Corporate AI spending is set to rise by 406% by 2026 compared to last year (analysis)
Magda Purice
Posted On September 28, 2026
Business customer spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI) products has surged by 406% this year compared to 2025, according to a recently published specialist analysis.
Data compiled by Revolut Business reveals that companies spent more than ten times as much on AI compared to individual consumers ($416 versus $42 per user), with investments concentrated in established productivity platforms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cursor.
Against this backdrop, micro-enterprises are leading AI adoption—accounting for 77.9% of users and 59.7% of total spending—by leveraging the technology to boost team productivity and expand operations faster than mid-sized companies, without increasing their headcount at the same pace.
In Romania, the mid-market segment recorded the highest growth in spending on this new technology—up 440.2% year-on-year—while spending by large enterprises (Enterprise) rose by 254.8%, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs) by 246.5%, and micro-enterprises by 224.4%.
User retention rates point to market consolidation, as follows: OpenAI (89.9%), Anthropic (89.7%), and Cursor (85.4%). Additionally, 31.9% of business users of smaller platforms migrated to competing solutions, while only 10.1% completely abandoned the monitored AI tools.
According to the cited source, regarding AI investments, in July 2026, companies with 1 to 10 employees spent an average of $236 on smart tools, compared to $2,031 for medium-sized companies (51–200 employees).
Overall, companies in consulting, IT, and business services account for 66.4% of total business spending on AI, even though they represent only 25.8% of the companies active on the banking platform.
The Revolut Business AI Data analysis is based on anonymized and aggregated transaction data from over 850,000 Revolut business accounts globally, covering the period from January 2023 to August 2026.
The research covers both mainstream Artificial Intelligence applications and related infrastructure—such as GPU-based cloud services and AI model delivery platforms—monitored since January 2024.
