Artificial intelligence (AI) integration is fueling a boom in enterprise software sales that could nearly double the size of the market to about $600 billion by 2029.
A five-year forecast projects a major uptick despite global economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions as companies expand into AI, digital transformation investments take shape, 5G technology is deployed, and deep learning frameworks flourish, according to The Futurum Group report.
“Enterprise software remains a large driver of corporate strategic goals, from enabling digital transformation and improving customer and employee experience to reimagining and restructuring both core and ancillary workflows and processes,” said Keith Kirkpatrick, research director, enterprise software and digital workflows, at The Futurum Group.
“Software vendors have focused on innovating to meet these new demands as enterprise workflows evolve, incorporating human labor, machine-augmented processes, and even fully automated task and decision-making processes,” Kirkpatrick said. (The report focused on 895 IT decision makers and influencers.)
Microsoft Corp., Salesforce Inc., and SAP commanded nearly two-thirds of the market in 2024, and they are “heavily investing in AI to help ensure they maintain their dominance,” Kirkpatrick said in an email.
“These vendors are trying to ensure that their AI addresses the key issues facing enterprises today: Accuracy, safety and scalability, and are working to embrace emerging standards for interoperability, particularly around the use of AI agents,” Kirkpatrick said. “This will enable them to position themselves as a platform or foundation for an enterprise’s core applications, while also embracing and supporting point solutions where desired or required by the customer.”
Growth in SaaS-based enterprise applications, which hit $256.2 billion in the first half of 2025, is projected to reach $466.7 billion annually by 2029 amid rapid advancements in cloud-based analytics, which minimize the need for constant software upgrades while enabling seamless, accessible data management.
CRM continues to benefit from demand for personalized customer experiences and the integration of AI and ML. The market was $52.1 billion in the first six months of 2025 and should reach $112.5 billion by 2029, according to Futurum.
The report revealed that the current purchasing climate is focused on features and functionality, as well as the presence of generative AI capabilities.
“The findings underscore a clear trend toward the use of AI as a driver of spending around enterprise software,” Kirkpatrick said. “Although vendors still need to build out additional use cases for AI that actually deliver solid return on investment (ROI) – many generative AI and agentic AI features are still in limited usage, and are not yet returning significant bottom-line value to customers – the promise of AI has been enough to drive customers to software vendors that are focused on integrating these new technologies.”
