TL;DR
A TechCrunch survey of 24 enterprise-focused venture capitalists finds most expect enterprises to raise AI spending in 2026 but concentrate those dollars with a smaller set of suppliers. Investors say spending will shift toward safety, data foundations and optimization, while many startups could face constrained demand.
What happened
TechCrunch asked 24 VCs who focus on enterprise startups how corporate AI spending will evolve in 2026. The majority predicted that companies will increase overall AI budgets but allocate those increases selectively rather than broadly. Investors described a coming consolidation: firms that have demonstrated clear results will capture larger shares of enterprise budgets, while overlapping or undifferentiated products could see pilot activity and spending decline. Several VCs highlighted specific areas likely to attract investment next year, including safeguards and oversight to make AI dependable, improvements to data foundations, and post-training model optimization. The shift toward fewer vendors and unified systems is expected to reduce integration costs and prompt organizations to move from experimental pilots to scaled deployments. Observers warned this concentration could produce a bifurcated market where a small number of winners take most of the incremental enterprise AI spend.
Why it matters
- Enterprises increasing AI budgets but buying from fewer vendors could reshape vendor competition and channel dynamics.
- Concentration of spending may speed large-scale deployments for proven tools while reducing opportunities for similar undifferentiated startups.
- Greater investment in safeguards and oversight signals enterprise priorities shifting from experimentation to risk management and scalability.
- Consolidation into unified systems may lower integration costs and change how CIOs evaluate return on AI investments.
Key facts
- TechCrunch surveyed 24 enterprise-focused venture capitalists about enterprise AI spending in 2026.
- Most respondents predicted enterprises will raise AI budgets in 2026 but spend more with fewer vendors.
- Investors expect a consolidation where a small number of vendors capture a disproportionate share of enterprise AI budgets.
- Areas cited for likely increased spending include safeguards/oversight, strengthening data foundations, and model post-training optimization.
- VCs warned enterprises are testing multiple tools for single use cases today and will rationalize overlapping tools as proof points emerge.
- Startups built on proprietary data or vertical solutions are seen as more defensible by the surveyed investors.
- Startups offering products similar to major cloud or platform providers may face declining pilot projects and funding, according to investors.
- The shift is framed as a movement from experimentation toward scaled deployments as enterprises reduce software sprawl and integration costs.
What to watch next
- Whether enterprises begin publicly consolidating vendor contracts in 2026 and which suppliers gain share.
- Investment and procurement activity in AI safeguards, data platform improvements, and post-training optimization tools.
- Funding trends for AI startups—particularly whether vertical or proprietary-data companies continue to attract capital while broad horizontal tools see cooling demand.
Quick glossary
- Enterprise AI: Artificial intelligence technologies and systems deployed within large organizations to support operations, decision-making, or customer-facing services.
- Model post-training optimization: Techniques applied after a model is trained to improve efficiency, performance, or suitability for deployment without retraining from scratch.
- Data foundation: The underlying data infrastructure and quality practices that enable reliable analytics and AI, including pipelines, storage, and governance.
- SaaS sprawl: The proliferation of single-purpose software subscriptions across an organization that can increase costs and integration complexity.
Reader FAQ
Did the survey find enterprises will spend more on AI in 2026?
Most of the 24 VCs surveyed predicted enterprises will increase AI budgets in 2026.
Which areas of AI are expected to receive more enterprise funding?
Investors named safeguards/oversight, data foundations, and post-training model optimization as likely focus areas.
Will this shift help or hurt AI startups?
Investors said startups with proprietary data or vertical specialization are more defensible; those offering undifferentiated products may see demand and funding decline.
Which vendors will win most enterprise AI spend?
Not confirmed in the source.
Enterprises have been piloting and testing different AI tools for the past few years to figure out what their adoption strategy will look like. Investors think that period of experimentation…
Sources
- VCs predict enterprises will spend more on AI in 2026 — through fewer vendors
- VCs predict strong enterprise AI adoption next year — again
- Can You Really Grow in 2026 if You Aren't Tapping into AI …
- These Are the Tech Trends to Watch in 2026, According …
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