CFOs and finance leaders are making decisive shifts in 2026 budget priorities, prioritising growth-driving functions, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), according to Gartner.
“Sales and IT are expected to see the largest budget increases in 2026, with over half of CFOs planning higher spending, and 28% anticipating double-digit growth in both areas, with marketing close behind,” says Nauman Abbasi, vice-president analyst in the Gartner Finance practice.
“The emphasis on sales and marketing reflects their role as growth drivers, while IT budget increases reflect structural needs like rising SaaS costs, digital process expansion and AI-related expenses.”
Conversely, Gartner’s latest 2026 budget benchmarks, based on an October 2025 survey of more than 300 CFOs and finance leaders, show that HR faces the sharpest pullback, with only 29% of CFOs planning increases and 22% expecting cuts, reducing average budget growth from 2,4% in 2025 to 0,7% in 2026 due to reduced hiring and AI efficiency gains.
Enterprises bet on technology over headcount
Technology budgets are set to rise for 75% of CFOs, and nearly half (48%) plan increases of 10% or more, underscoring the strategic importance of digital transformation, AI adoption and cybersecurity.
“Across industries, technology consistently emerges as the area with the highest budget increase, underscoring its role as the backbone of digital transformation and operational resilience,” says Abbasi. “The average increase across all industries is around 10%, but this ranges from around 15% in the financial services sector to 6% in manufacturing.”
At the same time, after years of compensation-led budget growth, the tide is turning. Pay increases have slowed for three consecutive cycles, dropping from 6,1% in 2024 to 5,4% in 2025, and the moderation will deepen to 4,5% in 2026.
“The real story, however, lies in collapsing headcount growth expectations, from 6% in 2025 to just 2% in 2026 with just 21% of CFOs planning staff increases of 4% to 9%, down from 31% last year,” says Abbasi. “This marks a structural pivot from labor expansion to optimisation driven by automation and AI that deliver productivity gains without proportional increases in headcount.”
Finance AI adoption moves from pilot to scale
Nearly 60% of CFOs plan to increase finance function AI investments by 10% or more in 2026, while another 24% expect gains of 4% to 9%.
Efficiency is the top driver, with 88% of CFOs ranking finance staff productivity among their top three priorities, reflecting the need to automate, shorten cycles and control costs.
AI spending remains in early stages for most, with 47% allocating just 1% to 5% of finance technology spend to AI, but confidence is growing as organisations report early wins in automation and forecasting.
“CFOs recognise that AI is no longer just an experiment – it’s fast becoming a core enterprise capability,” Abbasi adds. “The shift from cautious pilots to committed scale is driven by tangible gains in productivity and decision-making.
“As AI literacy grows and legacy systems are modernized, we expect to see accelerated investment and deeper integration across finance and the enterprise.”