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IT Spending Forecast 2026: Trends and Predictions

Global IT spending: $6.15 trillion in 2026, up 10.8%. AI spending growing 80.8%. Data centres up 19%. What the trends mean for your 2026 IT budget.

$6.15T

Global IT Spending 2026

Gartner forecast, Feb 2026

+10.8%

YoY Growth Rate

Highest in a decade

+80.8%

AI Spending Growth

Year-over-year

76%

CIOs Planning AI Scaling

Expect agentic AI by end 2026

IT Spending by Segment: 2026 Forecast

Segment2026 SpendGrowth vs 2025Key Driver
Data Centre Systems$582.4B+19.0%AI GPU infrastructure, hyperscaler buildout
Devices$906B+18.6%AI PC refresh cycle, post-pandemic normalisation
Software$1.24T+13.0%AI-embedded SaaS, developer tools, platform adoption
IT Services$1.81T+11.0%Cloud migration, digital transformation projects
Communications Services$1.62T+5.1%Stable recurring revenue, moderate growth

Top CIO Priorities for 2026

AI Scaling

76% of CIOs

Expect to deploy agentic AI into production by end of 2026. This represents the shift from AI pilots and experiments to operational AI systems that automate workflows and augment decisions at scale.

Cybersecurity

43% increasing above inflation

Security budget increases are outpacing general IT budget growth as organisations respond to more sophisticated threats, stricter regulatory requirements (DORA, NIS2), and cyber insurance premium pressure.

FinOps and Cost Optimisation

Board-level priority

As AI infrastructure costs scale, finance teams and boards are demanding greater visibility and accountability for IT and cloud spending. FinOps has moved from an engineering discipline to a CFO concern.

Technical Debt Remediation

34% of CIOs cite it as top barrier

Legacy systems are preventing AI adoption. Companies cannot deploy modern AI tools on 20-year-old data infrastructure. Technical debt remediation has become a prerequisite for AI strategy rather than a back-office IT concern.

AI Talent

Premium of 20-40% on AI skills

Demand for engineers with AI, ML, and data skills significantly exceeds supply, driving compensation inflation that is pressuring IT personnel budgets. Organisations unable to pay market rates are losing talent to AI-native companies.

What This Means for Your 2026 IT Budget

  • !Add an AI line item if you have not already. AI pilots are becoming production systems with real infrastructure and software costs.
  • !Security budgets should track above general IT growth. 43% of CIOs are increasing security spend above inflation - this is the right direction.
  • !Cloud cost management has become non-negotiable. FinOps practices are no longer optional at any company spending more than $100K/year on cloud.
  • !34% of CIOs expect large budget increases; boards are more conservative. Come with benchmark data (like this site) to justify your ask.
  • !Build vs buy calculus is shifting. More capabilities are available as AI-embedded features in existing SaaS, reducing custom build costs.

IT Spending Benchmarks 2026

Current benchmarks by industry and company size.

Cybersecurity Budget Guide

Security is growing faster than overall IT. How much to allocate.

Cloud Spending Benchmarks

IaaS growing at 24.8% driven by AI compute demand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the global IT spending forecast for 2026?
Global IT spending is forecast at $6.15 trillion in 2026, up 10.8% year-over-year (Gartner, February 2026). This is the highest growth rate in a decade, driven primarily by AI infrastructure investment. Data centre systems are growing at 19.0% ($582.4 billion), devices at 18.6% ($906 billion), and software at 13.0% ($1.24 trillion). AI-specific spending is growing at 80.8% year-over-year as organisations scale from AI pilots to production deployments.
What are the top CIO priorities for 2026?
The top CIO priorities for 2026 are: (1) AI scaling - 76% of CIOs expect to deploy agentic AI by end of 2026, up from less than 20% in 2024. (2) Cybersecurity - 43% of technology leaders are increasing security spend above general inflation. (3) FinOps and cloud cost optimisation - as cloud bills scale with AI workloads, cost management has become a board-level concern. (4) Technical debt reduction - legacy systems are preventing AI adoption. (5) Talent retention - AI skills premium is driving compensation inflation for engineering roles.
How is AI investment affecting IT budgets?
AI investment is the most significant single driver of IT budget growth in 2026. AI spending is growing at 80.8% year-over-year, compared to overall IT growth of 10.8%. This AI premium is flowing primarily into: IaaS (GPU compute for training and inference), platform and middleware services (AI/ML platforms, vector databases, model serving infrastructure), and AI application software (embedded AI features in SaaS tools). The net effect is that 2026 IT budgets need to accommodate a new AI line item that did not exist 2-3 years ago.
Will IT spending growth slow in 2027?
Most analyst forecasts suggest IT spending growth will moderate slightly in 2027, from 10.8% in 2026 to approximately 8-10% in 2027. The moderation reflects: (1) the AI infrastructure investment wave beginning to normalise as hyperscaler buildout slows, (2) macroeconomic uncertainty affecting discretionary IT spending, (3) board scrutiny of AI ROI leading to more selective investment. However, security and cloud spending are expected to maintain above-average growth through 2027-2028 regardless of the macro environment.

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