Worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total $2,52-trillion in 2026, a 44% increase year-over-year, according to Gartner.
“AI adoption is fundamentally shaped by the readiness of both human capital and organisational processes, not merely by financial investment,” says John-David Lovelock, distinguished vice-president analyst at Gartner. “Organisations with greater experiential maturity and self-awareness are increasingly prioritising proven outcomes over speculative potential.
“Because AI is in the Trough of Disillusionment throughout 2026, it will most often be sold to enterprises by their incumbent software provider rather than bought as part of a new moonshot project,” says Lovelock. “The improved predictability of ROI must occur before AI can truly be scaled up by the enterprise.”
Building AI foundations alone will drive a 49% increase in spending on AI-optimised servers for 2026, representing 17% of total AI spending. AI infrastructure will also add $401-billion in spending in 2026 as a result of technology providers building out AI foundations
Worldwide AI Spending by Market, 2025-2027 (Millions of US Dollars)
| Market | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
| AI Services | 439,438 | 588,645 | 761,042 |
| AI Cybersecurity | 25,920 | 51,347 | 85,997 |
| AI Software | 283,136 | 452,458 | 636,146 |
| AI Models | 14,416 | 26,380 | 43,449 |
| AI Platforms for Data Science and Machine Learning | 21,868 | 31,120 | 44,482 |
| AI Application Development Platforms | 6,587 | 8,416 | 10,922 |
| AI Data | 827 | 3,119 | 6,440 |
| AI Infrastructure | 964,960 | 1,366,360 | 1,748,212 |
| Total AI Spending | 1,757,152 | 2,527,845 | 3,336,690 |
Source: Gartner (January 2026)