Survey of 1,510 technology decision-makers reveals 84% distrust their data whilst 90% question ROI on investments, undermining billion-dollar budget decisions, according to Apptio research.
What’s happening: Distrust in data affects 84% of technology decision-makers whilst persistent data silos impact 80%, making it harder to justify spending, according to Apptio’s 2026 Technology Investment Management Report.
Why this matters: When nearly every leader questions ROI, investment decisions stall. Data gaps slow decisions and erode trust at a time when technology spend continues to rise for cybersecurity, AI, and cloud.
The era of cost control alone is over. Today, boards and CFOs expect technology leaders to prove that every dollar drives measurable business value. Yet confidence in tech investment decisions is fading as data distrust climbs, with 84% of leaders saying it impacts decisions.
With 74% of organisations increasing IT budgets in 2026, and a quarter reporting significant jumps, leaders face mounting pressure to prove results. But disconnected systems and unclear metrics compound the confidence problem, according to Apptio’s 2026 Technology Investment Management Report surveying 1,510 qualified respondents.
The survey comprised decision-makers and influencers at the director level and above across IT financial management and FinOps functions, representing organisations with annual revenue of $500 million or greater across finance and banking, healthcare, IT, insurance, manufacturing, professional services, and retail industries in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Data distrust climbs
Distrust in data affects 84% of respondents whilst persistent data silos impact 80%, making it harder to find the insights necessary to justify spend. Alignment to organisational objectives affects 82% of respondents, lack of transparency impacts 72%, and unclear priorities affect 66%.
Data gaps slow decisions and erode trust. Leaders need integrated, accurate data that’s normalised and contextualised for stakeholders, enabling faster decisions, stronger collaboration, and resilience in uncertain markets.
Nearly three in five IT financial management professionals believe their forecasts are highly accurate, within 5% variance. However, only 35% use purpose-built ITFM tools, and more than half still rely on ERP systems or spreadsheets to manage IT budget and spend.
Meanwhile, widespread distrust in data suggests that confidence may not translate across all processes. This gap highlights a bigger issue: confidence without capability is risky. Manual or generic tools introduce delays and potential inaccuracies, limiting scalability and making it harder to achieve the transparency and agility leaders expect.
ROI uncertainty stalls decisions
Confidence in tech investment decisions is fading as ROI uncertainty climbs, with 90% of leaders saying it impacts decisions, up from 85% last year. When nearly every leader questions ROI, investment decisions stall. This trend signals growing pressure for credible value metrics.
Without dedicated ITFM tools to unify disparate data sources, organisations struggle to achieve cost transparency, align spend with business priorities, and forecast accurately. These gaps slow decisions and impact trust, undermining the financial intelligence needed to prove technology value.
Resource constraints affect 67% of respondents, conflicting objectives among stakeholders impact 63%, and lack of automation affects 70%. Communication gaps and misaligned expectations also feature prominently in the survey results.
Manual tools create risk
FinOps leaders express confidence in their capabilities, with more than 70% rating their maturity as established or higher. But with only 14% achieving full chargeback for cloud costs and 90% relying on some form of manual processes for resource optimisation, many still lack the foundational mechanisms needed to drive true cost accountability at scale.
Nearly all FinOps teams manage AI costs, yet only 13% optimise them, introducing variability and risk. Kubernetes adds another layer of opacity, with 89% of respondents lacking active cost management, creating financial accountability challenges as environments scale.
Nearly half of respondents report low confidence in forecasting. Cost visibility and forecast accuracy top the list of priorities, proving essential as AI and containerisation drive higher spend and expand FinOps responsibilities.
AI spending accelerates
Cybersecurity and AI top 2026 priorities at 94% and 91% respectively, creating a dual mandate: innovate boldly whilst safeguarding systems and data. But these priorities are also among the most cost-sensitive investments, with nearly two-thirds keeping a close eye on cybersecurity costs, whilst half worry about cloud services and 43% track AI spending.
AI remains a top innovation priority, but funding comes with trade-offs. Most organisations are reallocating internal capital at 67%, up from 50% in 2025, reinvesting savings from AI-driven efficiencies at 45%, or establishing dedicated innovation funds at 43%.
Emerging technologies promise growth, but they also introduce vulnerabilities like governance challenges and cost volatility. Technology spend continues to rise, especially for cybersecurity, AI, and cloud, yet heightened cost sensitivity signals intensifying scrutiny.
The report recommends that leaders strengthen foundations by implementing Technology Business Management and dedicated ITFM and FinOps tools to replace manual processes. Organisations should also modernise planning by shifting from rigid annual cycles to dynamic, iterative planning for agility, leverage AI strategically by treating it as a strategic enabler whilst preparing for cost variability, and deliver trusted insights by connecting spend to business outcomes with unified, transparent data.
The survey was conducted online in September 2025.
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