IT leaders waiting to see the full shape of ITIL v5 now have another major piece of the picture. On 9 April 2026, PeopleCert — the owner of the ITIL framework — released the ITIL Strategy and ITIL Transformation modules. It's the next phase of the staggered rollout that began earlier this year.
Current release status
- 12 February 2026 — ITIL Foundation (Version 5).
- 26 February 2026 — Foundation Bridge for ITIL 4 Foundation holders.
- 12 March 2026 — ITIL Product, ITIL Service, and ITIL Experience modules.
- 9 April 2026 — ITIL Strategy and ITIL Transformation modules.
- 14 May 2026 — Managing Professional Transition (announced, not yet live).
ITIL 4 remains on sale and existing certifications keep their recognition, so there's no cliff-edge deadline to scramble around. But if you're planning training for the second half of 2026, this release changes the calculus.
What the new modules cover
Strategy focuses on aligning IT and digital services with organisational goals — governance, investment decisions, and long-term value creation. It consolidates material that in ITIL 4 was spread across several publications, notably Direct, Plan and Improve and High-velocity IT.
Transformation addresses leading organisational change: evolving operating models, embedding new ways of working, and enabling sustainable digital transformation. Transformation is mandatory for the Practice Manager designation and is shared across several pathways, so most career-track candidates on v5 will need it.
AI-native framing and practical implications
Version 5 is positioned as "AI-native by design". In practice, that means AI governance is woven into the core modules rather than bolted on as an optional extension. For teams running LLM-based ITSM automation — ticket classification, timeline summaries, knowledge-base draft generation — the framework offers explicit hooks for accountability, auditability, and risk management. That matters under NIS2 and similar regulatory frames.
How to plan
- Map your team first: who already holds ITIL 4 Foundation? For them, Bridge (live since 26 February) is the cheapest route to a v5 Foundation.
- Assess the need for Practice Manager. If it's on the roadmap, Transformation is now available and shared across designations — sooner is usually cheaper than later.
- Strategy is most useful for CIO-level and service-owner roles. For operations-focused staff, it's rarely the first module to book.
- The Managing Professional Transition path (for existing ITIL 4 MPs) is announced for 14 May. If that's your position, waiting makes sense.
What it means in practice
For most organisations running ITSM under ITIL 4, there's no reason to rip anything up. Incident management, change enablement, and service catalog practices continue to apply. V5 adds clearer language for AI governance and sustainability, but doesn't rewrite the core. The practical shift is that certification planning for Q3 and Q4 2026 should account for v5 — ITIL 4 remains a valid path, but new enrolments and updates from PeopleCert will increasingly target v5.