Continued demand for Artificial Intelligence services is expected to put stepped-up pressure on company budgets between now and 2028, a comprehensive new study issued by the financial services firm Deloitte is reporting.
Half of the respondents in the Deloitte study said they currently have upwards of 30 individual AI pilot projects in the works that include everything from closed and open to derivative models.
Roughly 64% of those same respondents said they have “already started limited or at-scale deployments of AI factories,” says the study, adding: “By 2028, 88% of respondents expect the same.”
More marginal commitments are seen in the 36% of respondents who have “scaled AI at the edge,” says the report, noting that “cloud-managed edge, which relies on cloud orchestration with computing resources” remains the “common hardware strategy.”
These figures, suggests the Deloitte study, “may mean that many leaders want edge benefits without building an entirely separate operating model.”
The study reflects an undeniable business embrace of AI that has become apparent in the last few years, reports CIO Drive. “Demand for AI infrastructure is universal—the neo cloud market is set to reach $400 billion in revenues by 2031,” said the publication.
One respondent in the Deloitte survey said providing their own infrastructure is perhaps the only way that many businesses can endure in the exploding AI environment.
That the embrace of AI is a relatively recent phenomenon is seen in two sets of figures compiled by the Deloitte study. One shows that whereas 4% of companies last year were planning to adapt some AI technologies, that figure is anticipated to reach 17% in 2028.
At the same time, the 36% of companies in 2025 anticipating full scale AI deployment is forecast to hit 73% in the next three years.
Yet, for all this upward motion, notes the Deloitte report, some 51% of respondents said that “economic uncertainty could be the leading factor” limiting increased AI investment. Other companies said they are equally burdened with organizational business challenges, regulatory pressures, and staff talent and skill gaps.
April 14, 2026
By Garry Boulard
