According to the latest projections from Gartner, global IT spending will surge to $6.15 trillion in 2026, marking a 10.8% increase from 2025 levels. This acceleration represents a dramatic shift in technology investment priorities, with analyst John-David Lovelock attributing the growth primarily to hyperscaler cloud provider demand.
Global IT spending will surge to $6.15 trillion in 2026, driven primarily by hyperscaler cloud provider demand and accelerating technology investments.
The most striking trend involves data center infrastructure expansion. Spending in this sector will jump 31.7% to exceed $650 billion in 2026, up from just under $500 billion in 2025. Server spending alone is accelerating at 36.9% year-over-year growth. Organizations are now spending three to four times more on AI-optimized servers compared to traditional servers, reflecting the fundamental transformation occurring in enterprise infrastructure. Many organizations are also adopting Integration Platform solutions to connect these new infrastructure components with existing systems.
AI investment dominates the spending landscape. Global AI spending will reach $2.53 trillion in 2026, growing at 44% year-over-year. AI infrastructure accounts for $1.36 trillion—54% of total AI spending.
The breakdown reveals important patterns:
- AI services: $589 billion
- AI software: $452 billion
- AI models: $26 billion (barely 1% of total)
- Infrastructure foundation: 17% of total AI allocation
Data center power consumption will double within four years due to AI demands. This creates massive capital requirements concentrated upstream in the value chain, with hyperscalers driving investments in AI-optimized workloads.
Software spending will grow 13.3% to 15.2% in 2026, remaining above $1.4 trillion. Generative AI models specifically will experience 80.8% growth, though generative AI will only increase market share by 1.8%. Enterprise buyers currently occupy what Gartner calls the “trough of disillusionment” phase regarding AI but continue adopting AI-enabled products from existing providers.
Device spending presents a contrast. While projected at $836 billion in 2026, growth slows to just 6.1% year-over-year. Storage shortages affect demand for smartphones, PCs, and tablets. Rising memory prices are discouraging device replacements and contributing to muted device shipment growth.
Enterprise and government investments will account for over 70% of tech spending growth through 2030, with defense, financial services, healthcare, industry, and retail sectors leading AI adoption. Despite concerns about a possible AI bubble, AI infrastructure growth remains rapid.
