JPMorgan Chase & Co. plans to spend $19.8 billion on technology this year, an increase of nearly $2 billion from its 2025 budget. The 10% rise was announced during the firm's 2026 company update on Monday, with Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum stating that "technology remains a major driver of our expense growth."
The bank's overall expenses are projected to increase by approximately $9 billion for the year. Barnum told investors that $1.2 billion of the technology budget is allocated for investments, including several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.
Executives Acknowledge Measurement Challenges
During the presentation, CEO Jamie Dimon addressed the difficulty of quantifying returns on individual AI projects. Responding to questions from Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo, who had previously pressed the bank on its technology spending, Dimon stated that time savings are often "too vague" to measure concretely.
"I think the hardest thing to measure has always been tech projects," Dimon said. "That's been true my whole life." He has previously asked investors to "trust him" on the bank's spending, emphasising the need to avoid falling behind competitors.
Focus on High-Impact Areas and Generative AI
Barnum outlined that investments are being directed toward "the highest impact areas." These include improving customer service in call centres, providing personalised insights for clients, and developing technology for software engineers.
Generative AI is growing as a proportion of the bank's overall AI usage, Barnum confirmed. He also noted that some of the budget increase is attributable to broader inflation, including higher costs for AI hardware, rather than significant growth in technology headcount.
Culture of Competition and Strategic Assets
Despite JPMorgan's leading position—topped Evident AI's index of AI maturity at banks—executives expressed no complacency regarding competition. Marianne Lake, CEO of Consumer and Community Banking, stated the bank possesses strategic assets, particularly in data.
"Only the paranoid survive," Lake said. "We aren't walking around thinking we have the divine right to success, we are walking around thinking about how to optimise the value that we give to our customers, how to perfect our processes and our systems."
Industry-Wide Tech Spending Trend
JPMorgan is not alone in its substantial technology investments. Rivals are also rapidly integrating AI across trading floors and back offices to boost efficiency and customer experience. Bank of America, for instance, has announced plans to spend around $14 billion on technology this year.
Dimon underscored the strategic imperative behind the spending. "We need to have the best tech in the world," he said. "That drives investment, it drives margin, it drives competition."