New BCG report shows companies plan to double their spending on AI in 2026

Companies' investment in artificial intelligence is growing significantly and that trend will continue as they plan to double their spending on the cutting-edge technology in 2026, accounting for about 1.7 percent of revenues, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group.

CEOs are rolling up their sleeves and taking the lead as their companies' main AI decision makers, with trailblazing chief executives spending more than eight hours per week on their own AI upskilling, the report said, investing twice as much as their counterparts in upskilling and capability-building across their organizations.

"Despite economic uncertainty, this anticipated surge in spending reflects how much of a priority AI has become in the business world," Christoph Schweizer, BCG's CEO and coauthor of the report, said.

"AI is no longer confined to IT or innovation teams — it's reshaping strategy and operations from the top down with CEOs taking a leading role," the report said. "Nearly three quarters of CEOs say they are now the main decision makers on AI, and half believe their jobs depend on it."

The report is based on a survey of 2,360 executives across 16 markets and nine industries, including 640 CEOs.

In doubling their investment this year, companies are drawing from budgets beyond the tech pool and CEOs have committed more than 30 percent of their organizations' AI investments on agentic AI. Ninety-four percent of chief executives say they will continue investing in AI at current or higher levels even if the investments do not pay off in the next year.

The report also noted that 94 percent of Chinese CEOs say they will continue to increase AI investment even if it does not generate immediate returns, while 89 percent of them are more optimistic about returns on AI investment compared with last year. Moreover, 91 percent say they lead their companies' AI strategy, and about 60 percent believe their career stability depends on the success of that strategy.

Nearly three quarters of chief executives say that they are now the main decision makers on AI. And while half of CEOs believe their jobs are on the line if AI does not pay off, four out of five of them are more optimistic about AI's return on investment (ROI) potential than they were a year ago.

The rapid maturity of AI agents is one of the main reasons, with about 90 percent of chief executives believing that agents will enable their companies to see measurable ROI in 2026. As a result, CEOs have committed more than 30 percent of their organization's AI investment for this year into agentic AI, the report said.