AI spending is moving faster than many organizations can manage. IDC finds that 90.5% of enterprises were over their 2026 token budget by August, while only 9% proactively review AI costs weekly or more often.*

And tokens are only one part of the cost. In this analyst brief, IDC examines Flexera’s expanded AI Cost Management platform and why FinOps needs to extend across GPUs, data platforms, APIs, networks, cloud infrastructure and every layer where AI spend occurs.

Inside the brief:

  • IDC findings on AI budgets and how organizations are managing costs
  • Why FinOps for AI has outgrown token tracking
  • How Flexera is expanding AI Cost Management across the full stack
  • The growing cost and governance risks of agent sprawl
  • Practical steps to improve AI cost accountability and ROI

*Source: IDC, Intelligent Cloud and Edge Operations with FinOps Survey, September 2026, n=254.

IDC Analyst Brief on Flexera AI Cost Management

Download the analyst brief