CFOs boost tech, sales & AI as headcount growth slows

Chief financial officers are shifting 2026 budgets toward sales, marketing and technology, while pulling back on headcount growth and compensation increases, according to new research from Gartner.

The findings suggest a change in corporate investment priorities after several years of staffing and pay expansion. Technology and artificial intelligence are taking a larger share of finance-led spending plans, while hiring expectations are softening across many organisations.

Sales and IT are the functions most likely to receive higher budgets. More than half of CFOs expect spending increases in both areas, and 28% anticipate double-digit growth in sales and IT allocations. Marketing is close behind, reflecting a push for commercial activity and demand generation.

Nauman Abbasi, a vice president analyst in Gartner's finance practice, said higher sales and marketing budgets reflect growth priorities, while IT increases point to cost and operational pressures as well as new programmes. "Sales and IT are expected to see the largest budget increases in 2026, with over half of CFOs planning higher spending, and 28% anticipating double-digit growth in both areas, with marketing close behind," Abbasi said. "The emphasis on sales and marketing reflects their role as growth drivers, while IT budget increases reflect structural needs like rising SaaS costs, digital process expansion and AI-related expenses."

HR pullback

Human resources faces the sharpest retrenchment in the survey. Only 29% of CFOs plan to increase HR budgets, while 22% expect cuts. Gartner expects average HR budget growth to slow from 2.4% in 2025 to 0.7% in 2026, citing reduced hiring and AI-related efficiency gains.

The budget shifts also reflect weaker expectations for workforce expansion. After several years in which compensation and headcount growth drove rising cost bases, finance leaders now expect slower growth in both, the data shows.

Tech over headcount

Technology budgets are expected to rise for 75% of CFOs, with 48% planning increases of 10% or more. Digital transformation, AI adoption and cybersecurity are among the areas where costs are expected to climb.

Average technology budget growth across industries is about 10%, with wide variation by sector. Gartner puts it at roughly 15% in financial services and 6% in manufacturing, reflecting differences in regulatory pressure, threat exposure and the pace of modernisation.

Abbasi said technology remains the most consistent area of budget growth across sectors. "Across industries, technology consistently emerges as the area with the highest budget increase, underscoring its role as the backbone of digital transformation and operational resilience," he said.

Pay and hiring slow

Salary growth is moderating after a period of elevated increases. Gartner said pay rises have slowed for three consecutive cycles, falling from 6.1% in 2024 to 5.4% in 2025. Pay increases are projected at 4.5% in 2026.

The sharper change is in headcount plans. Gartner's survey shows expected headcount growth falling from 6% in 2025 to 2% in 2026. The share of CFOs planning staff increases of 4% to 9% fell to 21%, from 31% a year earlier.

Abbasi described the shift as structural rather than cyclical, with productivity programmes playing a bigger role in budget planning. "The real story, however, lies in collapsing headcount growth expectations, from 6% in 2025 to just 2% in 2026, with just 21% of CFOs planning staff increases of 4% to 9%, down from 31% last year," he said. "This marks a structural pivot from labor expansion to optimization driven by automation and AI that deliver productivity gains without proportional increases in headcount."

Finance AI scales

Investment in AI within finance functions is also set to rise. Nearly 60% of CFOs plan to increase finance-function AI investment by 10% or more in 2026, and another 24% expect increases of 4% to 9%.

Efficiency is the dominant driver. Some 88% of CFOs ranked finance staff productivity among their top three priorities, reflecting pressure to shorten reporting cycles, automate routine work and control costs.

AI spending remains relatively small as a share of overall finance technology budgets. Almost half of respondents, 47%, allocate 1% to 5% of finance technology spend to AI, suggesting many deployments remain constrained rather than full system replacements.

Even so, Gartner said finance teams are moving from experimentation to broader rollouts as organisations report early results in areas such as automation and forecasting. A broader shift in enterprise software procurement may also affect spending, as AI features increasingly appear in standard product roadmaps and as add-on charges within existing contracts.

The CFO agenda outlined in the survey will be a central theme at Gartner's Finance Symposium/Xpo events this year in Sydney, National Harbor and London. Sessions will cover AI value measurement, operating model design and decision-making under volatility.

"CFOs recognize that AI is no longer just an experiment-it's fast becoming a core enterprise capability," Abbasi said.