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IT Budgets Poised for Strong 2026 Growth, Bernstein CIO Survey Finds
Corporate IT budgets are projected to grow robustly in 2026, matching the strong growth of 2025 and rivaling the post-pandemic rebound of 2021, according to a mid-year survey of Chief Information Officers by Bernstein. The report highlights a significant regional divergence in spending expectations and identifies generative AI and cybersecurity as key investment drivers.
Survey Highlights Diverging Regional Trends
The survey revealed a sharp split in regional spending outlooks for 2026. According to a note from Bernstein analyst Peter Weed, U.S. budget growth expectations have risen while European forecasts have declined significantly.
- United States: Full-year 2026 budget growth expectations increased by 60 basis points.
- Europe: Expectations fell sharply by 130 basis points.
Spending patterns within the year also differ. U.S.-based CIOs anticipate a weaker second half after a very strong first half, while their European counterparts are more optimistic for the second half of the year following a weak H1, Bernstein reported.
GenAI and Cloud Drive Spending Priorities
AdCybersecurity, GenAI applications, and platform software remain the top three investment priorities for CIOs. The survey indicates that incremental spending will be heavily concentrated among hyperscale cloud providers.
Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are expected to capture the largest share of budget growth. Among other software vendors, ServiceNow and Salesforce were the only ones seeing modestly positive allocation trends, according to the note.
Enterprise AI Strategy and Market Outlook
The survey provided insights into how enterprises are approaching AI integration. CIOs signaled a clear preference for consuming AI capabilities through established software platforms rather than building solutions directly with Large Language Model (LLM) vendors like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Most CIOs do not expect AI to replace enterprise software, reduce long-term IT budgets, or cause a major shift from software to hardware investments. In the cloud market, adoption continues to rise, with Microsoft Azure maintaining its leadership position while Google Cloud continues to gain share, Bernstein concluded.
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