RPA market seen hitting $28.6B by 2031 as AI adoption accelerates

Mordor Intelligence says the robotic process automation market will grow from $8.12 billion in 2026 to $28.60 billion by 2031, driven by enterprise digitization, AI-enabled automation and demand for lower costs. North America remains the largest regional market, while Asia-Pacific is expected to grow the fastest.

Why it matters: - Robotic process automation is becoming a core tool for companies trying to cut costs, reduce errors and speed up repetitive work. - The shift now extends beyond simple task automation as vendors add artificial intelligence, process mining and cloud-native features. - Banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and government agencies are using RPA to improve productivity and handle higher transaction volumes.

What happened: - Mordor Intelligence projected the robotic process automation market will rise from $8.12 billion in 2026 to $28.60 billion by 2031. - The firm forecast a 28.64% compound annual growth rate for the 2026-2031 period. - The report said North America holds the largest regional market share. - Mordor Intelligence released the market outlook on June 23, 2026, from Hyderabad, India.

The details: - Enterprise demand for workflow automation and AI-enabled automation platforms is a major growth driver. - Organizations are deploying RPA to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks across finance, human resources, customer service, procurement and supply chain operations. - The report said RPA helps businesses streamline operations, reduce manual errors and improve service delivery. - AI, machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision are expanding RPA beyond structured tasks. - Intelligent automation platforms can process unstructured data, read documents and support more complex workflows. - Financial services and healthcare are among the biggest adopters. - Banks use automation for customer onboarding, compliance management, claims processing and fraud detection. - Healthcare providers use RPA for patient scheduling, billing, claims administration and records management. - The report broke the market into on-premise and cloud/SaaS deployment, software and services, SME and large-enterprise buyers, and attended, unattended and intelligent RPA. - End-user categories include BFSI, IT and telecom, healthcare, retail and CPG, manufacturing and other industries. - Geographic coverage includes North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. - The report is also available in Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese on Mordor Intelligence.

Between the lines: - The forecast points to a market moving from basic automation toward agentic AI and broader digital workflow orchestration. - Recent deals and product updates show how fast the category is consolidating around vendors that can combine RPA with AI capabilities. - UiPath bought WorkFusion in February 2026, adding AI agents for financial crime compliance and expanding its AML, KYC and financial-services automation tools. - Microsoft added AI agents, self-healing desktop automations, process mining upgrades and deeper Copilot integration to Power Automate in April 2026. - Mordor Intelligence described the market as moderately concentrated, with competition centered on platform capability, scalability, security, ease of deployment and ecosystem partnerships. - North America leads because of higher enterprise digitization and early adoption of intelligent automation. - Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region as companies in China, India, Japan and Southeast Asia expand cloud-based automation.

What's next: - Vendors are expected to keep investing in intelligent automation, process mining and cloud-native products to defend share. - Enterprise buyers will likely push deeper into AI-enabled automation as they look for higher efficiency and more accurate decision-making. - Competitive pressure should remain strong as major players expand through product releases and acquisitions. - More market detail is available in the competitive landscape report.

The bottom line: - RPA is shifting from back-office task automation to a broader AI-powered enterprise workflow market, and Mordor Intelligence sees that transition driving rapid growth through 2031.