Venture capitalists anticipate that enterprises will increase their spending on artificial intelligence in 2026, but will concentrate those investments with fewer vendors. A recent TechCrunch survey of 24 enterprise-focused VCs revealed that a majority predict increased AI budgets for enterprises in 2026, with spending focused on a smaller number of contracts.

The shift indicates a move away from the experimental phase of AI adoption, where companies tested multiple tools for various use cases. Andrew Ferguson, a vice president at Databricks Ventures, believes 2026 will mark a period of investment consolidation as enterprises select preferred AI technologies. "Today, enterprises are testing multiple tools for a single-use case, and there's an explosion of startups focused on certain buying centers like go-to-market, where it's extremely hard to discern differentiation even during proof of concepts," Ferguson said.

The current landscape involves numerous startups targeting specific business functions, such as go-to-market strategies, making it difficult for enterprises to differentiate between offerings during initial testing. As enterprises gather tangible evidence of AI's impact, they are expected to reduce experimentation budgets, streamline overlapping tools, and allocate resources to AI technologies that have demonstrated value.

Rob Biederman, a managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners, echoed this sentiment. The anticipated consolidation reflects a maturing market, where enterprises prioritize proven solutions over broad experimentation. The increase in AI spending signals a growing confidence in the technology's ability to deliver tangible results for businesses. The shift towards fewer vendors suggests that enterprises are looking for comprehensive platforms and established providers that can address multiple needs, rather than relying on a collection of point solutions.