Introducing G2’s State of Software Report: How AI is Powering the Rapid Growth of Software

The B2B software landscape is constantly evolving. And as the world’s largest software marketplace, we have a direct lens into what’s happening in real-time at G2 – from real user reviews, website traffic, product and category insights, and more. 

Insights from millions of data points from real software buyer behavior and feedback on G2

Today, we’re proud to introduce G2’s inaugural State of Software report and share these insights with vendors, investors, and buyers as a window into where innovation is happening and where key software markets are headed. 

The State of Software, Q4 2023 is the first report in a new quarterly series from G2 which examines trends from our B2B software and services marketplace, based on proprietary data across more than 2 million trusted reviews, 150,000+ products and services, over 2,000 categories, and 80 million annual visitors. 

Key trends & takeaways across the B2B software landscape, according to G2’s inaugural report 

According to the inaugural report, B2B software is growing at an average rate of 7%, based on the number of software listings on the G2 marketplace over the past five years. 

In exploring the trends within this growth, we observed the five fastest-growing software markets over the past year as:

1) Artificial Intelligence (39% year-over-year percentage growth) 

2) Design (17% year-over-year growth) 

3) HR (14% year-over-year growth) 

4) Marketing (14% year-over-year growth) 

5) Security (14% year-over-year growth) 

Beyond identifying the fastest-growing software markets, The State of Software then explores what’s driving that growth – outlining the top 10 fastest-growing categories and top visited new products within each of those markets (check out the full report for these findings!). 

Tapping into our Market Research analysts’ expertise of the G2 software marketplace data and taxonomy, the report also shares these key takeaways from the data:

• AI-powered features and capabilities are fueling growth across the B2B software landscape as more and more vendors add true AI capabilities to their products.
• The growing demand for high-quality and engaging content has increased the need for AI-enabled design tools.
• The dynamics of the human resources industry have shifted towards quality-driven job growth, which is enabled by AI-facilitated platforms for talent marketplace and intelligence. 
• The marketing landscape has evolved, with a trend towards ‘one-stop shop’ solutions that allow marketers to efficiently focus on multiple segments and channels. 
• Indiscriminately cutting security technology budgets carries risk, so businesses should look to optimize their resources and apply market insights to channel their resources effectively.

While AI ranked as the fastest-growing software market over the past year, it’s disrupting the entire software landscape as AI functionality and features drive innovation and growth in other categories like Design and Sales software. G2’s 2023 Software Buyer Behavior report highlighted the importance and impact of AI on purchasing plans – and indeed the growth of G2’s marketplace shows just how AI is powering the rapid growth of software. We’re seeing new categories and products emerging to meet buyers’ needs to remain competitive while driving efficiency and innovation.

Download the full report & stay tuned for future quarterly editions!

You can download G2’s complete State of Software report and stay tuned for future quarterly editions of this report, which will serve as a guide on what’s trending: the software categories emerging, growing fastest, as well as the trends with vendors and products within those markets.