# Tray named a Leader in the 2026 Nucleus iPaaS Value Matrix for seventh consecutive year

> For the seventh consecutive year, Nucleus Research recognizes Tray in the Leader quadrant — this year for its AI orchestration platform, MCP governance capabilities, and strong agent infrastructure for enterprise deployment.

**Category:** Industry report
**Published:** 2026-04-17
**Canonical page:** https://tray.ai/guides/nucleus-ipaas-matrix/
**Download:** https://242774090.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na2.net/hubfs/242774090/Downloadable%20assets%20for%20website/26063%20-%20iPaaS%20Technology%20Value%20Matrix%202026.pdf

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## About the report

The 2026 Nucleus Research iPaaS Technology Value Matrix evaluates vendors on usability, functionality, and real-world customer value. Tray's Leader ranking — its seventh consecutive — reflects platform strength across AI agent development, MCP governance, and the integration infrastructure required to run AI at enterprise scale.

## Key takeaways

- **iPaaS is now the orchestration layer for AI, not just integration middleware:** Nucleus documents a category-level shift in this year's report — platforms are being evaluated on whether they can coordinate agentic workflows, not just connect systems. The question enterprises should be asking their iPaaS vendor has changed.
- **AI exposes the limits of traditional iPaaS:** Platforms built primarily for integration depth are scoring lower on usability — the dimension that now determines how fast an organization can move on AI. Functionality alone no longer defines a Leader. How quickly teams can build, adapt, and deploy on a platform has become equally consequential.
- **Tray's agent infrastructure investment is recognized as market-differentiating:** Nucleus describes Tray as having "moved aggressively into agent infrastructure" — calling out Agent Gateway for MCP specifically as positioning Tray as "a central orchestration layer for agent-to-tool interactions across the enterprise."

#### Read our full analysis of what this year's recognition means for enterprise iPaaS buyers here.