Gartner forecasts global IT spending to rise 14% to $6.37T in 2026, driven by AI infrastructure capex across hyperscalers and peers.

Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% from 2025, as organisations increase spending on AI infrastructure, cloud platforms and software, according to Gartner's latest forecast.

The research and advisory firm identifies data centre systems and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) as the top growth segments. Data centre systems spending is expected to jump from $506 billion in 2025 to $822 billion in 2026—a 62.5% increase. IaaS spending is forecast to rise from $222 billion to $287 billion, a 29.3% increase, as companies build the computing capacity required to support AI workloads.

"Data center systems and infrastructure as a service are the top growth segments, reflecting accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, cloud platforms, and intelligent applications," said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. "Building the compute capacity required for AI is the largest infrastructure project ever attempted by humanity. Driven by the expansion of AI workloads and demand for high-performance computing, hyperscalers and enterprises are rapidly scaling next-generation data center capacity."

Across other categories, software spending is expected to grow from $1.27 trillion to $1.47 trillion. IT services spending is projected to reach $1.57 trillion, device spending to $868 billion, and communications services spending to $1.35 trillion in 2026.

Gartner attributes the growth surge to intensifying AI investment. "IT spending growth is being fueled by rising investments in AI infrastructure and software. Organizations are spending more on AI-optimized servers, cloud services, and AI-ready software as they expand their AI efforts, while hardware markets continue to adjust to semiconductor and memory supply constraints," Lovelock said. "The fastest growth is expected in AI-related infrastructure, cloud services, and software, reflecting the strong focus on building and scaling AI capabilities across the enterprise."

Despite these gains, technology budgets remain under pressure. "This is not a rising tide lifts all boats market trend," Lovelock cautioned. "Technology budgets are being strained by inflation, supply shortages, rising hardware and memory costs, AI funding initiatives and shifting priorities."

The forecast is based on Gartner's analysis of sales data from more than 1,000 technology vendors, supported by primary and secondary research.