5 things stood out:

1. AI drives the incremental budget, and cloud is riding with it

Gen AI and agentic AI took the top two spots on the priority spend stack for the first time.

Together, they captured 53% of all #1 priority rankings.

Cloud infrastructure is right behind them. Data warehouses and security round out the top five.

AI didn't push cloud out. Cloud and AI are growing together, and this is another data point confirming it.

2. The money is not all new

Only 21% rely on pure net-new AI budget. 78% fund AI at least partly by reallocating existing budgets, and 20% pull it straight from software and SaaS lines.

That pressures software, which now has to defend its seat. Products need clear ROI, easier procurement, and constant innovation.

It also makes cloud marketplaces more strategic, because vendors can attach to cloud budgets. In many accounts, marketplaces are the shortest path to money that's pre-approved.

3. Agentic AI crossed into the mainstream — but ROI is already on the board's agenda

43% run agentic AI in production today, and 87% expect to within 12 months.

62% already report AI ROI to the board. Yet only 53% can point to clear ROI anywhere, and 94% have no consistent way to measure it.

Most measurement still focuses on cost savings (76%) and employee productivity (73%). Only 38% measure revenue attribution.

AI is still mostly an efficiency story, not yet a growth one.

4. Flexibility is becoming a buying requirement

The share of 25+ month contracts dropped from 64% historically to 29% today.

Most current contracts now sit at 13-24 months, and 6-12 month contracts have tripled.

Buyers want room to change products, models, usage patterns, and vendors. Multi-year lock-in is getting harder to sell.

5. AI/model distribution is being decided inside harnesses and workflow tools

"The model race is being decided through the coding tools, not beside them - pick the tool, and you've largely picked the model."

Agent distribution is flowing through embedded surfaces: Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, Amazon Q.

One thing I am watching: whether these harnesses become the new operating systems.

What this means for Cloud GTM leaders:​

• Fighting for budget is real. Attaching to committed cloud spend and co-sell can unlock budget for many SaaS and AI companies.

• Build for flexibility. Shorter contracts and multi-model buying reward products that are easy to adopt, and prove quickly.

What's evolving in your ecosystem across buying behavior and distribution channels?