86% of IT leaders deploying AI systems, data quality now top barrier

What happened

Piper Sandler's first-half 2026 CIO Pulse Survey found that 86% of IT decision-makers are now deploying copilots, agentic AI, or fully autonomous systems. IT budgets are projected to grow 4.8% in 2026, with Security remaining the top spending priority at 73% of respondents, followed by Application Software at 61%.

Why it matters

Enterprise AI adoption has moved well past the planning stage. Concerns around data quality and accuracy have now surpassed security and governance as the primary barrier to GenAI adoption, suggesting companies are getting serious about implementation rather than just experimentation. Additionally, 63% of respondents expect AI to weigh on headcount, up from 45% in the previous survey.

What to watch

Cloud infrastructure spending remains healthy, with 94% of respondents planning to increase spending on AI infrastructure. Azure and AWS maintained leadership positions ahead of Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Analyst James Fish flagged Amazon, Arista Networks, Datadog, Dell, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, and Rubrik as notable stocks based on survey trends.