Worldwide IT spending is expected to total $6.08 trillion in 2026, an increase of 9.8% from 2025, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.
Gartner analysts are discussing the trends that are impacting the IT market during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, taking place here through Thursday.
“The uncertainty pause that began in the second quarter of 2025 started to alleviate in the third quarter and a significant budget flush is anticipated before the end of the year,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Despite being in the trough of disillusionment in 2026, GenAI features are now ubiquitous across software already owned and operated by enterprises and these features cost more money, aligning with this flush. The cost of software is going up and both the cost of features and functionality is going up as well thanks to GenAI.
“However, not all segments will experience this flush uniformly,” said Lovelock. “Software and services spending growth in 2025 does not recover in the same way as devices and data center systems. For instance, vertical-specific software spending has been slightly more affected, as vertical-industry-level software buyers are more sensitive to the policy changes and business uncertainties.
