The artificial intelligence (AI) industry is expected to boom over the next decade. According to a new UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, the industry could be worth a whopping $4.8trn by 2033 compared to $189bn in 2023 (a 25-fold increase).
Looking to capitalise on the growth of the market? Here are two top AI stocks to consider today.
AI agents are here
As the AI industry continues to grow in the years ahead, one thing we can expect to see a lot of is ‘AI agents’. These are software programmes designed to make decisions and take actions autonomously to achieve specific goals on behalf of users.
In the business world, I reckon the use of such agents will explode in the coming years. Using the technology, companies can potentially achieve unprecedented levels of productivity (eg respond to customer queries 24/7) and efficiency.
Now, there are a lot of companies developing agentic AI solutions today. But one that stands out to me (and I’ve personally invested in) is software company Salesforce (NYSE: CRM).
It launched its offer, Agentforce, back in October. And already it’s had a lot of success, signing 5,000 customers in the first few months after launch.
One reason Salesforce is having success here is that its CRM software’s already embedded in organisations around the world. Today, the company has over 150,000 customers worldwide.
This existing customer base provides a massive and readily accessible market for its AI agentic solutions. Ultimately, it can upsell these new capabilities in the same way that restaurants upsell fries with a burger.
At present, Salesforce stock trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 25. That’s not high for a best-in-class software company with recurring revenues and strong long-term growth potential.
A downturn in the global economy is a risk in the near term. However, taking a long-term view, I think this stock will do well.
An AI powerhouse
Another stock I like as a long-term play on AI is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). It’s already a major player in the cloud computing space and very active on the AI front.
Indeed, in Amazon’s recent 2024 letter to shareholders, the company noted that today there are more than 1,000 generative AI applications being built across its platform to enhance services for customers. These applications are designed to improve shopping, video and music streaming, healthcare, reading, and home devices.
On top of this, Amazon offers several powerful AI platforms including Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Nova – all of which allow businesses to develop their own AI solutions. Additionally, it has developed its own AI chips and has self-driving cars on the road (it owns Zoox).
It’s worth pointing out that a consumer slowdown is a risk here in the short term. This could lead to less growth in the company’s e-commerce division.
Looking out to 2033 however, I expect Amazon to be much bigger than it is today. And after a recent pullback in the share price, I think the stock’s worth a look as the valuation’s come down significantly.
