Artificial intelligence is no longer something you read about in tech reports. Now, it’s part of everyday business life, helping companies ship products faster, think clearer, and treat customers like people, not data points.

 

McKinsey’s 2024 Global Survey on AI found that 72% of companies have already used AI in one or more business functions. Besides, companies making at least 20% of their profits from AI are showing the biggest gains. 

 

Still, not everyone has the right experts in-house. Many companies hit a wall when trying to build their own AI technologies and eventually turn to outsourcing. Finding the right AI partner, though, can be difficult.

 

We know the AI agent landscape inside out. That’s why our analysts researched top applied AI software companies and shortlisted 8 ones that know their craft, have strong engineering roots, and could be the right fit for your project.

Contents

Key Takeaways

  • McKinsey’s 2024 Global Survey on AI found that 72% of companies have tried AI in at least one area of their business. 
  • Companies making 20%> of their profits from AI are showing the biggest gains. 
  • AI agents act independently, learn from experience, and handle multiple tasks, unlike general AI chatbots that follow fixed rules and wait for instructions.
  • 82% of large companies plan to use AI agents by 2027. AI start-ups raised $3.8 billion in 2024, nearly triple the previous year’s funding.
  • Industry-specific AI understands your field, works faster on complex tasks, gives more reliable recommendations, and fits your existing processes.
  • Some industry-specific AI examples include Zendesk for customer support, Babylon Health for healthcare, KAI for banking, Duolingo for education, Einstein for sales, and Cursor for coding.

Statistics showing revenue increase from Gen AI use in different business units.

What Are AI Agents and What Makes Them Special?

Let’s start with the basics. AI agents are systems that: 

  1. Can solve problems step-by-step
  2. Use external tools when needed
  3. Learn from experience to get better over time
  4. Can work autonomously.

Before agents, AI was more like a bunch of separate apps. One model might understand text, another could write code, and a third process images, but they didn’t connect or communicate.

Simple chatbots need instructions to take action, but agents don’t. They initiate tasks and work through them independently. It’s the difference between giving someone a map versus having them create the route for you.

AI Agents VS. Traditional AI Software 

Feature

AI Agents

Traditional AI Software

Autonomy

Operates independently, can make decisions

Requires direct human input for tasks

Adaptability

Learns and adjusts to new data and situations

Limited to predefined rules and models

Interaction

Can interact with users or other systems

Processes input and provides output without ongoing interaction

Task Scope

Can work on multiple tasks and goals simultaneously

Usually designed for a specific task or function

Decision-Making

Can plan, prioritize, and act on its own

Follows fixed algorithms or logic

Learning

Continuously improves through experience

Updates require manual retraining or coding

 

See how AI can work for your industry. Get in touch. 

AI Agents Market Trends and Statistics

More companies are turning to AI. In fact, 82% of large businesses say they’ll be using AI agents by 2027. With numbers like these, it’s only fair to ask — what’s pushing the industry to grow so fast? Let’s see.

  • Market Growth: Analysts forecast the global AI agents market to reach nearly $50.3 billion by 2030, maintaining an impressive 45.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2025 and 2030.
  • Investment Surge: In 2024, AI agent startups secured around $3.8 billion in funding. That’s almost three times higher than the amount raised the previous year, marking a strong investor appetite for intelligent automation.
  • Regional Leaders: North America held the leading position in 2024 with over 40% of total market revenue, while the Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to record the fastest expansion between 2025 and 2030.

Graph illustrating AI agents market growth tendencies.

Industry-Specific Impact

Productivity and Job Impact

  • Productivity Lift: Human-AI collaborative teams demonstrated 60% greater productivity per worker compared to human-only teams.
  • Customer Support Gains: Customer support agents using an AI tool saw a nearly 14% increase in productivity, with the most gains (35%) seen in less-experienced workers.
  • Job Automation Potential: AI agents are about to automate 300 million jobs in major economies, while expected to create 97 million new roles.

Best Applied AI Firms to Develop an Agent With

Now it’s time for the main course. We reviewed hundreds of AI software development companies to highlight the ones that truly deliver value. Our team compared their expertise, project results, and client feedback.

You’ll also find a few simple tips at the end to help you choose a partner who treats your project with care and precision.

List of the top 8 applied AI firms for developing agents with logos.

