2026 State of TBM
The AI Economics Advantage
AI investment is accelerating.
Economic visibility isn’t keeping pace.
Organizations are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, but most lack the financial visibility needed to understand its true costs, manage consumption, and demonstrate business value.
The 2026 State of TBM, conducted by the TBM Council in partnership with ISG Research, reveals a divide between organizations struggling to understand AI economics and leading Technology Business Management (TBM) practices with the capabilities to manage them.
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Most organizations cannot accurately measure what AI costs
accurately model the full cost of AI
attribute AI consumption to solutions and consumers
regularly use AI unit economics
AI introduces new complexity through variable consumption, shared infrastructure, data, software, and specialized talent. Without a complete economic picture, organizations struggle to forecast demand, evaluate investments, and decide where to scale.
The challenge is not simply tracking AI spending. It is understanding the economics of AI investments and connecting them to business value.
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Leading TBM practices have an advantage
The capabilities needed to manage AI economics already exist. Organizations with moderate or high maturity in the TBM Solutions layer are 12 times more likely to accurately model AI costs than those with low or no maturity (35% versus 3%).
more likely to report mature foundational use cases
of leading practices use TBM in weekly planning
more likely to report effective change management
Leading practices combine strong fundamentals, complete models, continuous value management, and investment in people and change. Together, these capabilities move TBM beyond cost reporting and into technology investment decisions.
The next frontier of technology economics
Only 15–28% of TBM practices deliver advanced use cases such as unit economics, AI/Data Solution TCO, capacity planning, demand shaping, and scenario modeling.
These are the capabilities organizations need to move from understanding AI costs to actively managing AI investment decisions. The 2026 State of TBM explores what leading practices do differently—and the steps others can take to close the gap.
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2026 State of TBM Report
Developed by the TBM Council in partnership with ISG Research, the 2026 State of TBM examines technology economics, AI cost management, TBM maturity, and the practices that distinguish leading organizations.
Understand the divide. Discover what leaders do differently.
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