Customer Relationship Management surged to the top target sector in Q1 2026 with 65 deals, representing 12% of total transactions, overtaking Industry-specific Applications. Business Intelligence also made up about 12% of dealmaking volumes, followed by Enterprise Resource Planning with 10% of transaction volumes as the space gained significant market share, reflecting demand for AI embedded in core enterprise workflows. IT Services ended up on the fourth place with 10% of deal volumes and Information Management took the fifth place with 9% of deal volumes. Other AI subsectors in high demand include Industry-specific Applications, Security, Control Systems, and Application Development & Deployment.

In the first quarter of 2026, AI companies in the Application Software sector achieved disclosed median multiple at 2.6 times revenue and IT Services companies – at 1.4 times revenue.

The disclosed deal values in the AI sector ranged from $240K to $5.2 billion, with a median disclosed M&A deal size of $31 million. Additionally, 74% of AI sellers utilized a SaaS business model as buyers appreciated the subscription-like nature the revenues of those companies have.