The biggest tech story of the decade is about to shift from a massive infrastructure buildout to a genuine profit engine. That is the bold call coming from one of Wall Street’s most visible technology analysts, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, who is predicting that 2026 will be “the year of AI monetization.”
After nearly two years of frenzied spending on foundational artificial intelligence infrastructure, Ives argues that the investments are finally set to pay off in the form of real, transformative revenue. For investors who have watched Big Tech pour billions into data centers and specialized chips, 2026 is the inflection point where those costs turn into new waves of enterprise income.
The Payoff for a Trillion-Dollar Bet
Ives’s bullish outlook is rooted in the simple fact that the “AI Revolution” is still very much in its early stages. Despite the massive market capitalization gains for many technology companies, the analyst notes that less than 5% of US businesses are currently using AI in a meaningful way. This suggests the main commercial adoption cycle is only just beginning.
“We believe that 2026 will be another strong year for the tech trade with the AI Revolution front and center,” Ives and his team stated, projecting that the AI infrastructure built throughout 2025 will directly lead to “transformational monetization opportunities” in 2026 and beyond.
The sheer scale of the investment is hard to ignore. Wedbush forecasts that global capital expenditure related to AI could swell to between $550 billion and $600 billion by 2026. This colossal spending spree, driven by hyperscale cloud providers and global enterprises, is what will fuel the next phase of the market.
From Pilot Programs to Enterprise-Wide Adoption
The key difference between the current moment and the dot-com era, Ives contends, is that today’s valuations are underpinned by tangible revenues, robust cash flows, and essential infrastructure, not just speculative slide decks. The market is now shifting its focus from testing small pilot programs to executing “massive AI strategic deployments” across organizations.
For the average Chief Information Officer, the next 12 to 18 months will be about figuring out how to integrate AI tools that automate processes, improve decision-making, and deliver personalized customer services. In fact, some industry projections suggest that by 2026, more than 80% of enterprises will have integrated generative AI models or applications into their live production environments.
This movement is not just about the internal plumbing of a company. It’s also reshaping consumer-facing products. We are already seeing the beginnings of this monetization in areas like generative search, where services are working to bridge the gap between AI results and paid advertisements. Similarly, the entertainment and gaming sectors are expected to see generative AI become mainstream, powering everything from big-budget films to immersive, adaptive video game experiences.
The Big Winners
Who is best positioned to capitalize on this next stage? Unsurprisingly, Wedbush believes that Big Tech will continue to lead the charge.
Ives has repeatedly hailed Nvidia as the “Godfather of AI,” noting the company’s hardware dominance is so pronounced that it has a significant supply-demand imbalance with a sold-out inventory extending into 2026. However, the real monetization is expected to come through the software and cloud layers. Wedbush has named Microsoft and Oracle as top picks, alongside security giants like CrowdStrike, which has built its platform on AI capabilities.
The overall bullish sentiment is clear: Ives projects that major technology stocks could climb another 20% in 2026 as this new stage of the AI Revolution hits its stride. For those who fear an AI bubble, the analyst offers a simple counter-analogy: the party has only just begun.