Growth in the conversational AI market is being driven by rich media channels, such as Rich Communication Services (RCS), and Over-The-Top (OTT) channels, like as WhatsApp, new data shows.
The number of users accessing messaging chatbots via these channels will grow 88% over the next five years; from under 1 billion in 2026 to almost 1.9 billion by 2030.
A recent study by Juniper Research has found that this growth is being driven by the rich media capabilities of both RCS and OTT, which are ideally suited to AI use.
The study says that the number of users accessing messaging chatbots via RCS will grow more than eightfold over the next five years; from 64 million in 2026 to 519 million in 2030. OTT channels, such as WhatsApp, will show more modest growth of 45%. OTT growth is expected to accelerate, as operators connect to Google’s RCS service, and enterprises begin exploring rich media campaign management tools.
The support for RCS on iOS devices, announced in 2024, is helping drive strong channel growth. This is expected to increase over the next five years, although the associated uplift in revenue is likely to be delayed until traffic becomes billable at scale.
Principal Analyst Peter Boyland commented: “While the development of RCS has been historically slow, its role has strengthened following Apple’s support for the protocol. This has significantly expanded its addressable base – especially in the US.”
| An extract from the report, Conversational AI Market 2026-2030, is available as a free download |
Where the market is headed
Juniper Research has forecast that the conversational AI market will grow substantially over the next five years; rising from $2.4 billion in 2026 to approximately $8.5 billion in service revenue by 2030. Heightened enterprise demand for conversational AI services is expected, with the ongoing digitalisation of businesses as well as the increasing trend towards conversational business messaging.
Juniper Research has forecast the adoption of conversational AI services by businesses, as well as the total revenue that can be expected from the deployment of this technology over the next four years. The market for chatbots has evolved from structured, rule-based systems to systems that leverage conversational AI to understand natural language and identify intent and context. With an increased number of businesses looking to automate more customer interactions, the demand for conversational AI has grown.
Moreover, with generative AI also being used to complement conversational AI, this also enables greater automation. These factors will all contribute to increased market spend over the next four years.
It’s all about superapps
One of the key drivers for rich media conversational AI growth comes from superapps. In China, WeChat began as a messaging app but has evolved into a superapp that integrates social media, payments, eCommerce, and a wide range of additional services, the report points out. Users can complete tasks such as paying bills, booking tickets, and shopping online within a single interface, making it a core channel for conversational commerce in the country and a major contributor to the high spend observed in the Far East and China region.
Alipay has followed a similar trajectory, expanding from a payment platform into a broader digital ecosystem that includes shopping, financial services, and food delivery; further reinforcing high conversational commerce spend in the region.
Within the Far East and China region, KakaoTalk in South Korea has also developed into a superapp. It combines messaging with services such as KakaoPay for payments and KakaoBank for banking; supporting a wide range of everyday use cases and contributing to strong conversational commerce activity in South Korea.
The Far East and China region is, therefore, a key market to target for conversational commerce opportunities; given the maturity and scale of these superapp ecosystems, says Juniper. However, with WhatsApp continuing to introduce additional enterprise features for business messaging, its role in conversational commerce is expected to increase over the next few years, particularly in markets where WhatsApp has high penetration.
Conversational AI vendors must therefore prioritise WhatsApp in countries where it is most widely used; positioning it as a primary channel for enterprises seeking to enable conversational commerce.
