finance, HR, marketing, or supply chain work, and it is less suited to a buyer on AWS or Azure or one with a small budget.
The right buyer
- Enterprises on Google Cloud building AI agents. Google Cloud gave it the 2026 Partner of the Year award for Artificial Intelligence for agent work in finance, HR, marketing, and supply chain (PR Newswire).
- Companies that need data platforms modernized before AI can work. Data and platform modernization is one of its core offers (PR Newswire).
- Buyers who want a large team with offshore capacity. It lists 501 to 1,000 employees, with offices in Chicago, Bengaluru, Pune, and Costa Rica (LinkedIn; about page).
Reasons to look elsewhere
- It works across the Google Cloud stack, so a buyer on AWS or Azure should look elsewhere.
- Its size and enterprise focus make it a poor match for a small company that wants a quick, low-cost pilot.
66degrees, At A High Level
66degrees grew out of Cloudbakers, founded in Chicago in 2009, and Qwinix, founded in Denver and Mysore in 2010; the two merged in 2019, took the 66degrees name in 2021, and bought Orlando data analytics firm Pandera Systems in 2022 (about page). It opened an expanded Bengaluru office in 2024, a new Chicago headquarters and client innovation center in 2025, and a Pune office in 2025 (about page). Ben Kessler is CEO and Brian Gregory, who spent nearly a decade at Google, is CTO (about page; PR Newswire).
- 501 to 1,000 employees on LinkedIn; we estimate annual revenue at $60 million to $100 million (LinkedIn).
- Four Google Cloud Partner of the Year awards, most recently for Artificial Intelligence in 2026 (PR Newswire).
- Offers Agentic Labs to find use cases, agent development frameworks for multi-agent systems, data and platform modernization, and AI fluency and change programs (PR Newswire).
- Serves retail and consumer goods, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, supply chain, manufacturing, travel, and media clients (about page).
Scores by criterion
We scored 66degrees from its about page, its 2026 award announcement, its CEO appointment release, and its company profile. Technical depth and stability score highest; platform independence scores lowest because it works only on Google Cloud.
| Criterion | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production track record | 20% | 7.5 | Four Google Cloud Partner of the Year awards and production agent work. |
| Technical depth | 15% | 8.0 | Agent frameworks, data modernization, and cloud engineering on Google Cloud. |
| Industry depth | 10% | 7.0 | Seven industry practices from retail to media. |
| Delivery model and handoff | 15% | 7.0 | Managed services and global delivery from four countries. |
| Commercial clarity | 10% | 5.5 | No published rates or minimums. |
| Platform independence | 10% | 4.5 | Google Cloud only. |
| Stability and scale | 10% | 8.0 | Roots back to 2009, 501 to 1,000 staff, growth equity backing. |
| Independent evidence | 10% | 7.5 | Google Cloud awards and a 2026 AIM Next 15 AI CEOs listing for its CEO. |
| Overall | 100% | 7.0 | Weighted average |
Where 66degrees fits
66degrees is used by large enterprises in retail, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing that have chosen Google Cloud and want AI agents and modern data platforms built at scale. On price it sits in the upper mid-market tier, with offshore delivery from India and Costa Rica offsetting US rates. Competitors on this site include Blend360 and phData for data and AI consulting at a similar scale, and Mactores for a smaller cloud-specific firm on AWS.
| Need | Fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| AI agents on Google Cloud | Strong | It is Google Cloud’s 2026 AI Partner of the Year. |
| Data platform modernization before AI | Strong | It is one of its core offers. |
| A multi-cloud or AWS program | Weak | It works only on Google Cloud. |
| A small, low-budget pilot | Weak | Its model is built for large enterprises. |
What clients and leaders say
66degrees’s leaders and clients describe its work in published announcements. One buyer concern is written from public facts about the firm.
“Winning our fourth Google Cloud Partner of the Year award confirms our progress in achieving this vision.”
“The Google Cloud Partner Awards honor the strategic innovation and measurable value our partners bring to customers.”
“Ben Kessler has transformed 66degrees over the past three years into an AI-led company with superb data science, data engineering, and cloud engineering capabilities.”
“They brought a deep Google Cloud bench, but everything assumed we were staying on Google, and the team was built for a bigger program than our first pilot.”
Where customer reviews couldn’t be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums and product documentation. Based on: 66degrees’ about page, which describes its Google Cloud focus and enterprise clients.
Who leads 66degrees
Ben Kessler became CEO of 66degrees in March 2024 after serving as its CFO, COO, and president (66degrees; AIM Media House).
