Citi Q2 2026 CIO Survey Overview
Citi surveyed 100 senior IT decision‑makers for the second quarter of 2026 to gauge AI vendor preferences and broader IT spending trends. The survey identified Microsoft as the top AI vendor that CIOs plan to increase spend with, followed by Amazon and Google.
IT Budget Growth Expectations
Forward‑looking IT budget growth expectations rose to 3.3%, up from 2.6% in the March 2026 survey, representing a 0.8 percentage‑point increase over the seven‑year historical average. Regionally, EMEA budget growth accelerated to 3.9% (up 0.8 pp) and U.S. budget growth to 3.0% (up 0.6 pp).
Investment Priorities
Respondents ranked data analytics and AI as the top investment priority, with its share of focus increasing further. The next priorities were cybersecurity, digital transformation, and customer‑facing applications. Web security moved into the top‑priority cohort, driven by a surge in malicious and legitimate bot traffic and expanded API surfaces.
AI Spending Profile
Citi estimated that AI currently represents about 6.5% of total IT budgets. Of AI funding, 69% comes from new or additional spending, down from 73% in the prior survey. The most‑cited vendors for AI spending cuts were Cisco, Dell, IBM, and ServiceNow.
Workforce Impact
The survey found that 50% of CIOs expect AI to drive headcount reductions over the next six to twelve months, up from 47% in the previous quarter.
Market Reaction
The article notes contemporaneous stock movements: Microsoft down 0.87%, Dell up 5.15%, Cisco up 3.62%, Google down 2.66%, Amazon down 0.88%, IBM down 2.03%, and ServiceNow down 0.40%.