PitchBook: AI is becoming the defining infrastructure layer of the global economy – News

A new report out today from private capital market intelligence company PitchBook Data Inc. paints a picture of artificial intelligence as the defining infrastructure layer for the next half-century, with the most competition now underway across enterprise software, cybersecurity, defense systems and global supply chains.

PitchBook’s 2026 “Artificial Intelligence Outlook: The Great Competition Wars Have Begun” report argues that AI is no longer an experimental layer but a core driver of enterprise value creation and destruction across nearly every major technology sector.

Starting with enterprise software as a service, PitchBook identifies AI-powered customer service and support as the largest near-term winner, driven by clear returns on investment from autonomous ticket resolution and workflow automation. The firm predicts the market will grow from $27.9 billion in 2025 to $56.2 billion by 2030, as AI agents increasingly resolve customer interactions without human intervention.

The report also notes that traditional business intelligence and analytics platforms are under pressure, as natural language interfaces and real-time agentic insights replace static dashboards. Compliance software is also emerging as a key AI growth category as regulatory complexity increases globally.

For infrastructure SaaS, the report details how AI-focused data management software is becoming foundational as enterprises struggle with data quality, governance and vector databases required for large-scale model deployment. PitchBook estimates that the infrastructure SaaS market will more than double from $69.2 billion in 2025 to $155.6 billion by 2030.

AI-driven information technology operations management is also accelerating as organizations move toward predictive, self-healing infrastructure in response to multicloud complexity and rising outage risk.

On the cybersecurity front, AI-driven data protection and encryption are projected to grow from $14 billion to $32.3 billion by 2030, as enterprises protect models from adversarial prompts, data theft and misuse. PitchBook does warn, however, that second-wave AI security startups face increasing pressure as major application and cloud security platforms rapidly integrate native AI protection features.

For defense tech, the report highlights autonomous maritime systems as one of the most underappreciated but strategically important AI categories, driven by undersea cable security, energy infrastructure protection and naval power modernization. At the same time, legacy human-piloted drone systems and traditional radar platforms face growing displacement risk from autonomous, AI-native defense systems.

Another major vertical covered in the report — supply chain technology — may also be entering a new AI-driven phase as geopolitical instability, tariffs and regulatory requirements force companies to rethink logistics planning and resilience. AI-powered supply chain planning platforms are emerging as mission-critical systems, while warehouse robotics and AI-orchestrated automation are projected to grow from $6.5 billion to $13.4 billion by 2030. The report warns that traditional trucking and freight operations that fail to integrate autonomy face long-term disruption.

PitchBook also points to major AI growth in foundation models, agentic commerce infrastructure, payments for autonomous transactions and data center decarbonization, where energy efficiency is becoming inseparable from AI infrastructure expansion. Foundation models are projected to surge from $25.3 billion to $136.2 billion by 2030 as enterprises lock into AI platforms as recurring computing utilities.

The defining winners of the AI er, PitchBook concludes, will be companies that build strong network effects, protect unique data moats, integrate deeply into enterprise workflows and solve complex, regulated problems at scale.

At the same time, the report warns that many legacy platforms across analytics, enterprise resource planning, trucking, defense hardware and IT operations face accelerating displacement if they fail to make the transition to AI-native architectures fast enough.

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