For much of the past year, Wall Street and Silicon Valley have grappled with a critical uncertainty: would companies actually spend real money on AI, or was the enthusiasm just outpacing budgets? A new survey of CIOs from RBC Capital suggests the answer is finally clear—yes, companies are not only investing in AI, they’re doing so at scale. RBC polled 117 IT professionals at organizations with annual revenues ranging from under $250 million to over $25 billion. The findings reveal a decisive shift: 90% of respondents said their companies plan to increase AI spending in 2026. This marks a notable rise from 85% the previous year and signals growing confidence in AI’s long-term value. “Overall, we came away increasingly optimistic of macro/budget stabilization taking shape in 2026 and encouraged by the pace of early GenAI adoption,” RBC analysts wrote in a research note summarizing the results. CIOs are no longer just testing AI in labs—they’re moving into production. A striking 60% of survey participants said they are already running AI initiatives in production, up from 39% the year before. An additional 32% expect to be in production within the next six months, indicating a rapid acceleration in deployment. The data also shows that AI is no longer a one-off experiment. A growing number of organizations are setting up dedicated budgets specifically for generative AI and large language model (LLM) projects, reinforcing the idea that AI is becoming an additive force in enterprise technology spending, not a replacement for existing investments. AI has also emerged as the top area for increased software spending, surpassing both cybersecurity and IT service management. In open-ended responses, executives consistently identified AI as their primary investment focus for 2026, often alongside infrastructure modernization and automation efforts. Use cases are evolving beyond proof-of-concept work. Seventy-six percent of CIOs now report that their AI strategies aim to deliver both cost savings and revenue growth—evidence that AI is transitioning from a novelty to a core competitive driver. While concerns around data privacy and security remain top of mind, they are no longer acting as roadblocks to adoption. Instead, AI is becoming the central catalyst for expanding IT budgets as companies prepare for the next phase of digital transformation. The survey results suggest that the era of AI experimentation is giving way to a new reality: AI is now a strategic priority, backed by real spending, real infrastructure, and real business outcomes.