Enterprise AI intelligence

sourced from the decision makers deploying it

A quarterly study of Fortune 1000 technology leaders covering AI spend, vendor stack, technology roadmap, line of business adoption, and governance posture.

Understand how you compare overall — and against a similar cohort by industry, revenue, and annual IT spend.

Fortune 1000

Peer Community

12 Industries

Across

VP+ / C-Suite

Respondent Level

Updated Quarterly

Refresh

Our team has over 30 years of peer-based enterprise research & community building, at institutions like Gartner, The Info Pro, S&P, and HSBC.

The Problem—

You already know something is missing. Here's what.

Stop settling for enterprise “research” that’s just vendor content marketing.

An organically created community of AI decision-makers — Fortune 1000 technology leaders who contribute their data quarterly. The anonymized, aggregated data is purpose built for: peer benchmarking, vendor selection, outcomes and ROI being realized (if any).

Purpose Built For

Peer visibility on AI spend

See exactly how comparable Fortune 1000 enterprises are allocating AI budget — by category, vendor, and business unit — updated every quarter.

Community-led research

Every insight comes from the decision makers themselves. No vendor sponsorship, no analyst relationships. The data is only as good as the people behind it.

The data your stakeholders need

A one-page tear sheet of your AI vital stats, benchmarked against peers, updated quarterly. The slide that’s been missing from every stakeholder conversation.

The Deliverables—

Intelligence that you put to work.

Every member receives a personal tear sheet, a peer comparison report, the quarterly Pulse findings, and access to four proprietary indices.

The one-page briefing your board is already asking for — updated every quarter, benchmarked against your peers.

AI Vital Stats —

Tear Sheet

Meridian Holdings·Q2 2026

At a Glance

Annual AI Investment

$62M

AI as % of IT Budget

14%

Year-over-Year Trend

↑ 38%

Foundation Model Provider

Anthropic

FM Access Channel

Direct API + AWS Bedrock

#1 Strategic Priority

Scaling pilots to production

Highest Momentum

AI Governance & Risk

+95% YoY

Spend Breakdown

Foundation Models 26%Data Foundation 19%AI Compute 22%AI Software Eng. 12%Consulting & SIs 13%AI Governance 8%

Core Vendor Stack

CategorySpendYoYRatings%ile
Foundation ModelsIn production

Anthropic (Claude) · also: OpenAI, Google Gemini

$10M–$25M↑ 52%
78th %ile
Data FoundationIn production

Databricks · also: Snowflake (migrating)

$7M–$15M↑ 28%
65th %ile
AI ComputeIn production

AWS · also: NVIDIA DGX, CoreWeave (eval)

$15M–$50M↑ 35%
72th %ile
AI Software Eng.In production

GitHub Copilot · also: Cursor, Claude Code (eval)

$5M–$10M↑ 55%
82th %ile
Consulting & SIsIn production

Deloitte · also: Accenture

$5M–$10M↓ 15%
45th %ile
AI GovernanceIn pilot

OneTrust · also: IBM OpenPages (eval)

$1M–$5M↑ 95%
68th %ile

Governance & Risk Posture

Risk Framework

NIST AI RMF (Partial)

Regulatory Readiness

Partially Prepared

AI Yield Index

High Dependency

Sample data · Based on Meridian Holdings profile

See all sample deliverables
The Study—

Four data sets. One quarterly study.

Every quarter, Fortune 1000 technology leaders contribute data across four domains. The anonymized, aggregated results produce the benchmarks, indices, and vendor intelligence that members receive.

01

AI Spend

SPEND INDEX

Overall AI budget as a percentage of annual IT spend, and broken down by category — so you know exactly where peers are allocating capital, and where yours compares.

Spend Index score & percentileBudget allocation by categoryYoY trend analysisPeer cohort benchmarks
02

Vendor Performance

VULNERABILITY INDEX

Spend, satisfaction ratings, and switching intent for vendors across 6 core AI categories. Built for selection, shortlisting, and negotiation leverage — not vendor marketing.

Vendor IQ scores & rankingsSwitching risk assessmentSatisfaction & value ratingsVulnerability Index by vendor
03

AI Technology Roadmap

HEAT INDEX™

Planned adoption of 15 emerging technologies — gauges where you are: early, mainstream, or not deploying against your peers, with an overlay of the vendors in use or in plan.

Heat Index™ scoresAdoption Index by technologyVendor overlay per technologyPeer deployment comparison
04

Line of Business Adoption & Outcomes

AI YIELD INDEX

Where AI is being deployed across business functions, what outcomes are being measured, and what ROI — if any — enterprises are actually realizing.

AI Yield Index scoreAdoption × impact compositeBusiness function adoption mapProduction conversion rates

All responses are anonymized and de-identified. Nothing is attributable back to any company. Individual data is never shared.

See the full methodology
How It Works—

30 minutes. Quarterly. That's the ask.

Step 01

Apply

Submit your application with your name, title, company, and work email. No questionnaires. No sales calls.

Step 02

Meet the team

We schedule a 30-minute introductory call. We walk through the research, answer your questions, and learn about your AI deployment.

Step 03

Participate in the Pulse

Complete the AI Enterprise Pulse — a quarterly study (~30 minutes) covering your spend, vendors, and strategic priorities.

Step 04

Receive your intelligence

Your AI Vital Stats Tear Sheet, Peer Comparison Report, four proprietary indices, and access to the full Arcana Network.

Get Started—

The data your board deck is missing.

Apply to the Arcana AI Enterprise Pulse

Contribute 30 minutes per quarter. Receive a tear sheet of your AI vital stats, a peer comparison benchmark, and access to four proprietary indices. Walk into your next board meeting with the data.

For AI vendors interested in Pulse data access, contact ken@arcana-research.com

Meet the team