#1 Inoxoft

  • Industry Focus: Education, real estate, healthcare, fintech, logistics, SaaS, B2B automation
  • Core AI Capabilities: NLP for chatbots/classification, ML for predictive analytics, generative AI services for content/workflow automation, hyper-automation, and advanced AI agents
  • Case Studies: AI-powered career mapping platform; AI news aggregator for media; NLP ad tool for sales ROI; AI technology stack recommender for IT; digital AI twin for edtech
  • Projects Completed: 200+ across 15 industries
  • Minimum Project Size: $25,000+
  • Engagement Models: Dedicated teams, fixed-price, time-and-materials, agile consulting services
  • Best For: Startups, SMEs, and enterprises interested in automation and AI-first workflows
  • Key Differentiator: Data-backed AI roadmaps in 1-4 weeks; 80% consulting-to-implementation transition; 40% faster development with optimized code reuse

 

Inoxoft is a great partner for building custom AI agents and automation solutions. The company often delivers MVPs in just 1–4 weeks, while the market average is 2–6 months, thanks to its AI-powered model tuning approach.

With its set of ready-to-use NLP models, chatbot templates, analytics tools, and automation frameworks, Inoxoft develops solutions about 40% faster, helping clients achieve measurable results sooner.

Clients in the financial sector, education, real estate, and logistics benefit from Inoxoft’s deep industry knowledge and experience gained from completing over 200 projects across these fields. For startups, Inoxoft offers consulting sessions to help define key features, plan developer marketing strategies, and build a strong customer base through real-user testing.

With a team of 120+ specialists and long-term client partnerships, Inoxoft focuses on measurable results, intuitive design, and practical solutions that fit your business processes.

Ready to bring AI into your business? Talk to our AI development experts. 

#2 Entrans

  • Industry Focus: Healthcare, e-commerce, fintech, logistics, digital health, IoT
  • Core AI Capabilities: Generative AI for code/content, AI testing/bias detection, agentic workflows, continuous automation
  • Case Studies: AI prior auth in healthcare; Salesforce-Braze sync; automated testing pipelines
  • Projects Completed: 150+
  • Minimum Project Size: $30,000+
  • Engagement Models: Resource augmentation, contract-to-hire
  • Best For: Healthcare/software firms for quick testing/compliance AI
  • Key Differentiator: Domain-trained teams for legacy modernization; AI-first error reduction

 

Entrans is a leading AI company that covers everything from data engineering and product development to frontend work. They take care of full product cycles and often work with Fortune 500 companies to bring AI into their business operations, including CI/CD frameworks. 

One of their strong sides is building systems that check data quality and let users interact with it through smart, responsible AI interfaces.

#3 ELEKS

  • Industry Focus: Fintech, retail, healthcare, logistics, energy, media
  • Core AI Capabilities: GenAI for reports, conversational AI, predictive ML, recommender systems, explainable AI
  • Case Studies: Copilot for support; GenAI HAZOP in oil/gas; patient collaboration bots
  • Projects Completed: 1,000+ 
  • Minimum Project Size: $25,000+
  • Engagement Models: Agile custom builds, cross-functional pilots, staged consulting
  • Best For: Regulated sectors like finance/healthcare for compliant AI
  • Key Differentiator: Top 1% talent in ethical/explainable AI integration

 

ELEKS is a well-known European AI research company that’s been around since 1991. Today, the team counts over 2,000 specialists who have completed more than 1,000 projects across logistics, retail, automotive, and manufacturing. 

Their team helps clients build neural networks, integrating AI, deep learning, or Computer Vision into their systems.

#4 STX Next

  • Industry Focus: Healthcare, fintech, tech, marketing, real estate, industrial gases
  • Core AI Capabilities: Generative AI for workflows, ML for optimization, data engineering, and cloud-based AI platforms
  • Case Studies: Brand assurance AI platform for Wunderman Thompson; internal search tool for Linde; real estate MVP with AI personalization
  • Projects Completed: 1,000+ 
  • Minimum Project Size: $10,000+
  • Engagement Models: Team augmentation, fixed-price, time-and-materials, AI consulting
  • Best For: Tech and marketing firms scaling AI in legacy systems
  • Key Differentiator: Python heritage with 500+ AI engineers; ethical AI deployment via AI academy

 

STX Next, founded in 2005, focuses on full-stack web and cross-platform mobile apps. They work across finance, healthcare, ecommerce, and marketing, helping implement AI solutions that include NLP, computer vision, recommendation engines, and domain-specific AI models. Their engineers combine technical skill with practical experience to bring AI projects to life.

#5 N-iX

  • Industry Focus: Fintech, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, automotive, telecom
  • Core AI Capabilities: AI and ML development, generative AI solutions, AI-augmented development, AI in specialized domains, including robotics, NLP, and computer vision
  • Case Studies: Modernized core banking for a European bank; AI predictive maintenance for manufacturing
  • Projects Completed: 1,000+
  • Minimum Project Size: $100,000+
  • Engagement Models: Dedicated teams, time-and-materials, fixed-price, staff augmentation
  • Best For: Enterprises in regulated sectors for scalable digital transformation
  • Key Differentiator: 20+ years in fintech compliance; PCI DSS certified with rapid talent scaling (weeks)

 

N-iX has been building software for over 23 years, serving industries like manufacturing, retail, telecom, and fintech. With a team of more than 2,400 developers, they’ve become a reliable name in AI development. Their work has earned them top spots in the CRN Solution Provider rankings and IAOP’s Global Outsourcing 100.

