The flood of money pouring into the AI sector may seem endless, but experts say the numbers have yet to peak.
On Tuesday, Gartner released a report forecasting AI spending to reach $2.59 trillion in 2026, reflecting a 47% year-over-year increase. The reason for the boost: enterprises are joining in on the spending craze in full force.
"Up to this point, AI spending has primarily been driven by technology companies and hyperscalers," said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, in the blog post.
"Enterprises have yet to really flex their spending potential. That is coming, and 2026 will be the inflection year."
Gartner explains that this spending is largely fueled by enterprises adopting agentic automation, which will require not only expanding their current use of GenAI models in existing software applications but also adding new agents. As a result, short-term growth for AI models has increased to 110% in 2026, which alone will add $6 billion in spending.
While the projections for 2026 still place AI infrastructure as the biggest AI market spend, accounting for more than half at $1,431,509 trillion, other sectors are expected to see tremendous growth, with AI cybersecurity, AI models, and AI Data more than doubling.
"Through the next several years, the need for capacity will make AI infrastructure, including AI-optimized IaaS, AI-optimized servers, AI network fabric, AI processing semiconductors and devices, the largest segment of the market, accounting for over 45% of spending, which will be driven by vendors," added Lovelock.
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This report is important because it speaks to a tension that has dominated enterprise tech conversations: companies aren't seeing clear ROI from AI investments, yet analysts increasingly argue the problem isn't the technology, it's how organizations are deploying it. Lovelock captures this directly: "For this reason, CIOs face challenges in proving the value from AI investments and demonstrating tangible business outcomes. Aligning AI initiatives with strategic business objectives is the essential step for success."