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:
Cloudflare Becomes a Certificate Authority to Tackle Post-Quantum Signatures
October 2, 2026
Article
Article

Cloudflare Becomes a Certificate Authority to Tackle Post-Quantum Signatures

Fernando Montenegro, VP at Futurum, analyzes Cloudflare's plan to become a public certificate authority issuing post-quantum Merkle Tree Certificates, a credible move on the harder, signature side of the web's migration....
Synopsys Investor Day 2026 Turns EDA Into a Royalty and AI Model Revenue Share Business
October 2, 2026
Article
Article

Synopsys Investor Day 2026 Turns EDA Into a Royalty and AI Model Revenue Share Business

Brendan Burke, Research Director at Futurum, shares insights on the Synopsys Investor Day 2026, where a $1 billion Amazon royalty deal and GPT-Synopsys with OpenAI reprice EDA around customer volumes and outcomes....
Zendesk's New CFO Is Built for the Billion-Dollar AI Bet
October 2, 2026
Article
Article

Zendesk's New CFO Is Built for the Billion-Dollar AI Bet

Zendesk appoints Rachita Sundar as CFO to drive financial discipline behind its AI-first strategy, leveraging her proven success scaling AI transitions to translate agentic CX ambitions into measurable growth....
IFS Bets on Saudi Arabia's Industrial AI Opportunity
October 2, 2026
Article
Article

IFS Bets on Saudi Arabia's Industrial AI Opportunity

Keith Kirkpatrick, Vice President, Research, at Futurum, IFS's partnership with Riyadh-based Echelon positions industrial AI to capture surging enterprise demand in Saudi Arabia's $1.1 trillion economy....
Latest Research:
Cyber Resilience Is Now the Mandate: A CXO Checklist
October 2, 2026

Cyber Resilience Is Now the Mandate: A CXO Checklist

In its latest thought leadership brief, Cyber Resilience Is Now the Mandate: A CXO Checklist, completed in partnership with Everpure, Futurum Research lays out ten questions every leadership team should...
When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator
September 30, 2026

When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator

In our latest Thought Leadership Brief, When AI Is Everywhere, Data Becomes the Differentiator, completed in partnership with Oracle, Futurum Research examines why industry-specific AI requires industry-specific data and how...
Where AI Delivers Real ROI: AI-First Integration and Orchestration
September 24, 2026

Where AI Delivers Real ROI: AI-First Integration and Orchestration

In our latest thought leadership report, Where AI Delivers Real ROI: How AI-First Integration and Orchestration Transform Workflows, completed in partnership with IBM, Futurum Research examines why AI delivers the...

Book a Demo

Welcome

The vision behind everything in Futurum’s Custom Research practice is this: research should show you what is happening, what comes next, and what to do about it. It should be personal to each audience, easy for people to grasp, and structured so LLMs can reason over it accurately. And it should be fast and turnkey; you want answers now, not another project to carry for quarters.

Whether you are defining business, channel, or go-to-market strategy; evaluating vendors or justifying ROI; or commissioning research to fill an emerging market need, we have your back, with a program that answers your questions with the objectivity and credibility to drive real decisions.

To do it, we bring unmatched data to bear: Futurum research, surveys, and market projections; validated market feeds; ETR’s 15 years of insight from 10,000 technology decision-makers; G2’s buyer and user data; and what our analysts hear every day. Add leading primary collection, from AI-moderated voice interviews to surveys and analyst-led interviews, all turnkey, and every project comes out credible, nuanced, and actionable.

And we don’t just drop the results in your lap. For internal work, we provide analyst-led sessions, interactive dashboards, and a range of formats. For market-facing work, Futurum delivers turnkey activation and amplification that actually gets seen, by people and by LLMs, through our media and share of voice. This is research that moves decisions and markets.

We will meet you wherever you are, from a fast-turn brief to a multi-year program, and shape the work to your goals, timeline, and budget. The right program for your moment.

If any of this is useful, I would love to talk.

Benjamin Brown, VP Custom Research, Futurum Research

Benjamin Brown

VP, Custom Research · The Futurum Group

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.