Technology investment decision-making shifts towards business leaders

In 2025, the Forbes Enterprise Technology Purchasing Report revealed significant changes in how organizations make technology purchasing decisions. Companies are experiencing a shift in decision-making dynamics as technology investments become increasingly collaborative between IT and business leaders. Currently, IT departments lead 59% of technology purchases but are expected to decrease their share to 47% in the next three years as business units step into more influential roles. Concurrently, 60% of surveyed executives from over 1,000 enterprises noted the existence of multiple committees overseeing purchases, reflecting a recognition of the complex nature of technology integration in modern enterprises. In North America, the trend is pronounced, with 72% of organizations utilizing business-unit-based committees to guide tech investment, compared to 66% with technology-based ones. This reveals a departure from traditional IT-led purchasing frameworks and suggests a strategic evolution where technology investments are driven by business needs more than ever before. Such evolution indicates how organizations are aligning their technology strategies with broader business objectives in a fast-paced digital landscape. Additionally, with growing concerns over cybersecurity threats, 83% of enterprise technology buyers highlighted it as the primary external factor affecting tech purchasing decisions for the next five years. This concern has prioritized cybersecurity funding, making it the second-highest planned investment area for 2025, just behind AI and machine learning. The intersection of technology and various business functions has led organizations to adopt a future-proof strategy that accounts for not only budget allocations but also the complex interplay of different roles in decision-making. As organizations adapt to an increasingly digital world, the emphasis on collaborative tech purchasing processes reflects a growing awareness that business resilience and adaptability are contingent upon well-informed and well-rounded technological investments. Overall, this transformation signifies a shift in mindset among enterprise leaders as they seek to derive better value from technology spending and safeguard against emerging risks. With the ongoing evolution of roles in tech investment, future decision-making will likely focus more on collaborative input and strategic foresight, ensuring that companies remain agile in an ever-changing technological landscape.