Published: 21 October 2026
Summary
The debate over an “AI bubble” is not a debate about whether AI capability is real; it is a debate about whether current AI infrastructure spending will be matched by revenue quickly enough to service the capital behind it. Industry estimates place enterprise AI revenue well behind cumulative infrastructure capital expenditure, a gap that, if it persists, is more likely to surface as vendor consolidation, pricing shocks, and product discontinuation rather than as a wholesale retreat from AI technology itself. Organizations that modeled 2008-style financial contagion in advance fared better than those that treated early warning signs as background noise; the same discipline applies to a potential AI disruption. So, what practical steps can Heads of EA take to help their organizations mitigate the risks?
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