Amazon Cloud Budgets to Grow 10.1% as 56% of CIOs Plan AWS Spend Rise and Amazon Ads Adds Audio Inventory
AMZN•A survey of 40 CIOs shows 56% plan to raise AWS spending in 2026, with cloud budgets forecast to grow 10.1% and 68% maintaining dedicated AI allocations. Amazon Ads has made iHeartMedia a reseller of audio and video inventory across Prime Video, Twitch, Music and Fire TV, linking DSP and first-party shopper data to boost campaign effectiveness by up to 23%.
1. AWS Spending Survey
Jefferies surveyed 40 IT executives and found 56% expect to spend more on AWS in 2026. Cloud budgets are projected to rise 10.1%, software spending growth is forecast at 6.2%, cybersecurity at 6.2%, and 68% of CIOs now have dedicated AI budgets, underscoring continued enterprise adoption.
2. iHeartMedia Expands Amazon Ads Partnership
iHeartMedia has become a local reseller of Amazon Ads’ audio and video inventory, encompassing Prime Video, Twitch, Amazon Music, Fire TV and Alexa. Advertisers can now manage campaigns across premium audio, streaming and video from a single DSP hub, leveraging first-party shopper data to improve audience targeting and lift campaign effectiveness by as much as 23%.
3. GPT-5.6 Preview via Amazon Bedrock
OpenAI is rolling out a preview of its GPT-5.6 model series to 20 government-approved partners exclusively through Amazon Bedrock. This staggered release under regulatory pressure is poised to drive enterprise adoption of Bedrock for advanced AI workloads in coding, biology and cybersecurity.
4. AWS Consulting Partner Award in Brazil
AI/R Compass UOL was named AWS Consulting Partner of the Year for Brazil 2026, marking its fifth AWS Partner Network award in four years. The firm operates as an AWS Premier Partner with over 1,900 AWS-certified professionals and 12 competency badges, highlighting strong demand for data engineering and complex infrastructure services.
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