The global chatbot market size is expected to grow from USD 2.6 billion in 2019 to USD 9.4 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.7% during the forecast period. Key growth factors for the chatbot market include advancement in technology coupled with rising customer demand for self-services and 24*7 customer assistance at lower operational costs. Further, initiatives toward the development of self-learning chatbots to deliver more human-like conversational experience, growing use of chatbot among various industries, and increasing focus on customer engagement through various channels to create many opportunities for vendors in the global chatbot market.

The chatbot market comprises key solution providers, such as IBM Corporation (US), Nuance Communications (US), Google (US), Amazon Web Services (US), Artificial Solutions (Spain), Inbenta Technologies (US), [24]7.ai (US), Chatfuel (US), AIVO (Argentina), Botsify.com (Pakistan), Passage AI (US), Kore.ai (US.ai), KeyReply (Singapore), SmartBots (US), Contus (India), Yellow Messenger (India), CogniCor Technologies (US), Conversica (US), Gupshup (US), and Kevit (India).

Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) are the key emerging technologies in the bot platform market

Self-learning chatbots can adapt to changing conditions in the environment they operate in, such as these bot cans learn from their actions, experiences, and decisions. These chatbots can be considered as clever enough to analyze data in minimal time and help the customer find the exact information they are looking for conveniently, by offering support in multiple languages. Self-learning bots whose behavior is data driven are powered NLP technology and self-learning capability (supervised ML), which can enable the delivery of more humanlike and natural communication and can learn from their own mistakes.

Driver: 24*7 customer assistance at a lower operational cost, Restraints: Inability to recognize customer intent and respond effectively, Opportunity: Initiatives toward development of self-learning chatbots to deliver a more humanlike conversational experience, Challenge: Lack of awareness

In January 2019, IBM formed a partnership with the Ingenico Group to build a payment-enabled chatbot with the intent to deliver personalized experiences to its customers. Ingenico Group is a European company engaged in delivering the technology required for conducting secure electronic transactions. Through this partnership, Ingenico Group could leverage Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities offered by the Watson platform to better understand user requests and interpret nuances in various languages and phrasing. Owing to this, the bot could respond to customer requests quickly. In April 2019, Google formed a partnership with Salesforce to develop smart customer experience. With this partnership, both companies aim to integrate Google’s Dialogflow Enterprise Edition with Salesforce Einstien platform product offerings for customer services. By integrating these solutions, both companies aimed at developing a solution, whether it is a chatbot or an agent, to create an enhanced customer service experience.