Morgan Stanley Survey: 2026 IT Budgets 3.7%

CIOs expect overall IT spending to grow 3.7% in 2026, a slight increase from 3.6% in 2025.
Software budgets are projected to rise 4.1%, while hardware spending slows to 1.5% and communications/services are set to decelerate year‑on‑year.
Regional split shows U.S. IT growth expectations at 3.9% (up 34 bps) versus EU 3.0% (down 5 bps), widening the gap.
AI/ML ranks top priority for 17.7% of CIOs, with Microsoft and Amazon identified as primary beneficiaries of incremental IT budget share.