Jefferies survey found 56% of CIOs plan to increase AWS spending in 2026, with cloud budgets rising 10.1% and 68% of CIOs allocating dedicated AI funding. Amazon’s Bedrock will host OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 preview for 20 government-approved partners, expanding its AI service offerings.
A Jefferies survey of 40 IT executives indicates that 56% plan to increase AWS spending in 2026, contributing to an overall cloud budget growth forecast of 10.1%. Software allocations are predicted to rise 6.2% and cybersecurity budgets by 6.2%, underlining enterprises’ prioritization of cloud infrastructure.
Dedicated AI funding has become prevalent, with 68% of surveyed CIOs allocating specific AI budgets and none planning cuts. AWS stands to capture this investment through its comprehensive AI and machine learning offerings, reinforcing the cloud platform’s strategic importance in enterprise AI deployments.
Amazon’s Bedrock platform will serve as the initial host for OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 series, offering a limited preview to 20 government-approved partners. This launch enhances AWS’s AI service portfolio and could drive enterprise adoption of high-end AI models on the cloud.
