AI Becomes a Key Focus in Enterprise IT Budgets

New Omdia research has revealed a significant increase in enterprise IT department spending on AI. Omdia’s recently published IT Enterprise Insights Survey, which gathers feedback from over 6,500 senior IT decision-makers worldwide, shows nearly 16% of enterprise IT budgets will be spent on AI initiatives, including hardware, software, cloud, services, and staffing.

"AI's 16% share of the total IT budget marks a significant shift in IT investment priorities, a change of rare magnitude,” commented Cem Nurkan, Research Director for Enterprise Technology at Omdia. The survey results also provide insights on how enterprises plan to leverage AI. “As organizations advance their digital transformation and modernization efforts, AI plays a crucial role in enhancing operational efficiency and improving customer experiences— two of the top challenges identified by the survey,” explained Josh Builta, Senior Director for Enterprise Business Applications at Omdia.

The survey also suggests overall IT budgets are set to increase, with 75% of respondents expecting a rise in their organization’s IT spending over the next year. This development, coupled with the growing focus on AI investment, underscores a substantial opportunity for technology vendors. “Vendors aligning their AI offerings to customers priorities should capitalize on these expanding budgets. This level of planned investment creates room for new, innovative approaches that could bypass existing challenges and unlock new value,” added Nurkan.