Global technology investment is accelerating at a pace we haven’t seen since the height of the pandemic. Generative AI fueled spending is reshaping the tech landscape, Forrester expects nearly two‑thirds of global tech spending growth over the next five years will come from software and computer equipment, especially servers. The IMF predicts that surging AI investment will counterbalance the economic drag from shifting global trade policies and increasing geo-political tensions. Forrester forecasts global tech spending will reach $5.6 trillion and grow a record 7.8% in 2026. But why are we so bullish when the world economy seems to be stuck in first gear:

  • Strong hyperscaler Capex. Hyperscalers saw record levels of spending in 2024 and 2025 and are forecast to capture almost half of AI Infrastructure Capex between 2025 and 2028. Forrester expects the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) 2024 to 2030 to reach a robust 22% and for AI impacted hardware to capture more than 80% of computer equipment spend by 2030, up from just 43% in 2024
  • Enterprises focus on AI driven tech talent. Most tech jobs will experience a moderate to high degree of transformation because of AI. AI is an important tech priority as businesses and technology professionals look to increase the use of AI-enabled software development, implement AI enabled/generative AI tools for business applications and adopt a real-time, AI driven/enhanced operational support capability. In June 2025, the share of AI-related job postings in the US reached 20% of available tech talent.
  • Enterprises start to see increases in AI driven productivity. Software developers see strong gains from using genAI across greenfield and brownfield projects; as much as 30% of Microsoft’s code is written by genAI. IT service firms look to decouple their revenue growth from headcount growth. AI helps JP Morgan Chase to see flat fraud detection costs despite a 12% annual growth rate in threat attack rates and already see a 10% to 20% increase in software engineer productivity from the use of in-house coding assistant tools.

To learn more about the tech investments that companies are making and how this is likely to change over time read Forrester’s new Global Tech Market Forecast, 2025 To 2030, and check out our forecasts that focus on on Europe and the US and see our new 2025 Global Tech Vendor Tracker to see the dynamics of vendor growth.

Have any thoughts? Contact me, Michael O’Grady.

Forrester clients can schedule a Forrester guidance session for more insights and to explore the narratives within this forecast.