Mid-sized firms’ AI spending growth peaked in August

Summary

• Mid-sized firms' AI spending growth peaked in August 2026 at 20.1% year-over-year.
• Small businesses' AI spending growth reached 18.4% year-over-year in August 2026.
• Both small & mid-sized businesses reported AI-related spending growth of approximately 20% year-over-year in August.
• AI-related spending growth among mid-sized firms recently exceeded that of small businesses.
• Previously, AI-related spending growth was strongest among small retail firms.
• Mid-sized firm adoption is concentrated in service-oriented industries such as healthcare & education.
• AI adoption in healthcare & education aims to streamline administrative work, documentation, & communication.
• Small businesses in the report are defined as having under $5 million in annual sales revenue.
• Mid-sized businesses in the report are defined as having $5 million to $50 million in annual sales revenue.
• AI-related spending includes payments to AI companies & technology firms with AI capabilities.
• Data is derived from aggregated & anonymized selections of Bank of America transaction data.
• Revenue tiers are determined by stated revenue on credit applications, actual account inflows, & third-party revenue estimation.
• AI-related spending data is classified using Merchant Categorization Codes mapped to the North American Industry Classification System.