AI Spend in 2026: What's working, what's costing more, and what finance should do next
Consero CFO Ashley Honeyman on how finance leaders can turn AI spend into speed, quality, and output.
September 22, 2026
Everyone said AI would simplify the tech stack. A survey of 172 finance and procurement leaders, paired with B2B spend data from 1,300+ companies, found the opposite: 46% went over their AI budget last year, 81% are raising budgets anyway, and 57% aren't confident they're paying a fair price.
In this session, SpendHound and Consero Global's CFO/COO work through the findings that matter most and what finance and procurement should actually change in the next 12 months.
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What you’ll learn
Why AI budgets broke last year, how often to reforecast, and when an AI experiment is ready for production budget
Why AI is expanding rather than consolidating the stack, and how long to pay for an incumbent and its AI replacement at the same time
How to tell if you're paying a fair price for AI, using real pricing benchmarks from 1,300+ companies
Our speakers
Becky Martins, VP of Marketing at SpendHound & YipitData, leads marketing strategy for YipitData's SpendHound division, focused on how companies benchmark, negotiate, and manage software spend. Formerly VP of Marketing at Jellyfish, where she led demand gen, ABX, field marketing, and marketing operations, contributing over $110M in sourced pipeline and $20M in closed revenue. Prior leadership roles at Zuora (Chief of Staff to the CMO, Head of Field Marketing & ABM) and Dell EMC. MBA from Babson College.
Ashley Honeyman is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Consero Global, where she oversees financial strategy, operations, product, and client success. She brings over 15 years of experience leading private equity- and venture capital-backed companies, with prior CFO tenures at ROR Partners and RafterOne. Her priorities include scaling AI-driven solutions that deliver faster, more efficient outcomes for clients. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and BS degrees in Business and Math from the University of Vermont.
Sam Voshall, Senior Product Marketing Manager at SpendHound, leads how the company positions and takes its platform to market. She works across sales, customer success, and product to bring SpendHound's story to market, with a background in B2B SaaS launch strategy, sales enablement, and market positioning.
