The era of the blunt cost-cutter is over. New data from the Soldo Spending Trends Spring Index 2026 reveals that UK CFOs are aggressively reallocating capital, slashing traditional advertising budgets by 28% to fuel a high-stakes surge in face-to-face client engagement and specialized AI automation
For years, the CFO’s mandate during economic uncertainty was simple, if unrefined: wield the scalpel. When markets tightened, we cut deep into discretionary budgets travel, marketing, and “innovation” projects to preserve the margin. But as we move into the first quarter of 2026, the data suggests a fundamental shift in how the modern finance chief operates.
According to the latest Soldo Spending Trends Spring Index, we are witnessing the end of the “blunt cut” era. UK businesses are transitioning into a high-precision phase of cost optimization, where capital is not just being preserved, but aggressively reallocated toward two specific pillars: human connection and machine intelligence.
The most jarring figure in the recent data is the 28% collapse in advertising spend. Historically, marketing is the first casualty of a downturn, but this isn’t just a defensive retreat. It is a strategic migration. CFOs are no longer willing to fund broad top-of-funnel brand awareness when they can see higher ROI in bottom-of-the-funnel productivity tools.
We are seeing a “death of the middle” in corporate spending. General-purpose AI tools are being replaced by specialized, high-impact platforms. For instance, spend on AI-native coding tools like Cursor rose by a staggering 994%, while Anthropic surged by 489%. This isn’t “discretionary” spending; it is an investment in the underlying plumbing of the business to ensure we can do more with a leaner headcount.
Perhaps more surprising to those who predicted the permanent demise of business travel is the 12% year-on-year rise in Travel and Entertainment (T&E) spend. For large enterprises, that figure jumps to 17%.
As Sacha Herrmann, CFO at Soldo, rightly points out, this signals a “renewed investment in sales meetings and client delivery”. In an era of digital saturation, the “handshake” has become a premium asset. CFOs are realizing that while you can’t justify a $1,000 flight for a routine internal update, you can absolutely justify it for a high-stakes closing meeting that secures a multi-year contract.
The trend that should keep every controller awake at night is the decentralization of spend. Operational, day-to-day transactions now account for 63% of all activity. When nearly two-thirds of your company’s spend is happening at the “edge” through transport, services, and small software subscriptions the traditional procurement model breaks. We are moving toward a world where every employee is, in effect, a mini-CFO of their own department.
“As spending becomes more decentralized, maintaining visibility and control at speed is becoming increasingly important,” notes Herrmann.
For those of us at the helm of the finance function, the goal for 2026 is clear: We must stop being the “Department of No” and become the “Department of How.” Our job is to provide the guardrails that allow teams to move fast, spend on the right AI, and get in front of the right clients, all while maintaining the Prussian Blue discipline our balance sheets require.
Advertising (Down 28%): Audit “brand” spend for direct attribution and pivot toward high-conversion channels.
AI Technology (Up 400%+): Shift focus from general-purpose LLMs to workflow-specific tools that offer immediate productivity gains.
Travel & Entertainment (Up 17%): Budget aggressively for high-value face-to-face sales activity while keeping internal collaboration virtual.
Operational Spend (63% of Volume): Implement real-time visibility tools to manage the surge in decentralized, high-volume transactions