85% of Financial Firms Plan AI Budget Increases

That’s the clearest signal from “The Enterprise AI Benchmark Report: Financial Services Pulls Ahead in the Enterprise AI Race,” a new PYMNTS Intelligence study based on a March survey of 60 senior technology executives at U.S. enterprises with at least $1 billion in annual revenue. The report finds that companies across financial services and insurance, healthcare, and media and advertising are putting more money behind AI. But the reasons differ by sector.

Financial firms are funding AI to improve productivity, sharpen competitive positioning and reduce risk. Healthcare firms are still using budgets to test what works. Media and advertising firms are moving quickly, often with strong executive backing, but with less reliance on hard financial returns.

The spending pattern suggests that AI is entering a more practical phase. Like a company moving from blueprints to construction, enterprises are beginning to decide which projects deserve real capital and which still need proof.

•  85% of financial services and insurance firms plan to increase AI budgets over the next 12 months. That puts the sector ahead of healthcare and media. The report also found that 65% of financial firms cite productivity and efficiency gains as a reason for AI investment, while another 65% cite strategic or competitive positioning.
•  80% of media and advertising firms expect to raise AI budgets. Their strongest justification is productivity, also cited by 65% of firms. But only 25% point to monetary ROI and financial metrics, the lowest share in the survey. That suggests many media firms are still building the financial case while moving ahead with leadership support.
•  60% of healthcare and medical firms plan to spend more on AI. Healthcare trails the other sectors in planned budget increases, but 60% cite pilot funding with no formal ROI requirement. That reflects an industry using AI to relieve operational pressure, especially where workforce strain and fragmented systems make quick fixes attractive.

The report also shows why budget growth alone will not decide the winners. Financial services firms have already scaled AI across more tasks than the other sectors, but 30% cite data quality and fragmentation as the top barrier to further deployment.

Healthcare firms face a double constraint, with 30% pointing to system integration and another 30% to data quality. Media and advertising firms face a broader mix of obstacles, including skills gaps, governance and leadership alignment.

Still, the outlook is constructive. Most executives do not expect AI to replace human judgment. Across sectors, 80% to 85% say AI will augment decision-making over the next five years. That points to a future where AI budgets fund better tools for people, not a handoff to machines.

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