Ready to simplify your workflow with AI? Let’s talk.

#6 Veritone

  • Industry Focus: Media/entertainment, sports, public sector, HR, advertising
  • Core AI Capabilities: GenAI content/voices, cognitive audio/video, conversational recruiting, interaction analytics
  • Case Studies: AI recruiting agents; sports content monetization; ad automation AI
  • Projects Completed: 1,000+
  • Minimum Project Size: $60,000+
  • Engagement Models: Low-code workflows, professional services, AWS integration
  • Best For: Media and human resources for content/talent AI scaling
  • Key Differentiator: aiWARE OS orchestrating models; ethical synthetic media

 

Veritone focuses on AI solutions for media, legal research, and government sectors. Their generative AI platform, aiWARE, helps companies handle huge amounts of unstructured industry-specific data. By applying AI automation, speech recognition, and predictive analytics, they make it easier for businesses to get insights and act on them quickly.

#7 Waverley Software

  • Industry Focus: Education, e-commerce, fintech, IoT/smart home, healthcare, manufacturing, life sciences
  • Core AI Capabilities: Computer vision recognition, deep learning predictions, GenAI content, ML personalization
  • Case Studies: Smart home face recognition; IoT control app; adaptive eLearning
  • Projects Completed: 100+
  • Minimum Project Size: $50,000+
  • Engagement Models: Dedicated teams, fractional CTO, agile sprints
  • Best For: IoT/eLearning for user-centric innovation
  • Key Differentiator: 30+ years R&D; PhD experts in reliable AI systems

 

Waverley Software has spent over 30 years earning trust across healthcare, finance, retail, energy, and more. They work with both midsize companies and large enterprises, building AI-based enterprise software, machine learning algorithms, and mobile applications. Their experience helps clients turn ideas into real, working solutions.

#8 Markovate

  • Industry Focus: Healthcare, construction, retail, fintech, manufacturing
  • Core AI Capabilities: Generative AI for chatbots/forecasting, ML for fraud detection, and deep learning for personalization.
  • Case Studies: Breast cancer research chatbot; construction estimation tool; retail inventory optimizer
  • Projects Completed: 300+
  • Minimum Project Size: $40,000+
  • Engagement Models: Agile product dev, team augmentation, custom AI consulting
  • Best For: Retail and healthcare modernizing with gen AI
  • Key Differentiator: 40% faster development; tailored gen AI for measurable ROI

 

Markovate focuses on practical AI solutions for businesses. They build enterprise AI, mobile apps, hybrid platforms, and AWS services. They’ve helped brands like Nown, Landmark Athletics, Hawaii Revealed, and Keera Talent turn ideas into AI-powered tools that actually make a difference. Founded by Rajeev and Mansi Sharma, they know how to make AI work in the real world.

Comparison Table: Best AI Agent Development Companies

 

Company

Industry Focus

Min. Project Size

Best For

Key Differentiator

Inoxoft

Education, real estate, healthcare, fintech, logistics, SaaS, B2B automation

$25,000+

Startups, SMEs, enterprises wanting AI-first workflows

Fast MVPs in 1–4 weeks; 40% faster development; data-backed AI roadmaps

Entrans

Healthcare, e-commerce, fintech, logistics, digital health, IoT

$30,000+

Healthcare software firms needing testing and compliance AI

Domain-trained teams; AI-first error reduction

ELEKS

Fintech, retail, healthcare, logistics, energy, media

$25,000+

Regulated sectors like finance and healthcare

Top 1% talent in ethical/explainable AI

STX Next

Healthcare, fintech, tech, marketing, real estate, and industrial gases

$10,000+

Tech and marketing firms scaling AI in legacy systems

Python expertise; 500+ AI engineers; ethical AI academy

N-iX

Fintech, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, automotive, telecom

$100,000+

Enterprises in regulated sectors

20+ years in fintech compliance; rapid talent scaling; PCI DSS certified

Veritone

Media/entertainment, sports, public sector, HR, advertising

$60,000+

Media/HR for content/talent AI scaling

aiWARE OS orchestrating models; ethical synthetic media

Waverley Software

Education, e-commerce, fintech, IoT/smart home, healthcare, manufacturing

$50,000+

IoT/eLearning projects

30+ years R&D; PhD experts in reliable AI

Markovate

Healthcare, construction, retail, fintech, manufacturing

$40,000+

Retail and healthcare using GenAI

40% faster development; tailored GenAI for measurable ROI

 

Want smarter processes with AI? Connect with us today.

