AI’s hidden price tag: Why executives are losing sight of what their models really cost
For many chief information officers, the AI budget conversation has taken an uncomfortable turn. The technology is working, adoption is spreading and boards are asking for more. Yet the invoices keep arriving higher than anyone predicted, and few in the C-suite can say precisely why.
A new snapshot report from the Capgemini Research Institute, published on 12 November 2026, puts numbers on that unease. Based on a September 2026 survey of 500 CXO-level executives at large organisations, it finds that 53% now count AI costs as a concern. More striking is the gap between plan and reality: 59% of respondents say their organisation’s AI-related expenditure over the past 12 months was significantly higher than expected or budgeted.
The scale of the overspend
Among those organisations that overshot, spending ran 24% above expectations or budget on average. Around one in five of them (21%) exceeded their AI budget by more than...
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