AI apps are entering enterprises through expense-based purchasing, contributing to rapid spend growth and declining visibility
Zylo, the leader in enterprise SaaS Management, released the 2026 SaaS Management Index, the industry’s most comprehensive benchmark on how organizations manage SaaS at scale. Now in its eighth year, the report reveals a stark shift in how SaaS enters the enterprise: AI-native applications are being adopted at unprecedented speed, frequently through employee credit cards and expense reports, introducing cost and risk long before IT teams can respond.
Built on analysis of more than 40 million SaaS licenses and $75 billion in spend under management, the report shows AI-native applications as the fastest-growing spend category, with spend up 393% year over year in organizations with more than 10,000 employees and up 108% overall.
This surge is happening even as SaaS portfolios appear stable at a glance. While overall application counts are largely flat year over year, that stability masks rapid change underneath. Within large enterprises, organizations add an average of 21 applications per month, suggesting ongoing tool turnover as teams make room for AI apps.
“AI is quickly becoming the most expensive ‘invisible worker’ in the organization,” said Ben Pippenger, Co-founder and VP of Strategic Partnerships at Zylo. “As more work is absorbed by AI-driven software, companies are adding opaque, usage-driven expenses that are harder to forecast and govern. Proving which AI investments deliver real business outcomes will become increasingly critical.”
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Key findings from the 2026 SaaS Management Index include:
- Unexpected SaaS costs are disrupting budgets. In the last 12 months, 78% of IT leaders reported unexpected charges tied to consumption-based or AI pricing models, and 61% were forced to cut projects due to unplanned SaaS cost increases, according to a survey of 218 IT leaders.
- Visibility is declining as SaaS ownership continues to decentralize. Business units now control 81% of SaaS spend, while IT directly manages just 15%, reducing centralized oversight at a time of increasing pricing volatility.
- SaaS spend per employee remains substantial. Median SaaS spend per employee is $9,455, as rising AI adoption continues to influence SaaS economics.
- License waste remains a persistent challenge. Measured against industry-recommended utilization levels, organizations leave an average of 36% of their SaaS licenses unused, compounding cost pressure as AI-driven pricing expands.
- Shadow AI is accelerating through expense-based purchasing. Expense-based SaaS spend increased 267% year over year, with ChatGPT now the most expensed application, highlighting how AI tools are entering organizations outside formal procurement and governance.
“The real risk ahead is velocity,” added Pippenger. “How quickly applications enter the environment and are replaced will matter more than total app counts. Organizations without intake discipline and ownership clarity will find themselves unable to keep up with the innovation they are trying to enable.”
The 2026 SaaS Management Index provides benchmarks, analysis, and practical guidance to help organizations better understand cost volatility and visibility challenges emerging in AI-driven SaaS environments.
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