Purchasing AI technologies is slower and more expensive than most organizations anticipated, and many are struggling to keep up, according to Levelpath’s 2026 Are You Ready to Buy AI? procurement benchmark survey.
“The data reflects a procurement system that wasn't necessarily designed for the speed and complexity of AI buying, and organizations that don't adapt will lack control," says Stan Garber, co-founder and president at Levelpath. “The organizations that will be most successful in this transition will move faster, negotiate better, and build vendor relationships that actually support long-term AI strategy.”
Key takeaways:
· More than half of respondents (57%) have already faced a spend-related issue with an AI vendor, and only 16% say they are very or extremely confident in their ability to control AI costs.
- 35% say AI bills have been higher than budgeted.
- 27% say users have had to stop work because they've hit usage caps.
- 26% of organizations have pulled budget from elsewhere to cover higher AI costs.
- 9% of organizations have terminated an AI vendor due to price increases.
- While 36% have shortened contract terms and 39% have added data portability clauses, fewer than one in five (16%) have pushed for cost caps.
- For standard software purchases of $10,000 or more, the most common purchase timeframe (reported by 21% of respondents) is 7-10 weeks. By contrast, for AI, the most common purchase cycle (25% of respondents) is 16–20 weeks.
- For standard software purchases, 43% of buyers involve seven or more people. For AI, that climbs to 58%, and 28% involve 11 or more.
- 58% of buyers cite security reviews as a top cause of delay.
- 57% say vendor evaluations delay or derail purchases.
- 52% cite contract negotiations as a cause of delay.
- Only slightly more than half of organizations (54%) proactively update vendors during a delay.
- Only 15% say they would never allow an AI agent to complete a purchase, and another 10% cite legal or regulatory constraints. Roughly 40% are already open to some level of AI autonomy today:
- 20% of buyers would allow an AI agent to execute transactions under $10,000 with appropriate controls in place.
- 14% of buyers would allow an AI agent to execute purchases under $1,000.
- 6% of buyers would allow an AI agent to make any purchase within pre-approved budget parameters.
