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 budget increases for AI in 2026 will be targeted, with enterprises allocating more funds to fewer contracts.

This shift follows a period of experimentation where enterprises have been piloting various AI tools to determine their adoption strategies. Investors believe this phase is nearing its end. Andrew Ferguson, a vice president at Databricks Ventures, stated that 2026 will likely be the year enterprises consolidate their investments and select preferred AI solutions.

Ferguson explained that currently, enterprises often test multiple tools for a single use case, particularly in areas like go-to-market strategies. He noted the difficulty in discerning differentiation between the numerous startups focused on these buying centers, even during proof-of-concept stages.

The anticipated consolidation is expected to occur as enterprises gain tangible results from AI deployments. According to Ferguson, this will lead to a reduction in experimentation budgets, rationalization of overlapping tools, and reinvestment of savings into AI technologies that have demonstrated success.

Rob Biederman, a managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners, echoed this sentiment. The expectation is that enterprises will move away from broad experimentation and toward focused deployment of proven AI solutions, leading to increased spending with a smaller number of vendors.