A16Z: Enterprise AI Spending is Growing 75% a Year

The Hard Data: Enterprise AI spend is growing 75% year-over-year, with innovation budget allocation dropping from 25% to just 7% of total AI spend. One CIO reported: “what I spent in 2023 I now spend in a week.” 

The Money Shift: AI has officially graduated from pilot programs to permanent budget line items in core IT and business units. This represents a fundamental shift from experimental dollars to recurring revenue opportunity. 

The B2B Reality: You’re no longer selling to innovation teams with small budgets—you’re competing for the same enterprise IT dollars as traditional software, which means enterprise sales cycles, security requirements, and procurement rigor are now table stakes.