AI computing power catalyzes the accelerated growth of cloud infrastructure against the trend! Jefferies CIO survey: Cloud spending is expected to increase by 10.1% this year, with Microsoft and Amazon "standing out".

Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s latest 2026 second-quarter CIO survey shows that global cloud computing spending is experiencing a new round of accelerated growth. Among the 40 U.S. Chief Information Officers surveyed, 95% of respondents expect cloud budgets to increase year-over-year in 2026, driving the annual growth rate of cloud spending from 9.6% in 2025 to 10.1%. This result reverses previous expectations of a slowdown in growth from earlier surveys, reflecting high confidence from enterprises in the demand for AI-driven cloud infrastructure. In the survey, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) and Amazon.com, Inc.'s (AMZN.US) AWS "stood out the most." Microsoft Corporation's Azure significantly expanded its lead among CIOs' preferred cloud providers, while AWS continued to increase its capital expenditure scale. The AI arms race between these two tech giants is reshaping the global cloud computing competitive landscape. Accelerated cloud spending: 95% of CIOs expect budget expansion Survey data shows that cloud spending will increase by 10.1% in 2026, higher than 9.6% in 2025. Among the respondents, 53% expect single-digit growth in cloud budgets, 43% expect double-digit growth, and only 3% expect a slight decrease in spending. This growth trend is consistent with industry-wide data. According to industry tracking data, global cloud infrastructure spending reached $128.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a 35% year-over-year increase, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of accelerated growth. Industry total revenue over the past twelve months is approximately $455 billion, expanding fifteen times over the past decade. On a broader level of IT spending, S&P Global, Inc. ratings predict a 9% increase in global IT spending in 2026, slightly slower than the strong 12% growth in 2025 but with AI infrastructure investment still a core driver. IDC predicts that global public cloud services spending in 2026 will exceed $1 trillion, with a year-over-year growth of over 21%. AI demand is the core engine driving the growth of cloud spending in this round. The survey shows that around 68% of CIOs have set up dedicated AI budgets, with about 11% of overall IT spending allocated to the AI field. 73% of respondents revealed that AI token and API usage costs have exceeded the original budget so far this year, with approximately 5% of enterprises having used up their annual AI budget. In terms of capital expenditure, investment in AI infrastructure has reached unprecedented levels. TrendForce's latest report shows that driven by strong AI demand, global capital expenditure for the nine major cloud service providers in 2026 is expected to reach $830 billion, with an annual growth rate increased from 61% to 79%. Workload acceleration to the cloud: 85% expect over half to be migrated by the end of 2027 The survey shows that the momentum of enterprise workloads migrating to the cloud is accelerating. 85% of respondents stated that by the end of 2027, over half of their workloads will be migrated to the cloud, higher than the 75% in previous surveys. Of more concern, 53% of respondents expect the proportion of cloud-based workloads to exceed 80% by 2027, compared to only 25% currently holding this view. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. analysts pointed out that the continuous migration of enterprise workloads to the cloud provides long-term and stable support for AI-related spending. This structural trend implies that the growth momentum of cloud computing giants derives not only from the increased demand for AI but also from the replacement of traditional IT infrastructure with cloud-based alternatives. Azure's substantial lead over AWS is rapidly expanding: the gap has surged from 7 percentage points to 27 percentage points The most significant finding in this survey is Microsoft Corporation's Azure's significantly expanded lead over AWS among CIOs. In terms of "preferred cloud provider," 55% of respondents listed Azure as their top choice, while AWS only accounted for 28%, resulting in a gap of 27 percentage points. This gap was only 7 percentage points (Azure 45% / AWS 38%) in the December 2025 survey. In terms of "spending allocation," the gap has also widened from 3 percentage points (Azure 40% / AWS 37%) in the previous survey to 17 percentage points (Azure 46% / AWS 29%). Future spending expectations also show a clear trend: 68% of respondents expect Azure spending to increase in the next 24 months, while only 45% expect AWS spending to increase, with only 25% expecting Google Cloud spending to increase. In terms of CIO spending net scores, Microsoft Corporation performed exceptionally well - 85% of CIOs expect to increase their spending on Microsoft Corporation in 2026, with no respondents planning to reduce it. AWS's net score is 44%. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. analysts stated in the report that while Azure's strong momentum indicators indicate its ample development potential, all three major hyperscale cloud service providers will benefit from the sustained gap between AI demand and supply. However, in terms of the global cloud infrastructure market share, AWS still leads with approximately 28% market share, followed closely by Microsoft Corporation with 21%, and Google Cloud with 14%. AWS's market share in the first quarter of 2026 decreased by 1 percentage point from the same period last year, while Microsoft Corporation and Alphabet Inc. Class C Cloud continue to catch up. The survey reveals that Google Cloud (GCP) is experiencing a significant slowdown in expansion in the enterprise market. GCP's net spending score for the 2026 fiscal year has dropped from 52% in December 2025 to 35%. It is worth noting that 35% of CIOs consider Alphabet Inc. Class C "not applicable" to their cloud service needs. However, Alphabet Inc. Class C's cloud continues to show impressive revenue growth. In the first quarter of 2026, Alphabet Inc. Class C's cloud revenue increased by 63% year-over-year to $20 billion, exceeding Wall Street's expectations by nearly $2 billion. However, this strong revenue growth has not translated into a higher willingness to adopt in the eyes of CIOs surveyed, indicating that Alphabet Inc. Class C's penetration in the enterprise market still faces structural barriers such as brand recognition and ecosystem.