A recent CIO survey by RBC Capital Markets has provided a clear answer to the pressing question that has troubled Wall Street and Silicon Valley for much of the past year: Will businesses truly invest in artificial intelligence (AI)? The response is a resounding yes.

RBC surveyed 117 IT professionals from companies with annual revenues ranging from under $250 million to over $25 billion. The results revealed that 90% of respondents said their firms plan to boost AI spending by 2026.

In a research note summarizing the findings, RBC analysts wrote, "Overall, we are increasingly optimistic about the macroeconomic outlook and stabilizing budgets by 2026, and we are encouraged by the rapid early adoption of generative AI (GenAI)."

CIOs are not only quickly integrating AI systems into production but also allocating dedicated budgets to support this shift. Notably, 90% of tech executives reported that their companies have established separate budgets for GenAI and large language model (LLM) projects, up from 85% the previous year. This indicates that AI is transitioning from "discretionary" spending to "incremental" investment in corporate tech budgets.

More compelling data shows that 60% of respondents said their AI projects are already in production, a significant jump from 39% last year, while another 32% expect deployment within the next six months. This shift comes after months of investor skepticism about whether businesses could move from pilot programs to substantial spending—a tipping point that the survey suggests has now arrived.

According to RBC, CIOs rank AI as the top priority for software spending growth next year, surpassing cybersecurity and IT service management. In open-ended responses, executives repeatedly cited AI as the biggest investment focus for 2026, often alongside infrastructure upgrades and automation initiatives.

AI applications are also accelerating beyond experimentation. About 76% of CIOs said their AI strategies now focus equally on cost reduction and revenue generation, further evidence that AI is evolving from a novelty into a competitive necessity.

While challenges remain—data privacy remains the top concern—these issues no longer hinder AI deployment. Instead, AI is emerging as the core driver of IT budget expansion in 2026.