RPA market seen topping $30 billion by 2030 as agentic automation gains ground

The robotics process automation market is expected to exceed $30 billion by 2030, driven by demand for efficiency, digital transformation and lower operating costs. The Business Research Company says enterprise-grade agentic automation platforms are also reshaping how companies deploy AI, bots and human workflows.

Why it matters: - The robotics process automation market is moving from simple task automation toward broader enterprise automation platforms that combine AI agents, software bots and human collaboration. - The shift could speed up workflows, cut operating costs and push more companies to automate repetitive business processes. - The market is projected to surpass $30 billion by 2030, making RPA a larger slice of the broader business process as a service and enterprise software landscape.

What happened: - The Business Research Company published its Robotics Process Automation Global Market Report 2026, covering market size, trends and forecasts through 2035. - The report says the RPA market is being transformed by enterprise-grade agentic automation platforms. - UiPath launched its UiPath Platform for agentic automation in April 2025, combining AI agents, software bots and human input in one framework. - The report puts the global RPA market at more than $30 billion by 2030, with a 25% compound annual growth rate through 2030.

The details: - RPA adoption is being driven by demand for better business process efficiency. - Companies are automating repetitive, rule-based tasks such as data entry, transaction processing and administrative work. - That efficiency push is expected to contribute about 2.8% annual growth to the market. - Digital transformation initiatives are another major driver. - The report says integration with AI, analytics and enterprise systems is adding complexity-handling capacity and supports about 2.5% yearly market growth. - Cost reduction and productivity gains are also accelerating adoption. - Automation of high-volume tasks is expected to add about 2.3% annual growth. - North America is forecast to lead the market in 2030 at $11.6 billion, up from $3.9 billion in 2025, for a 24% CAGR. - The United States is expected to be the largest single-country market at $10.9 billion in 2030, up from $3.7 billion in 2025. - Software will remain the biggest component category, accounting for 66% of the market, or $20 billion, by 2030. - The market is split across on-premise and cloud or software-as-a-service deployment, attended and unattended RPA, and intelligent or cognitive RPA. - End markets include banking, financial services, insurance, IT, telecom, healthcare, retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, logistics, government and the public sector. - UiPath held the largest vendor share in 2025 at 7%, according to The Business Research Company. - The top 10 companies accounted for 36% of total RPA revenue in 2025, showing a moderately concentrated market. - Other major vendors include IBM, Microsoft, Pegasystems, SS&C Technologies' Blue Prism unit, Automation Anywhere, Appian, Salesforce, NICE and Nintex. - The software and services segments are projected to add more than $20 billion in value between 2025 and 2030, including about $13 billion from software and $7 billion from services.

Between the lines: - The market is shifting toward agentic automation because buyers want systems that do more than execute fixed rules. - Low-code tools, process mining, cloud delivery and cognitive automation are becoming central competitive features. - The concentration of market share among the top providers suggests vendors with broad platforms and large customer bases have a built-in advantage. - The report's growth assumptions also point to continued demand for tools that reduce headcount pressure without reducing output.

What's next: - Vendors are likely to keep investing in AI-powered platforms, cloud-native deployment and workflow orchestration. - The Business Research Company expects continued expansion in intelligent automation, digital workforce tools and enterprise automation platforms as organizations pursue efficiency and transformation goals. - The report says major providers are likely to reinforce their positions through partnerships, platform upgrades and expanded automation capabilities. - More market detail and a sample report are available here and here.

The bottom line: - RPA is evolving from back-office automation into a broader AI-enabled operating layer, and the market numbers suggest the shift is still early.