The rise of specialized infrastructure providers like CoreWeave, Crusoe, Lambda, Nebius, and IREN is changing how enterprises procure cloud services. CFOs now treat these contracts as credit decisions, evaluating the provider's financing models, hardware depreciation, and power availability alongside traditional performance metrics.
The Bank for International Settlements projects that the five largest global tech firms will invest over $1 trillion in AI during 2025 and 2026. Neocloud providers are mirroring this capital-intensive model. CoreWeave reported $5.1 billion in outstanding equipment and software financing as of June 30, with an additional $3.1 billion in borrowing capacity added in May.
Nebius illustrates this model with a senior secured financing deal of approximately $775 million. The debt is backed by GPU infrastructure and customer cash flows, with the company stating that these resources cover more than 100% of the capital expenditure required for deployment.
A PYMNTS Intelligence report from September 2025 indicates that 7% of US enterprise CFOs have deployed agentic AI in finance workflows, with 5% running pilots. By October, 70% of firms were using at least one AI tool for cash flow management, with advanced users automating 95% of accounts receivable.
