With AI Investment Accelerating Across the Technology Stack, IT Spending Will Cross the $7 Trillion Mark for the First Time.
“Collectively, the market forces are reinforcing spend around AI infrastructure, AI-enabled cloud platforms and advanced software ecosystems, as these are the most attractive opportunities in global IT spending,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Increasingly, the growth of the digital economy is being determined not only by software adoption, but also by the ability to finance, build and monetize AI infrastructure at an unprecedented scale.”
The next $1 trillion dollars in IT spending growth is being shaped by two interconnected AI domains: AI infrastructure and AI software. Spending on AI-optimized servers, AI-optimized infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and AI software platforms continues to strengthen as organizations seek to industrialize AI deployment. At the same time, hardware markets are experiencing growing pressure from memory-related inflation (see Table 1).
|
|
2026 Spending |
2026 Growth (%) |
2027 Spending |
2027 Growth (%) |
| Data Center Systems |
879 |
73.8 |
1,366 |
55.5 |
| Devices | 847 | 7.2 | 916 | 8.1 |
| Software | 1,464 | 15.2 | 1,679 | 14.6 |
| Services | 1,557 | 4.4 | 1,633 | 4.9 |
| Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) |
292 |
31.3 |
367 |
25.7 |
| Communications Services |
1,352 |
4.1 |
1,391 |
2.9 |
| Overall IT | 6,391 | 14.5 | 7,352 | 15.0 |
Source: Gartner (October 2026)
Longer term, the forecast reflects a further upward revision in growth expectations for data center systems, reinforcing the view that AI infrastructure has become the foundational layer of the AI economy. Unlike previous technology cycles where infrastructure supported software growth, infrastructure itself is increasingly being treated as a strategic investment asset.
“Backed by hyperscaler capital expenditure, private capital funding, financing initiatives and in some cases the technology suppliers themselves, AI infrastructure is emerging as both a technology platform and an investable asset class,” said Lovelock. “As a result, spending on AI infrastructure, AI cloud services, AI platforms and AI-enabled software is expected to reach explosive highs throughout the forecast period, underpinning sustained growth in the broader IT market.”
Gartner’s IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of the sales by over a thousand vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.
