29%About 3 in 10of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey)
29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey) (Winter 2025, Flexera, State of the Cloud Report)
Vendor dataChecked at source, 23 Oct 2026All sizesGlobalSaaS · Spend
29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey) (Winter 2025).
29%
the latest figure (Winter 2025)
Vendor data
type of source
Why you can trust it. Flexera, State of the Cloud Report: vendor data, a company measuring its own customers or panel. Global survey of more than 750 cloud decision-makers and users.
Vendor data: A company measuring its own customers or panel
What it measures
29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey)
Data period
Winter 2025 (ends 31 Dec 2025)
Published by the source
18 Mar 2026
Who is counted
Global survey of more than 750 cloud decision-makers and users.
In the source's words
Alongside this shift, the report shows cloud-based AI workloads are surging, causing an increase in wasted cloud spend (29%) for the first time in five years.
Checked at source
23 Oct 2026: Read on flexera.com press release, 18 Mar 2026. Vendor survey; waste is respondents' own estimate. Fieldwork season not on the release; period end approximate.
Reuse
Cite with attribution. Survey of 750+ cloud decision-makers and users; waste figure is respondents' own estimate.
No changes recorded yet. First checked at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
Cite this number
APA
Flexera. (2026). 29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey). Via digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/saas/cloud-spend-wasted-estimate
MLA
"29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey)." Flexera, State of the Cloud Report, Winter 2025. digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/saas/cloud-spend-wasted-estimate.
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<a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/saas/cloud-spend-wasted-estimate">29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey)</a> (Flexera, Winter 2025)
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FAQ
Questions about this number
What is the latest figure for spend (Global)?
29% of cloud spend is wasted, by respondents' own estimate, the first rise in five years as AI workloads grow (vendor survey), for Winter 2025, according to Flexera, State of the Cloud Report. We checked it at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
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Sample: Zylo customer data: 40 million SaaS licenses and $75 billion in spend under management; survey of 218 IT leaders for the cost questions.
