Even With Careful Investment, AI Is Set To Boost IT Costs
CIO Dive, Thursday, September 3rd, 2026
Bain projects AI could raise a large enterprise's annual IT costs by 75% by 2035.
A Bain & Co. analysis concludes AI adoption will substantially inflate enterprise IT budgets over the coming decade.
It models a typical $10 billion consumer packaged goods company seeing annual IT costs climb roughly 75% by 2035, driven by infrastructure, security and talent.
Bain recommends treating AI projects as investment decisions with explicit returns, and improving visibility into technology spending to keep costs controllable.
The firm frames the balance carefully: underinvesting risks competitive disadvantage while overspending erodes IT's credibility with the business.