Gartner: IT Spending to Hit $6.31 Trillion in 2026
Techstrong IT, Monday, April 27th, 2026
Global IT spending is projected to reach $6.31 trillion in 2026, driven by a 55.8% surge in data center spending for AI infrastructure.
Gartner forecasts that worldwide IT spending will grow 13.5% to $6.31 trillion in 2026, with the most dramatic growth occurring in data center systems at 55.8% as enterprises scale AI workloads and infrastructure.
IT services will remain the largest spending category at over $1.87 trillion, while software also sees strong gains driven by generative AI adoption. The analysis reveals uneven growth rates across IT segments, with hyperscalers aggressively investing in AI-capable infrastructure while traditional enterprise segments grow at a measured pace, and device spending is slowing due to rising memory costs affecting replacement cycles.
AI investment is increasingly embedded across applications and workflows rather than treated as a standalone initiative, fundamentally reshaping how organizations allocate IT budgets.