Worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total $2.52 trillion in 2026, a 44% increase year-over-year, according to Gartner, Inc. a business and technology insights company.

“AI adoption is fundamentally shaped by the readiness of both human capital and organisational processes, not merely by financial investment,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP 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,” said 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.

The analysis matches what has already been heard from investors – investment will stay very much in the AI arena, but will shift towards more infrastructure projects rather than stay concentrated to big tech.

Construction of data centres and updates to energy grids will be driven by AI, but funding will not necessarily go directly to big tech companies currently benefitting from the AI boom.

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Table 1: Worldwide AI Spending by Market, 2025-2027 (Millions of U.S. Dollars) (Gartner)