Gartner forecasts global AI spending to reach $2.5 trillion in 2026, driven by infrastructure build-out

Gartner has forecast that worldwide spending on artificial intelligence will total $2.52 trillion in 2026, representing a 44% year-on-year increase, as enterprises and technology providers continue to invest heavily in AI foundations.

According to Gartner, the surge in spending will be driven largely by AI infrastructure, as vendors race to build out the compute, storage and networking capabilities required to support large-scale AI deployments. Infrastructure alone is expected to add $401 billion in incremental spending, accounting for 17% of total AI expenditure in 2026.

AI maturity, not just money, shaping adoption

Despite the sharp rise in investment, Gartner cautioned that AI adoption is increasingly being shaped by organisational readiness rather than pure budget allocation.

“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 ...