Almost 3 in 4 tech chiefs give AI more than 10% of budget

West Monroe, a consultancy, published a report on Thursday. It surveyed 316 executives in the US who buy AI and enterprise software. Almost 3 in 4 tech chiefs give more than 10% of their technology budget to AI. About one quarter did that last year. Sellers and buyers do not agree on price models and on the use of AI agents.

What buyers do

Most tech leaders increase budgets to pay for the use. These are the other steps:

• Use one vendor more than before.
• Cut other spend.
• Cut software seats.

West Monroe says that CIOs can change contracts and monitor costs in the technology stack. This is necessary in a new layer of management in technology teams.

Where sides differ

Buyers prefer prices that they can foresee, such as enterprise subscriptions and prices by use. Sellers think that a hybrid price, with parts that follow results, is preferred. Buyers put weight on infrastructure, model use, platforms and talent. Sellers put more weight on AI agents.

What is not known

The source gives no budget numbers. It does not say how much of the spend gives a result.

Insight: The price fight is about who carries the risk

In a Gartner poll of 2,002 leaders, only 13% report large AI value. West Monroe finds that buyers want prices they can foresee, and sellers think of parts that follow results. This reads as a fight on who holds the risk of AI that does not pay. The contract terms select it. When you change a contract, a seller that offers result terms gets some of that risk.