- Native AI vendors see fastest growth, dominating enterprise software budgets
- OpenAI and Anthropic are the main beneficiaries of increased AI spending
- Traditional SaaS tools lose relevance as AI adoption accelerates
Business software spending is undergoing a structural shift as artificial intelligence moves beyond limited trials to core operational budgets, a new study has confirmed.
Over the past year, decision-making has shifted away from whether AI tools are worth funding for which suppliers should receive increasing allocations, reflecting a broader shift in procurement priorities, where AI is no longer treated as an add-on but as the core element determining software budgets.
Tropic’s analysis of more than $18 billion in managed spend reveals that overall software spending is rising sharply, with mid-sized and large enterprises increasing spending by nearly 58% year over year.
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AI moves from optional spending to dominant budget line
As part of this growth, AI-native categories are growing much faster than traditional software, indicating a clear reallocation of budgets rather than uniform expansion.
The redistribution of spending is concentrated among a small group of providers, with OpenAI and Anthropic becoming the main beneficiaries.
Anthropic saw growth of over 428%, while tools like Cursor saw increases over 600%, reflecting rapid adoption by engineering teams.
At the same time, OpenAI continues to generate substantial spending despite slower contract growth, reflecting a shift in which a limited number of vendors absorb an increasing share of budgets, strengthening their role in daily workflows and infrastructure.
The numbers indicate that AI tools are no longer experimental purchases as procurement teams receive repeated requests for the same platforms across departments.
As AI spending increases, traditional SaaS providers are experiencing slower growth and, in some cases, a decreasing share of overall budgets. As for small businesses, spending on primarily SaaS tools has already declined by about 8%, while native and hybrid AI tools continue to grow.
This divergence suggests that organizations are reducing their reliance on legacy systems that lack meaningful AI integration.
At the same time, vendors are introducing higher prices tied to AI capabilities, with increases ranging from 20% to 37%, well above historical norms, creating additional pressure on budgets as companies must justify higher costs while re-evaluating their existing software commitments.
The data shows a shift where AI is no longer just one category in software spending, but the driving factor that drives allocation decisions.
As overall budgets increase, the concentration of spending among a few AI vendors and the relative decline of traditional SaaS indicate a transition that could change how enterprise software markets operate.
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