56% of CIOs to Increase AWS Spending as Cloud Budgets Rise 10.1%

A survey of 40 IT executives found planned software budgets up 6.2% for 2026, cloud spending rising 10.1%, and cybersecurity at 6.2%, while 68% of CIOs now carry dedicated AI budgets. Microsoft led with 85% of CIOs expecting increased spend, and AWS drew positive responses from 56% of respondents.

Cloud spending projections reflect a jump from 4.8% growth in 2025 to 10.1% in 2026, driven by enterprise migrations to public clouds and growing demand for AI infrastructure. The increase underscores AWS’s role as a primary beneficiary of accelerated digital transformation and AI integration across sectors.

iHeartMedia will serve as a local reseller of Amazon Ads’ audio and video inventory, including Prime Video, Twitch, Amazon Music, Fire TV and Alexa. This integration allows advertisers to manage campaigns across premium audio, streaming and video from a single hub and leverage Amazon’s first-party shopper data for targeting.

OpenAI will roll out a preview of its GPT-5.6 series to 20 government-approved partners through Amazon’s Bedrock platform in the coming weeks. The phased release includes enhanced safeguards for higher-risk tasks such as cybersecurity and coding, strengthening Bedrock’s position in enterprise AI offerings.