AI Market Forecast 2026 Projects $64 B Global Spend

Gartner projects worldwide spending on AI models and platforms to reach roughly $64 billion in 2026, a 63 % increase from the previous year. The surge is driven by a 117 % rise in generative AI model investment and a 36.9 % growth in platform spending.

While adoption of generative AI is high among enterprises – 90 % of firms report workflow transformation and productivity gains – a HCLTech survey finds only 18 % see a material revenue impact, highlighting a gap between tool deployment and business outcomes.

Companies are responding by bolstering end‑to‑end AI delivery capabilities. Microsoft announced a $2.5 billion investment in a 6,000‑person Frontier unit to move AI from proof‑of‑concept to production, and Amazon Web Services committed $1 billion to a dedicated AI deployment team. These efforts aim to bridge the “production gap” that many firms experience when scaling AI from pilot projects to reliable digital employees that generate measurable business results.