NEW DELHI— Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $5.43 trillion in 2025, marking a 7.9 percent increase over 2024, according to a new report released Thursday by global research and advisory firm Gartner.
Despite ongoing geopolitical instability and growing caution among enterprises, the report highlights that investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure—particularly for generative AI (GenAI)—are driving sustained growth in the IT sector.
“While there is a business pause on net-new spending due to a spike in global uncertainty, the effect is subsumed by ongoing AI and GenAI digitization initiatives,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.
Spending growth in software and IT services is expected to slow slightly as companies adopt a more conservative stance. However, capital expenditures on AI-related infrastructure—especially data center systems—remain robust. Lovelock noted that spending on AI-optimized servers, which was virtually nonexistent in 2021, is expected to triple the spending on traditional servers by 2027.
These findings are consistent with a Gartner survey conducted between March and May 2025, which polled 252 senior executives from companies in North America and Western Europe with revenues exceeding $500 million. In that survey, 62 percent of respondents said AI would define competitive advantage over the next decade.
The report noted that many companies are investing in technology as a strategic response to maintain competitiveness in a challenging macroeconomic environment. Lovelock added that as GenAI moves closer to the “trough of disillusionment”—a phase in Gartner’s Hype Cycle where expectations are tempered—more enterprises are shifting their focus toward practical functionality offered by established software providers.
Since the beginning of the second quarter of 2025, organizations have enacted what Gartner describes as an “uncertainty pause”—a deliberate slowdown in launching new initiatives, particularly across IT departments. This reflects growing concern over geopolitical risks, supply chain instability, and economic volatility.
Although 61 percent of enterprises began 2025 in a stronger position than the previous year, only 24 percent now expect to exceed their performance targets by year-end, the report said. (Source: IANS)
