Ashling Wins Crain's Fast 50 Three Years in a Row

CHICAGO, June 11, 2026 — Ashling today announced it has been named to Crain's Chicago Business' 2026 Fast 50, the annual ranking of the fastest-growing companies in the Chicago area. Ashling ranked No. 33 on this year's list, recognized for 332% revenue growth over a five-year period that brought 2025 revenue to $29.5 million. Headquartered in Chicago, Ashling employs 218 people worldwide, including 25 at its Chicago headquarters.

Companies do not come to us for technology. They come to us for results they can measure. Landing on the Fast 50 tells us that staying focused on real business outcomes is the right way to grow.

Don Sweeney

Founder & Co-CEO | Ashling

The Fast 50 ranks companies by revenue growth over the last five years. To qualify, companies had to be founded by Dec. 31, 2019, or earlier and be based in the eight-county area of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake (Ill.), Lake (Ind.), McHenry, and Will. This year's class employs more than 36,000 people, generating a combined $21.1 billion in revenue last year. Inclusion places Ashling among a select group of high-growth firms driving momentum across the regional economy.

A theme ran through this year's list. Many of the leading executives credited their growth less to any single technology and more to an old-school fundamental: treat customers honestly and the business follows. Several pointed to word of mouth from satisfied clients as a primary engine of their financial success.

Enterprises are moving from experimenting with AI to running it in production, and they want a partner who can take them the whole way. Our growth reflects how many organizations are ready for that step and trust us to guide it.

Marshall Sied

Founder & Co-CEO | Ashling

That story tracks closely with how Ashling has grown. The firm builds programs over projects, setting clients up to succeed long after the first initiative ships. Crain's first profiled Ashling's intelligent automation work in 2021, when the firm was already automating supply chain and back-office operations for its clients. The pattern behind that growth is consistent: start small, prove value, and let word of the impact spread across departments, building the momentum, buy-in, and adoption that turn a single project into an organization-wide AI and automation program.

The trust behind that growth comes from how Ashling works. The team takes a technology agnostic and partner-first approach, starting every engagement by aligning AI and automation objectives with organizations' strategic goals. Keeping the client's business objectives as their North Star ensures every decision, whether tool selection, solution design, or operating model, serves the outcome the business is working toward.

About Ashling

Ashling is an intelligent automation and agentic AI consulting and implementation firm. Ashling guides enterprises across the full lifecycle, from strategy and identifying agentic AI & automation opportunities through deployment, production support, and continuous improvement. Built on a defined operating model with seven foundations spanning governance, technology and architecture, use case discovery, design and delivery, change management, and ongoing maintenance and optimizations, Ashling helps organizations scale past pilots into governed, enterprise-wide programs that deliver measurable results.

Media Contact

Morgan Conque, VP of GTM Strategy

Morgan.conque@ashlingpartners.com