AI can cost more than human workers now
TL;DR
IT budgets are blowing up as some companies spend more on AI than on employee salaries. Nvidia's Bryan Catanzaro says compute costs already exceed the people costs of his team, and Uber's CTO has already burned through his full 2026 AI budget. Gartner projects worldwide IT spending of $6.31 trillion in 2026, up 13.5% from 2025, driven by sustained momentum across AI infrastructure, software and cloud services.
Nauti's Take
Compute instead of headcount is a real opportunity for AI-native teams — Swan AI is scaling an autonomous business without the classic people stack, something unthinkable two years ago. The catch sits in the unit economics: token costs do not scale linearly with revenue, and going into 2026 budgets without FinOps discipline builds hidden debt.
Startups with clean cost tracking will benefit; legacy IT departments urgently need AI spend controls.
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