Digital process automation market surges as low-code platforms fuel rapid growth and industry adoption

The global DPA market is projected to nearly triple by 2032, driven by the rise of cloud-based solutions, low-code platforms, and increasing industry adoption, with North America and Asia-Pacific leading the way.

The global Digital Process Automation (DPA) market is on a strong growth trajectory, set to expand from a valuation of USD 14.04 billion in 2024 to an estimated USD 36.01 billion by 2032. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 12.55% over the eight-year period, driven by increasing demands for operational efficiency, enhanced customer satisfaction, and a reduction in manual labour within various industries. Companies are increasingly turning to automation to control complex workflows, thereby improving consistency, compliance, and reducing error rates. Cloud adoption and the rise of low-code and no-code platforms accelerate this trend by enabling faster development cycles and the digitalisation of core processes.

Cloud-based deployment dominates the DPA market with a 61.6% share as of 2024, reflecting the growing preference for scalable, cost-effective solutions that support remote workforces and business continuity. However, on-premises deployment is expected to register the fastest CAGR by 2032, particularly among sectors with stringent data security and regulatory compliance needs. Large enterprises currently lead the market, comprising 68.4% of usage owing to their robust IT infrastructure and budgetary capabilities. Nonetheless, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are forecasted to exhibit the highest growth rate, spurred by increasing awareness of automation’s competitive advantages and the accessibility of affordable cloud-based low-code platforms.

By industry, the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector is the largest adopter of DPA solutions with a 30.4% market share in 2024, largely driven by the critical need for regulatory compliance and fraud detection. Meanwhile, the IT and Telecom sector is poised to register the fastest growth, due to escalating requirements for automated service provisioning and network management. Geographically, North America dominates the market with a 37.4% share, benefiting from its well-established digital infrastructure and strong investments in AI and machine learning technologies. The Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to be the fastest-growing market, growing at a CAGR of 13.35%, buoyed by government-backed digital initiatives and rising automation demand across manufacturing, IT, telecom, and healthcare industries.

Parallel to DPA, the low-code development platform market—a critical enabler of digital process automation—is experiencing extraordinary growth. Valued at USD 22.80 billion in 2023, the low-code market is expected to surpass USD 271.7 billion by 2032, exhibiting an exceptional CAGR of 31.7%. This growth is fuelled by the urgent need for rapid application development, talent shortages in software engineering, and widespread digital transformation initiatives. Across industry estimates, the low-code segment consistently shows robust projections, with forecasts anticipating market values ranging from USD 26.9 billion in 2023 to USD 236.9 billion by 2035 and CAGR rates between 21% and nearly 32%. Gartner highlights the rising role of business technologists—developers outside traditional IT departments—who are expected to constitute 80% of low-code users by 2026, underscoring the democratization of application development.

Several leading technology players actively shape the DPA and low-code automation landscape. IBM recently introduced watsonx Orchestrate, which offers over 150 prebuilt AI agents to streamline intelligent workflow creation. Pegasystems has entered a multi-year strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services, integrating advanced AI services to modernize applications and eliminate legacy system constraints. Other prominent companies leading the market include Oracle, UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, NICE, SAP, Microsoft, Infosys, and Cognizant, reflecting the competitive and innovation-driven nature of this sector.

The market research further highlights key topics such as regulatory compliance, automation efficacy, technology integration, investment patterns, and workforce impacts. Understanding these factors helps stakeholders evaluate the tangible benefits of digital process automation and its wider implications for job roles, skill demands, and employee engagement.

In summary, the expanding digital process automation market, strongly intertwined with the booming low-code development platforms sector, signifies an accelerating shift towards automation-driven business models. This evolution is underpinned by cloud technology, AI integration, and the surge in accessible, low-code tools that collectively empower organisations to enhance productivity and agility in a rapidly digitalising global economy.

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Source: Noah Wire Services