New research highlights AI spending budget impacts, procurement gaps and the five areas every enterprise sourcing team should prioritize heading into the new year

NPI, the leading provider of data-driven IT procurement intelligence and advisory solutions, and Arcana Research, an independent peer-based research firm for enterprise AI decision makers, today announced the release of The State of Enterprise AI: 2027 Planning Edition. The study examines current enterprise AI spending, adoption, vendor performance and procurement practices. It also provides guidance to help sourcing, IT and finance teams make more informed purchasing decisions, strengthen procurement strategies and maximize the value of AI investments in 2027.

Based on responses from IT, finance and sourcing leaders at Global 2000 enterprises, the research finds that while AI has become an increasingly material IT spending category, the practices used to buy, govern and optimize that spend have not kept pace.

Key findings in the report include:

• AI's estimated median share of IT spend ranges from 2.5% to 10%, reaching as high as 14% to 20% among enterprises with $2 to $10 billion in revenue. This spend is already distorting IT budgets, yet often still hides in other line items inside the largest companies.
• All 23 vendors evaluated score higher on execution than value, highlighting an opportunity for enterprises to challenge AI pricing and negotiate stronger terms. Even buyers seeing results still feel they are overpaying.
• The categories most represented in the AI displacement watchlist are workflow, CRM and ERP.
• Among respondents naming a vendor, 81% identified Anthropic as the AI vendor they are most excited about, while OpenAI leads current foundation-model use. Meanwhile, interest in agents is running well ahead of deployment. Reasoning models and agentic tooling lead the report’s Heat Index of pilots and plans, while RAG knowledge systems lead current deployment.
• Sourcing is late to the table, with 47% of companies bringing sourcing into AI purchases only after the technical shortlist, while 13% wait until contracting or renewal. Meanwhile, 66% cannot see model and API consumption, the largest reported AI spending blind spot.

“What stands out is that AI budgets are growing rapidly, while vendor relationships are still taking shape,” said Ian Kar, Managing Partner, Arcana Research. “With AI labs regularly releasing upgraded models, and open-source alternatives gaining ground, we expect enterprises to regularly reassess where AI spend is going. Controls and governance are also lagging adoption, leaving gaps in spending and usage visibility. Closing those gaps will be a priority in 2027 and beyond."

Five AI Sourcing Priorities for 2027

The report recommends five moves for procurement teams to meet the AI spend challenges for the coming year, including:

1. Getting sourcing involved before the technical shortlist.
2. Building a consumption tracker covering model, API, token and GPU usage.
3. Negotiating against the gap between vendor execution and value.
4. Using AI displacement pressure as leverage in renewals.
5. Establishing pricing, usage, portability and exit protections for agent contracts during pilots rather than production (and include an exit that survives pricing-model changes).

“AI has quickly become a major, defining enterprise IT cost category, but the processes for buying and managing it haven't matured at the same pace,” said Jon Winsett, CEO of NPI. “For today’s sourcing teams, 2027 needs to be the year procurement catches up with AI adoption. Getting involved sooner, understanding and benchmarking consumption and pricing, and how they can shift will be critical for turning AI investments into actual, sustainable value.”

NPI and Arcana Research will explore the report’s findings and implications for enterprise AI sourcing in a webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Attendees will learn how to apply the research to strengthen vendor negotiations, improve consumption visibility and make smarter AI purchasing decisions in 2027. Register for the webinar.

Download The State of Enterprise AI: 2027 Planning Edition report here.

About Arcana Research

Arcana Research, the de-facto enterprise AI peer network for benchmarks, fact-based data on spend, adoption and vendor performance, all delivered with no spin or bias. Learn more at arcana-research.com.

About NPI

NPI is the premier provider of data, services and tools to help large enterprises identify and eliminate overspending on IT purchases. NPI delivers transaction-level price benchmark analysis, license and service optimization analysis, and vendor-specific negotiation intel that enables IT buying teams to drive material savings and measurable ROI. NPI analyzes billions of dollars in spend each year for clients spanning all industries that invest heavily in technology. NPI also offers software audit, audit defense, and asset management services. For more information, visit www.npifinancial.com and follow on LinkedIn.

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Based on responses from IT, finance and sourcing leaders at Global 2000 enterprises, the research finds that while AI has become an increasingly material IT spending category, the practices used to buy, govern and optimize that spend have not kept pace.