Opportunities and risks of AI
Perhaps the most important change in this year’s report is the rise in AI-driven workloads, especially the adoption of generative AI. The data is clear: 45% of organizations now use genAI extensively, up from 36% a year earlier. Companies see significant opportunities for innovation and gaining a competitive edge through AI. At the same time, they realize that AI workloads are flexible, can incur unpredictable costs, and are often billed under new consumption-based pricing models that can quickly escalate without strong governance.
While there’s excitement about AI’s potential, there’s also a rapidly growing consensus that strong governance and cost controls must be put in place before spending spirals far beyond projections. We’re starting to see organizations appoint dedicated AI governance leaders who can ensure that innovation is safe, scalable, and firmly tied to business value and operational accountability (unlike the early, chaotic days of cloud).
SaaS spending, too, has exploded, with the most common monthly range among respondents jumping to $200,000 to $500,000. This is a sharp increase from the $50,000 to $100,000-tier that dominated last year, driven largely by the proliferation of AI-powered features and complex, usage-based pricing models. The conclusion: Cloud bills won’t shrink anytime soon, but organizations are determined not to repeat past mistakes. The focus now is on ensuring every dollar has a tangible return.
