The conversational AI market will show substantial growth over the next five years; climbing more than 250% from $2.4bn in 2026 to $8.5bn in service revenue by 2030.
Demand is being driven by improvement and personalisation of customer experience, as well as the increasing trend towards conversational business messaging, says the report from Juniper Research.
An extract from the report, Conversational AI Market 2026-2030, is available as a free download
From chatbots to marketing, conversational AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, but the cost of implementation to enterprises remains difficult to predict. Lower costs and greater spend predictability will strengthen conversational AI’s value; encouraging enterprises to automate more interactions as the scale of potential savings becomes clear.
Principal Analyst Peter Boyland comments: “Conversational AI vendors must create subscription models tailored to enterprises, offering a range of features and usage levels to ensure higher value.”
A wide impact on telemedia…
This new report explores the technologies shaping conversational AI’s future, including agentic AI and large language models, and assesses key platforms such as voice, RCS and over-the-top messaging apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat, with a focus on improving cost visibility and control.
For the telemedia industry, the rise of conversational AI represents far more than simply a new customer service tool, it potentially reshapes how consumers discover, access and pay for digital content and value-added services, particularly as conversational interfaces become embedded within these messaging.
Historically, telemedia services have relied on websites, banners, SMS campaigns and app stores to drive customer acquisition. Conversational AI offers a new engagement layer, allowing consumers to discover services, receive recommendations, subscribe and receive support entirely within a messaging environment.
Whether the service is premium content, gaming, education, sports updates, digital lifestyle products or mobile entertainment, AI-powered conversational journeys could significantly reduce friction in the customer experience while improving conversion rates.
The opportunity is especially significant for RCS. Rich messaging combines the reach and trust of operator messaging with app-like functionality, enabling conversational commerce, payments and customer interaction within a single channel. As enterprises increasingly deploy AI-powered agents across RCS, operators have an opportunity to position messaging as a premium engagement platform rather than simply a transport mechanism for notifications and authentication traffic.
However, growth also brings regulatory challenges. Telemedia has long operated under strict rules governing consumer consent, subscription transparency and billing authorisation. As AI agents become capable of guiding users through purchasing decisions and subscription sign-ups, regulators are likely to scrutinise how consent is captured and whether consumers fully understand when they are interacting with an automated system. The industry may face new requirements around disclosure, record keeping and AI governance, particularly in highly regulated markets across Europe.
… and for the wider telecoms market
The wider telecoms industry also stands to benefit from the conversational AI boom. Network operators are increasingly looking beyond connectivity revenues towards platform services, enterprise messaging, CPaaS and digital engagement solutions. Conversational AI provides a compelling new revenue stream by increasing the value of messaging channels and creating demand for advanced communications infrastructure.
Enterprise demand for AI-powered customer engagement is already driving growth in A2P messaging, CPaaS platforms and RCS business messaging. Operators that can provide secure, trusted and verified communications channels are well positioned to capture a share of this expanding market. The emergence of agentic AI could further accelerate this trend, with autonomous AI assistants increasingly communicating directly with brands, platforms and customers through telecoms networks.
At the same time, telecoms providers will find themselves at the centre of debates around identity, trust and fraud prevention. AI-generated messaging creates new opportunities for bad actors to conduct phishing, impersonation and social engineering attacks at scale. This increases the importance of verified sender programmes, mobile identity solutions and network-level fraud detection capabilities.
Ultimately, conversational AI is likely to strengthen the strategic importance of messaging across both telemedia and telecoms. What was once viewed primarily as a communications channel is evolving into a commerce, customer engagement and service delivery platform. The companies that can combine trusted messaging, AI-driven personalisation and seamless payment experiences will be best placed to capitalise on the next phase of digital service growth.
