Customer Experience and Customer Engagement Market to Surpass $100 Billion in Annual Worldwide Revenue by 2026

Global CX and CE Software Revenue Will Recover to 2019 Levels in 2022, With a Substantial Growth Trajectory in the Years to Follow

Customer experience (CX) and customer engagement (CE) initiatives continue to be a major priority for organizations around the world, especially in light of the significant changes and disruptions to customer relationships that emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new report from Dash Research, this level of focus is leading to brisk growth in the market for CX/CE technology platforms.

“While CX improvements are largely driven by organizational change management, software is increasingly being used to support these initiatives by managing and making available the plethora of customer data that is captured and aggregated from a variety of sources,” says principal analyst Keith Kirkpatrick. He adds that some of the key drivers of market growth include pandemic-related shutdowns and reopening, increased focus on omnichannel customer interaction capabilities, the rise of customer centricity, and the elimination of functional silos within organizations.

Dash Research forecasts that global CX/CE revenue will increase from $63.6 billion in 2021 to $100.3 billion by 2026. The market size experienced a 13.5% decline between 2019 and 2020 due to economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but spending has recovered in 2021 and is projected to reach 2019 levels again by the end of 2022.

The market intelligence firm forecasts that the top 5 industries in terms of CX/CE spending between 2021 and 2026 will be as follows:

  1. Telecommunications
  2. Healthcare
  3. Financial Services & Insurance
  4. Retail
  5. Government/Public Sector

Dash Research’s report, “CX Market Forecasts”, includes a detailed market sizing and forecast model that focuses on the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) software and services opportunity related to CX and CE. The forecast is split into a variety of segments, based on the world region in which the solution is used, the offering itself, functional area, and industry. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market drivers and barriers, and insights into four industries that are driving the market spending are discussed in the report, along with recommendations for both end users and vendors. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website.

About Dash Research

Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700.

Author Information

Keith Kirkpatrick is VP & Research Director, Enterprise Software & Digital Workflows for The Futurum Group. Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.

He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.

In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.

He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).

Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.

Latest Insights:
Embeddable Contact
April 20, 2026
Article
Article

Twilio Flex as an Embeddable Contact Center: Will Platform Integration Redefine CX Sourcing for the Enterprise?

Twilio Flex's embeddable contact center capability intensifies CCaaS competition, offering enterprises deeper integration and AI-driven customization while challenging legacy providers....
Unlock Faster AI
April 20, 2026
Article
Article

Can Eridu’s AI Networking Break the Data Center Bottleneck—or Just Move It?

With 78% of organizations boosting AI budgets, Eridu emerges from stealth with $200M+ in funding, claiming to break the data center bottleneck—but whether new architectures solve the problem or just shift complexity...
Salesforce Agent API
April 20, 2026
Article
Article

Salesforce Agent API Signals the Next Control Plane Battleground for AI Agents

Salesforce introduces the Agent API to enable headless AI agent execution, directly challenging cloud and workflow vendors for control of the emerging agent control plane—a critical battleground as 72% of enterprises pilot...
Sovereign Cloud
April 20, 2026
Article
Article

Can NetApp and Google Cloud Redefine Distributed Cloud Data Infrastructure for the AI Era?

NetApp and Google Cloud partnered to deliver unified sovereign cloud infrastructure for government agencies and regulated enterprises, integrating NetApp's data platform into Google Distributed Cloud for compliant, distributed AI solutions....
Latest Research:
Data Fitness for AI-Driven Operations
April 20, 2026
Research
Research

Data Fitness for AI-Driven Operations

In our latest market brief, Data Fitness for AI-Driven Operations, completed in partnership with NETSCOUT, Futurum Research explores why observability alone is insufficient as AI moves toward autonomous execution, and...
Unblocking AI Compute: SiFive Intelligence’s Open Solution for Edge to Cloud Scale
April 14, 2026

Unblocking AI Compute: SiFive Intelligence’s Open Solution for Edge to Cloud Scale

In our latest Market Report, Unblocking AI Compute: SiFive Intelligence’s Open Solution for Edge to Cloud Scale, completed in partnership with SiFive, Futurum Research explores how shifting AI workload demands...
Packaging the AI Frontier: Intel Foundry’s Advanced Packaging Alignment with the XPU Industry Roadmap
April 9, 2026
Research
Research

Packaging the AI Frontier: Intel Foundry’s Advanced Packaging Alignment with the XPU Industry Roadmap

In our latest market brief, Packaging the AI Frontier: Intel Foundry’s Advanced Packaging Alignment with the XPU Industry Roadmap, completed in partnership with Intel Foundry, Futurum Research examines why advanced...

Book a Demo

Newsletter Sign-up Form

Get important insights straight to your inbox, receive first looks at eBooks, exclusive event invitations, custom content, and more. We promise not to spam you or sell your name to anyone. You can always unsubscribe at any time.

All fields are required






Thank you, we received your request, a member of our team will be in contact with you.