Investment in AI, cloud and cybersecurity will be the driving forces behind an 11.1% growth in IT spending in 2026, according to Gartner. But a lot of the money spent on AI could go on updates to new AI-enabled versions of existing apps, rather than new AI solutions or projects.
► Total spending to be $1.4 trillion in Europe
► AI-related spending will focus on deriving benefits from existing apps
► Cloud to grow 24% as digital sovereignty efforts shift priorities
The analyst predicts that total IT spending in Europe will total $1.4 trillion in 2026 – that’s an increase of 11.1% or around $1 billion on 2025. With AI, the firm predicts that much of the spending will go on new versions of software that provide AI-driven features.
End user cloud spending will grow 24% but there will be some retrenchment, with a proportion of services being moved closer to home to protect the ‘digital’ sovereignty of organisations.
The broader categorisation of spending sees the relative shares taken by each of the five categories that Gartner uses to segment the market remaining about the same as last year. While data centre systems will see the most growth (18%) this remains the smallest of the five segments, with IT services the largest by far, accounting for 38% of the market. Software claims 23% and communications 21%. Devices generate 11%, while data centre accounts for 7% of the overall spend.
Even so, AI will give infrastructure sales a boost in Europe, with end-user spending on AI-optimised servers forecast to reach $46.8 billion in 2026 – up from $39.3 billion in 2025. Gartner noted that AI will also boost devices and raise average selling prices.
For channel partners, increasing knowledge and focusing on the key areas of activity – AI, cloud, and cybersecurity – will continue to be the areas of focus, while the delivery of services remains the area that will generate the most business overall.
| 2025 Spending | Growth | 2026 Spending | Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Centre Systems | 83,632 | 38.2 | 99,335 | 18.8 |
| Devices | 143,668 | 11.0 | 158,193 | 10.1 |
| Software | 290,235 | 14.7 | 335,409 | 15.6 |
| IT Services | 490,398 | 9.0 | 539,927 | 10.1 |
| Communications Services | 277,826 | 7.0 | 294,988 | 6.2 |
| Overall IT | 1,285,760 | 11.6 | 1,427,852 | 11.1 |
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