Overview of Corporate Tech Spending#
Barclays recently released a report highlighting the results of its survey of 100 chief information officers (CIOs), revealing that expectations for corporate technology spending remain steady. The survey indicates an anticipated growth of 3.8% in IT budgets for 2026, consistent with predictions made in the latter half of 2025.
Insights on IT Budget Trends#
Tim Long, a Barclays analyst, expressed optimism about this stability, especially considering factors like memory market dynamics, tariff impacts, and overall economic uncertainty. Notably, large companies with IT budgets exceeding $1 billion expect a significant 22% increase in spending. In contrast, organizations with budgets between $100 million and $500 million anticipate an 8% decline in their spending.
Growth in AI and Software Spending#
The survey also highlights a growing emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) within IT budgets, with AI-related spending rising to 4.8% from 3.8% in the first half of 2025. Barclays suggests that this increase in AI investment is driving overall IT spending higher. Additionally, expectations for private cloud spending have increased by 7 percentage points compared to the previous survey, indicating a positive outlook for software investments.
Industry-Specific Spending Trends#
Certain industries are projected to experience significant spending growth this year, including airlines, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, education, and oil and gas. In terms of software priorities, enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools have emerged as the top focus, while customer relationship management (CRM) and collaboration tools have seen a decline in priority. Microsoft continues to lead as the top cloud provider, with strong expectations for AI-driven spending, alongside other major players like Amazon and Google. In the hardware sector, storage and communications remain robust, aligning with Barclays' favorable view on companies like Arista, HP Enterprise, Dell, and NetApp.