Global spending on AI is expected to reach $2.7 trillion in 2026 – an increase of 49.5% compared to 2025, according to research and advisory firm Gartner.
“Demand for AI infrastructure, including AI‑optimised IaaS, servers, networking, semiconductors for AI processing and devices, remains strong. That demand is hardly affected by price increases related to memory,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner.
In the software market, vendors of various kinds of software are increasingly incorporating agentic AI into existing products. In doing so, they aim to maintain their position in the market and arm themselves against new, cross‑industry AI agents.
According to Gartner, in 2026 generative AI will clearly be in the so‑called Trough of Disillusionment the phase in which the initial expectations have cooled. Companies are therefore more often using simpler, built‑in AI functions from existing software suppliers to work more efficiently, automate processes, improve customer interaction and support decision‑making.
“At the same time, organisations are turning to service providers less often for large‑scale business transformations and more often for smaller, indirect projects that allow them to leverage AI capabilities in existing software systems,” said Lovelock. “Risks around vendor lock‑in, data sovereignty and rising costs are not deterring buyers from using these proprietary capabilities. The combination of transformation projects and indirect projects is expected to make up a $1.2 trillion dollar for AI services by 2030.”
The growth forecast for platforms for the development of AI applications has been revised upwards. Gartner now expects growth of 39% in 2026, compared to 28% in the previous forecast.
Companies, software vendors and service providers are increasingly developing their own AI applications tailored to their specific needs. In doing so, companies expect support from vendors in controlling costs and monitoring the use of AI within work processes.
At the same time, pressure is mounting on AI model providers to deliver cheaper models that are a better fit for business applications. As a result, according to Gartner, a small but growing market is emerging for domain‑specific language models, or DSLMs.
The expected growth of generative AI models in 2026 has therefore been raised from 110% in the previous forecast to 117% in the current forecast.
In the new forecast, Gartner makes a separate distinction between cross‑industry AI agents and assistants on the one hand and AI software on the other. Consumer agents and assistants have also been added to the forecast for AI spending. With this, Gartner aims to provide a clearer picture of the emerging market for these applications.
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