Sopra Steria: Gen AI to be a US$100bn market by 2028

The continued commercial takeoff of generative AI (Gen AI) will help drive the market to US$100bn by 2028, according to research carried out by Sopra Steria’s consultancy arm.

Sopra Steria Next’s study found the Gen AI market is set to grow exponentially between now and 2028, with the market set to see a more than tenfold increase, from around US$8bn in 2023 to more than US$100bn in 2028.

Poised to be “one of the fastest-growing technology categories we’ve ever seen,” by researchers from McKinsey, organisations globally spent much of 2023 announcing AI offerings, with a Dell Technologies report finding three-quarters of businesses are planning to boost their AI investments.

But while AI hype reach unprecedented levels, revenue generation for organisations was somewhat limited in 2023. This, according to Fabrice Asvazadourian, Chief Executive Officer of Sopra Steria Next, is set to change in the coming years.

“At the start of the gold rush, the first to strike it rich were actually the ones selling shovels and pickaxes; similarly, despite its lightning-fast market penetration, Gen AI generated only limited revenue in 2023, essentially for cloud providers and their graphics processor manufacturers,” he explains. “Our study shows that 2024 will mark the beginning of an exponential rise in the monetisation of Gen AI, with more and more services being sold, both by major tech players as an extension of their current product ranges and by a multitude of startups that are beginning to emerge, targeting specific use cases.”

Gen AI technology on the verge of scaling up

Sopra Steria’s research predicts that Gen AI will continue to mature in the coming years. By 2028, the main business sectors to use generative AI will be financial services (25%-30%), healthcare (15%-20%), consumer goods and retail (15%-20%) and media and entertainment (10%-15%).

When it comes to user adoption, Sopra Steria Next forecasts that the number of users will double – or even triple, depending on the scenario – by 2028, reaching between 400-600 million users. The company’s report also predicts that the proportion of paying users will more than triple, increasing from 15% to almost 50%. Daily use of Gen AI is expected to increase six times over, driven by the explosion in Gen AI applications designed for specific use cases. 

In other words, by 2028, Sopra Steria predicts that by 2028 users will be spending 30 to 60 minutes a day using their preferred Gen AI applications, with average revenue per paying user of between US$30-40 a month.

“Generative AI represents a whole new paradigm for business competitiveness, so it’s vital that leaders move from the discovery and familiarisation phase to a true programmatic approach in 2024,” continues Asvazadourian. “The challenge lies in implementing this technology gradually, striking the right balance between proactivity and control, and coordinating the technological, regulatory and human dimensions involved. 

“At a time when everyone is talking about ‘humans augmented by AI’, our experience with our customers in 2023 has convinced us that the key to success is to ensure that Gen AI also remains ‘augmented by humans’.”

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