KPMG: 29% of senior business leaders struggle to understand and control AI costs

What happened

KPMG’s Global AI Pulse survey for the second quarter of 2026 reported that roughly one‑third of senior business leaders cannot understand or control the expenses of running their AI systems, and companies that cut staff and shifted budgets to cheaper AI now face surprise charges.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Uncontrolled AI spending can shrink profit margins and drain cash reserves, forcing firms to reallocate capital, delay projects, and potentially lower growth expectations, which directly impacts investor returns.

Confirmed

Businesses are rapidly adding artificial‑intelligence tools, which increases spending on cloud compute and model training. Many firms lack clear methods to track the ongoing operating costs of these AI systems.

Confirmed

What to watch

1. Whether firms will adopt dedicated AI‑cost monitoring tools or dashboards to gain visibility into spend and avoid unexpected bills, which could become a new budgeting priority. Analyst inference
2. How companies may revise their AI project approval processes, adding stricter cost‑approval steps to ensure cash‑flow stability and prevent overspending on cloud resources. Analyst inference
3. The likelihood that organizations will reconsider recent layoffs or re‑hire technical staff to better manage AI deployments and keep cost control under direct supervision. Analyst inference

Evidence

• cryptopolitan.com