Often artificial intelligence (AI) is applauded as the only solution to myriad problems, as if we haven’t lived this long perfectly fine without it.

But that’s not to say AI isn’t a powerful tool that can change the way we live for the better.

It’s also not say that because we can enhance almost anything with AI, we should.

Where it AI fits however, can be a game changer.

And one of those “Cinderella slipper” fits is regarding automation, specifically for manufacturing and enterprise environments.

Source: Grand View Research

As you can see from the graph above intelligent automation, which isn’t a new concept is a perfect sector for AI disruption.

What makes it a MegaTrend is the fact that every business understands and desires as much efficiency as possible.

Strap In: AI Automation Is Headed from $64 billion to $251 billion by 2027

The headline number is a compounded annual growth rate of more that 31%. But if you dig into subsectors of AI automation it gets even bigger.

For example, here’s what it looks like for the robotics sector:

Source: Grand View Research

The more sophisticated large language models (LLMs) get for AI, the better they’ll be able analyze operations. And as more robotics are introduced into the workforce at various levels, the more AI can help orchestrate their actions along with their human counterparts.

So what does AI automation mean on a day to day basis? Something like this:

Source: Zapier

And who is driving this MegaTrend? Companies like IBM (NYSE:IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), and of course NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Certainly there are plenty of focused AI plays but the best way to play this for long-term growth investors is to find companies that have complementary business lines that can directly benefit from their AI development. 

And since they’re large, if a standout AI platform comes along, they can buy it.