Customer Relationship Management surged to the top target sector in H1 2026 with 131 deals, representing 11.5% of total transactions. Enterprise Resource Planning made up 11.3% of dealmaking volumes as the space gained significant market share, reflecting demand for AI embedded in core enterprise workflows. It was followed by Industry-specific Applications with 10.3% of transaction volumes and Business Intelligence with 10.2%. IT Services ended up in fifth place with 10% of deal volumes, and Information Management took sixth place with 8.2% of deal volumes. Other AI subsectors in high demand include Security, Application Development & Deployment, and Control Systems.

In the first six months of 2026, AI companies in the Business Intelligence subsector achieved the highest disclosed median multiple at 8 times revenue, followed by both Security and Customer Relationship Management reaching median revenue multiples of 6.1 times. Companies in the Industrial Automation Systems segment also commanded strong valuations, with a median disclosed revenue multiple of 5.4 times, followed closely by Application Development & Deployment at 5.2 times and Information Management at 4.7 times. By contrast, IT Services recorded significantly lower median multiples of 2.2 times, indicating that buyers continued to place the highest valuation premiums on AI assets with scalable software platforms, differentiated data capabilities, and broad enterprise applicability.

The disclosed deal values in the AI sector ranged from $6,000 to $60 billion, with a median disclosed M&A deal size of $26 million. Additionally, 73% of AI sellers utilized a SaaS business model as buyers appreciated the subscription-like nature the revenues of those companies have.