As part of CRN’s AI 100, here are 25 infrastructure and edge computing companies helping drive AI innovation.

Behind all the headlines, real and hyped, about data center buildouts, there is a very real trend: Spending on infrastructure for AI is huge. Research firm Gartner in January estimated that worldwide spending is forecast to reach $2.53 trillion in 2026. And of that, the biggest area of spending will be on the infrastructure side.

Gartner estimated that worldwide spending on AI infrastructure alone in 2026 will reach $1.37 trillion, accounting for over 54 percent of total AI spending. That is up nearly 43 percent over spending in 2025 and is expected to grow another 28 percent in 2027.

AI infrastructure and edge computing encompass a wide range of hardware from individual components including CPUs and GPUs to small devices collating data at the edge to massive rack-scale compute and storage systems.

That growth in spending spells opportunity for solution providers that have maintained strong data center practices and are on the forefront of tying the latest in server, storage, networking and other hardware to their customers’ AI and edge buildouts.

CRN has named 25 companies that are vanguards in AI infrastructure and edge computing to its AI 100 2026 list. They include the large systems, storage and networking vendors like Cisco Systems, HPE, Lenovo, Hitachi Vantara, NetApp and Everpure, along with their younger rivals such as Nutanix and Vast Data.

But with all the talk about hardware, AI infrastructure and edge computing also depend heavily on software vendors, including scrappy, fast-growing companies like Cohesity and Veeam Software.

As part of CRN’s AI 100, here are 25 infrastructure and edge computing companies helping drive AI innovation.

https://www.crn.com/news/data-center/2026/the-25-hottest-infrastructure-and-edge-computing-companies-the-2026-crn-ai-100