Tech leaders expect budget increases amid uncertainties for 2026

Over 80% of tech leaders across industries (86%) expect increased budgets this year, despite the uncertainties, report finds.

Conducted by Forrester, the 2026 budget planning guides provide data-driven spending benchmarks and actionable recommendations for leaders in technology, security, business to business and business to consumer marketing, customer experience, digital strategy, and sales operations, enabling them to plan confidently for the year ahead. It is designed to empower business leaders to invest wisely, scale back where needed, and experiment continuously to succeed in times of change.

The report indicates that volatility is dampening budget optimism for 2026. Factors such as tariffs, trade wars, cyber threats, and economic uncertainty are reshaping budget expectations, signaling a shift toward more cautious growth planning.

Amid ongoing volatility, leaders should engage in scenario planning and prepare for both deeper budget cuts and unexpected investment opportunities. This involves protecting and prioritising investments that create customer value, halting spending on inefficiencies, and embracing constant, low-cost experimentation to stay ahead.

While it’s no surprise that leaders are less bullish compared to last year, it’s not all doom and gloom. Despite the uncertainty, 86% of tech leaders across industries are expecting increased budgets from the year before. Additionally, tech leaders in the financial services and healthcare sectors expect double-digit budget increases, driven by investments in generative AI, analytics, and threat intelligence.

In 2026, leaders can increase investments in two key areas: data literacy and employee AI readiness programmes, as well as customer insights and data management. Data and AI leaders should prioritise ongoing, persona-based training to educate employees on the responsible use of AI and how to interpret data-driven insights. Furthermore, leaders who develop a clearer understanding of customer insights during uncertain times will be better equipped to engage proactively. Implementing a robust data collection strategy is essential for achieving this goal.

On the other hand, leaders should consider decreasing investments in a cloud-first strategy. New sovereignty and resilience regulations, rising geopolitical tensions, executive pressure to cut costs, and an increasing number of production-ready generative AI use cases have shifted the focus from a cloud-first approach to a cloud-as-necessary model. Additionally, leaders may want to reduce investments in legacy technology infrastructure. It's time for a more radical approach to eliminate tech debt: declare tech debt bankruptcy and outsource the legacy tech stack to ensure operational reliability while freeing up funds to build a modern, adaptive, AI-powered ecosystem that drives innovation.

Regarding areas for experimentation, the report suggests that leaders utilise agentic AI for task automation, beginning with a single application and expanding across business apps. Explore the disruptive potential of autonomous AI agents that can perform tasks and make decisions independently. Start by prioritising read-only or analytical apps to minimise the risk of compromising data entry or quality standards.

Enterprises can also collect relevant inputs from mobile, internet-of-things, and other edge devices to provide customers with timely, use-case-driven insights. Wide deployment of edge intelligence solutions is expected over the next two to four years as developments occur in chipset functions, form factors, 5G networks, and powerful on-device and on-chip machine learning models.

Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer, Forrester, said: “While conservative budget expectations are a fine starting point for 2026, now is not the time to get complacent. With no end in sight to today’s volatility, leaders should be prepared for both more aggressive cuts and unexpected investment opportunities. They can achieve this through constant, low-cost experimentation and gain the edge to outmaneuver competitors the moment the opportunity strikes.”

Related articles:

Marketers to slash display spend by 30% as AI and CTV redefine engagement: Forrester
Forrester: B2B marketers lead the AI revolution
How HK brands are navigating the future of customer experience in 2026