Why AI spending is the fastest-growing part of IT budgets

Key AI spending statistics (2026): Only 31% of organizations have accurate visibility into their AI software spend, and 59% say wasted AI spend increased over the past year (Flexera, 2026 State of ITAM Report). 95% of organizations studied are seeing no measurable profit-and-loss impact from their AI initiatives, and only about 5% of integrated AI pilots are extracting significant value (MIT NANDA). AI spending is growing at more than 3x the rate of overall IT spending (Gartner).