good morning. Enterprise and global AI spending is widely expected to increase in 2026 due to expansion of AI infrastructure and widespread adoption of AI software and devices. Investments are increasingly coming from a wider range of companies, rather than being concentrated only in the top technology giants.
Gartner predicts that global AI spending will exceed $2 trillion in 2026, driven by the integration of AI into products such as smartphones, PCs, and other underlying infrastructure. Local economic conditions, the regulatory environment, and access to skilled talent will influence how quickly individual companies scale their efforts. Not all companies undertake large-scale hardware upgrades or widespread deployments at the same pace.
To understand how the market is shaping up, I asked Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, for his thoughts. “We believe 2026 will be the year of AI monetization as infrastructure leads to enterprise and consumer use cases,” Ives told me. “This is just the beginning. We expect 2026 to be a bullish year for the technology and AI revolution.”
Analysts at Wedbush said in a Monday morning note that the rise of AI-related businesses has accelerated recently and should continue into 2026 as end-user companies accelerate adoption. Analysts also dismissed the idea that the market is showing signs of an AI bubble, emphasizing that adoption is still in the very early stages as CIOs and business leaders determine where AI can provide meaningful value within their organizations.
Deloitte’s recent report similarly predicts continued and increased AI spending in areas such as technology, media, and communications, but emphasizes a shift in focus from experimentation to implementation. “While new foundational models or shiny new enterprise agent applications continue to be impressive, translating them beyond pilots and trials requires tasks that are typically considered less sexy, such as data hygiene, integration into existing workflows, governance, new pricing models, and regulatory compliance,” the report states.
These predictions point to a common inflection point. 2026 will be the year of turning existing capabilities into measurable business outcomes, rather than a dizzying array of new AI models.
Cheryl estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
leader board
Fortune 500 power moves
Amanda Brimmer He has been appointed CFO and Head of Corporate Development for Leasing Advisory at JLL (No. 188), a global commercial real estate and investment management company. Report to JLL CFO Kelly HoweBrimmer partners with business leaders around the world to drive financial growth and performance. Brimmer has more than 20 years of experience at Boston Consulting Group, most recently as managing director and senior partner.
gallagher jeff Effective December 1, Jeff has been appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ARKO Corp. (No. 488), one of the largest convenience store operators and fuel wholesalers in the United States. Jeff most recently served as Vice President and CFO of Murphy USA. Prior to that, he spent more than 10 years in the financial industry and nearly 15 years in senior and executive finance roles at retailers such as Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., Advance Auto Parts, Inc. and Walmart Stores, Inc. He provides strategy consulting for organizations such as KPMG and Ernst & Young.
Every Friday morning, we track executives’ shifts at Fortune 500 companies in our weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column.See latest version.
More noteworthy movements
Nick Tressler Mr. Tressler has been appointed CFO of late-stage biopharmaceutical company Vistagen (NASDAQ: VTGN), effective December 1. Mr. Tressler has over 20 years of experience as a financial leader. He most recently served as CFO of DYNEX Technologies and prior to that served as CFO of American Gene Technologies, International, and Senseonics Holdings, Inc. Mr. Tressler also held senior finance roles at several biopharmaceutical companies.
charlie dowling Appointed CFO of Revive Infrastructure Group, a utility infrastructure services provider. Dowling brings more than 30 years of experience to the company. He began his career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen and rose through the ranks in senior finance leadership roles across the construction, manufacturing and industrial sectors.
big deal
Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investments, said Morgan Stanley’s monthly analysis showed its clients were net buyers in 10 out of 11 sectors of the S&P 500 in November, and all signs point to them buying the dip in tech stocks, especially some of the market’s big-cap AI leaders. The top three sectors for net purchasing activity were Consumer Discretionary (+13.41%), Utilities (+7.35%), and Communication Services (+4.9%). Tech stocks were close behind at +4.65%.
“Most activity in the utility sector appears to be once again being driven by ‘risk-on’ buying in the alternative energy space, rather than traditional defensive buying of utility stocks,” Larkin said. “And for the second month in a row, customers have moved away from the strength of the healthcare sector.”
even deeper
overheard
“My belief in the power of connection has shaped much of my personal life and professional career.”
—david Risher, Lyft’s CEO wrote: luck An opinion piece titled “Lyft CEO: This Giving Tuesday, I’ll match every rider’s donation.”
