Worldwide IT spending is expected to hit $6.37 trillion in 2026, marking a 14.2% increase from the previous year. This growth is being primarily driven by investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, cloud platforms, and intelligent applications. Gartner’s analysis highlights that spending on data center systems and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will experience the fastest growth due to the escalating demand for AI infrastructure and high-performance computing.
The report forecasts a significant surge in spending on data center systems, projected to reach $822 billion in 2026 from $506 billion in 2025, representing a 62.5% increase. Additionally, IaaS spending is expected to grow by 29.3% to $287 billion, while software spending is anticipated to rise by 15.5% to $1.47 trillion. Device spending is also set to increase by nearly 10% to $868 billion, with services spending and communications services spending expected to grow by about 5% and 4.4% respectively.
According to John-David Lovelock, a Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, the expansion of AI workloads and the demand for high-performance computing are driving the need to build significant compute capacity for AI. Despite the positive outlook, the report warns that technology budgets are facing pressure from various factors such as inflation, semiconductor and memory supply constraints, rising hardware costs, and evolving enterprise priorities. The forecast also indicates a shift towards increased IT spending in AI-related infrastructure, cloud services, and software, with traditional technology segments experiencing comparatively modest growth.
Organizations are increasingly investing in AI-optimized servers, cloud platforms, and AI-ready software to support the scaling of enterprise AI deployments. This trend positions AI infrastructure and software as the fastest-growing segments in global IT spending, signaling a broader market expansion led by AI-related technologies.
