Gartner forecasts $6.37 trillion global IT spend in 2026

Global IT spending is projected to surge to $6.37 trillion in 2026, a 14.2 percent increase over last year, according to a revised forecast from the analyst firm Gartner. The sharp upward revision reflects accelerating corporate investment, with growth heavily concentrated in areas directly tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure and software.

The data center systems segment is forecast to see the most dramatic growth, with spending expected to jump 62.5 percent to $822 billion this year, nearly catching up to the global devices market. This follows a 51.6 percent increase in 2025. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) spending is also projected to rise significantly, by 29.3 percent to $287 billion, building on 25 percent growth last year. Analysts link these figures directly to the massive scale of current AI capacity building.

"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, a distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner. "Building the compute capacity required for AI is the largest infrastructure project...