strategy

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Might want to pal around with your IT folks at the watercooler: IT spending globally will reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, a 14% climb from 2025 and up $60 billion from the company’s April estimate.

The revision increased forecasts for data center systems spend, anticipating 62.5% growth in 2026, up from nearly 56% in the April forecast.

The focus on data center spending reflects “accelerating investment in AI infrastructure, cloud platforms, and intelligent applications,” John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, noted in a press release. “Driven by the expansion of AI workloads and demand for high-performance computing, hyperscalers and enterprises are rapidly scaling next-generation data center capacity.”

Okay, okay. Companies are spending on AI and data centers like their lives depend on it, and we already knew that. But given the revisions to previous forecasts, it’ll be especially interesting to see the vector of future data center spending.

So is this rising tide raising all boats? Keep reading.—NP

      

Sponsored By CloudZero

AI’s expensive, and if your org’s using it in spaces where it may not be necessary, you could be racking up costs that will, well, cost you in the long run.

To see where you stand, CloudZero put together these five questions about how an organization governs AI spend to help you see exactly where you stack up against 260 senior finance leaders.

The five governance variables: who drives AI, who tracks the spend, finance’s role in decisions, how fast spend data reaches finance, and your board’s posture. Five answers place you in a real cohort.

You’ll also meet your counterfactual twin, aka the organization with your exact profile but the opposite visibility posture. You’ll see how differently their AI spend story ends.

Take five to answer five.

accounting

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Grant Thornton Advisors, one of the largest accounting and advisory firms, has agreed to buy rival CBIZ in a cash deal with a $5 billion enterprise value. The deal will create “the fifth-largest provider of professional services, tax and advisory services, with more than $5 billion in annual domestic revenue,” according to a Grant Thornton release.

The transaction will combine “Grant Thornton Advisors’ multinational platform capabilities and CBIZ’s deep relationships across the US,” according to the release. “Under the terms of the agreement, CBIZ shareholders will receive $55 in cash per share.”

The CBIZ board approved the deal, which is expected to close in Q4, and the deal includes a go-shop period that expires on August 27.

Grant Thornton ranked eighth on Accounting Today’s 2025 list of the largest US firms, with CBIZ just ahead of it at seventh. But CBIZ has come under pressure. On June 15, when its share price was down 33% year to date, activist investor Reference Equity sent a letter to leadership pushing for CBIZ to suspend its share buybacks and be more acquisitive, CFO Brew reported. The Denver-based investment management firm called M&A “a central pillar of CBIZ’s long-term strategy.”

Let’s kick the tires on this deal, shall we?—LB

      

stocks

Morning Brew Inc, Photos: Adobe Stock

They call this the “little treats economy,” where financial insecurity has given rise to purchasing small luxuries that make you feel better. Hey, if you can’t afford a house, maybe you can afford that new Labubu doll and still get the same rush of dopamine.

Fast food used to be one of those small, inexpensive treats—but inflation and creeping menu prices have come to bite the world’s biggest burger chain in the buns. Meanwhile, tariff upheaval has given way to stability for one online retailer that lets you spruce up your studio apartment without breaking the bank.

We’re knee-deep in earnings season, so let’s check in on two very different companies that just reported this week and see how consumers are feeling about them: McDonald’s and Wayfair.

Compare and contrast over on Brew Markets.—MR

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: 12 days. That’s how long the Paramount x Warner Bros. merger trial is scheduled to run, with a start date of March 2—perhaps as highly anticipated as the season premiere of season three of Paramount+’s modern Western series Landman. (New York Times)

Quote: “Now is the time to start slowly moving [rates] up as we get more data in.”—Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Fed president (CNBC)

Read: Private capital is getting involved, big time, in the buildout of AI infrastructure in developing nations. (Bloomberg)

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• Chief Financial Officer at Enso Village
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• Executive Assistant, Finance at Virgin Galactic
• Chief Financial Officer at Tidelands Health
• Director of Accounting - Corporate and Consolidations at U.S. Physical Therapy