Why Businesses Choose Industry-Specific AI Over General Tools

Everywhere you turn, people are talking about AI agents. But when you think about adding one to your business, you might ask: Does it matter if the system understands your industry? Some companies see faster results with vertical AI, though that may not always be the case. Let’s compare.

General-purpose AI is great for most tasks, but niche AI goes a step further. It understands your field’s quirks, terms, and patterns, and it can solve the kind of problems only someone who’s “been there” would get. 

Training custom AI takes more effort, skill, and resources, but when it works, the results can change how your whole business runs. Here are some benefits of customized AI solutions:

  • Deeper Understanding of the Field: Vertical AI knows the terminology, workflows, and specific challenges of your sector, so you can assign it to more complex projects.
  • Faster Results: Because it’s trained on relevant industry data, it can provide accurate answers and solutions more quickly than general-purpose AI.
  • Better Decision-Making: With access to specialized information, it can suggest moves that better fit your business strategy and real-world situations.
  • Higher Trust: It makes fewer mistakes on tasks that need industry know-how, giving you and your team more confidence in what it produces.
  • Competitive Advantage: Deep expertise in a niche lets you offer products that are hard to copy. 
  • Seamless Integration: Often built to work with the existing systems and processes, so getting started feels natural, not disruptive.
  • Outcome-Oriented Value: Domain-specific AI helps you achieve concrete, measurable outcomes for your business, not basic KPIs.

Industry-Specific VS. General AI Tools

Feature

Industry-Specific AI Agents

General AI Agents

Purpose

Built for a specific industry (like healthcare, finance, or real estate)

Can handle tasks across many areas

Knowledge Base

Knows industry terms, rules, and processes

Knows a broad range of topics but may miss details in specialized areas

Accuracy

Very accurate for tasks in a specific field

Fairly accurate but may need extra guidance for specialized tasks

Training Data

Learns from specialized data and customer behavior

Learns from general, publicly available data

Customization

Can be adjusted to fit company processes and rules

Mostly generic AI responses, limited customization

Integration

Works smoothly with industry tools (CRM, ERP, EHR, etc.)

Works with common tools but may not fit niche systems

Use Cases

Automating workflows, following industry regulations, customer support for specific products

Answering general questions, creating content, and basic task automation

ROI Potential

Higher value in specialized industries due to relevance and efficiency

Broadly usable but may have less impact for specific tasks

Examples

Mortgage approval systems, medical virtual assistants, supply chain tools

ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, general-purpose chatbots

 

Discover how AI agents can transform your industry. Reach out today.

Examples of Applied AI Agents Across Industries

Now, let’s check out some real examples of AI agents designed for specific jobs in sales, healthcare, customer support, and other industries. 

Customer Support

Zendesk’s AI helps customer support teams answer questions faster, so users don’t have to wait. Companies using it say ticket response times drop by around 30%, giving human agents space to solve the tricky problems, and improving customer satisfaction.

Virtual Healthcare

Babylon Health offers virtual check-ups and AI-powered symptom guidance. Its chatbot walks patients through the symptoms and tells them if a doctor visit is necessary. Every day, it manages roughly 4,000 consultations, making healthcare easier to reach for everyone.

Smarter Banking

KAI is a chatbot that banks use to answer customer questions and give financial advice. From checking transactions to managing accounts, it helps clients get answers in seconds without waiting for a human agent.

Personalized Learning

Duolingo’s chatbots let learners have real conversations instead of just memorizing words. People using them remember words and phrases about 35% better than with traditional lessons, and spend more time actually speaking. 

Sales Support

Einstein AI looks at users’ sales data and points out what to do next, helping reach customers in smarter ways. Teams using it have seen sales productivity climb by roughly 40%. Salespeople close more deals instead of wrestling with spreadsheets.

Coding Assistant

Cursor AI feels like a normal code editor, but it gives suggestions and guidance while engineers work. It helps developers write, fix, and understand tricky parts faster. People still control the code, but AI takes some of the frustration out of the process.

Key Traits of Top Applied AI Companies

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the software vendors promising speed, quality, and the perfect fit. Our experience shows that few can actually make the grade. Here’s how to pick the right partner for your digital journey: four things to keep in mind.

Four key traits of top applied AI companies

Real Expertise in AI and ML

Not every developer knows AI inside out. It takes special skills, experience, and a creative approach to get it right. When choosing a company, look for teams that include data scientists, AI engineers, and developers who genuinely know these technologies.

Terms to Know:

  • Natural Language Processing (NLP): lets machines understand human language.
  • Computer Vision (CV): lets machines “see” and make sense of images.
  • Machine Learning (ML): lets computers learn from high-quality data and improve over time.
  • Deep Learning: a type of AI that handles complex patterns, often using layered neural networks.
  • Speech Recognition: lets machines understand and process spoken language.
  • Neural Networks: mimic the brain to tackle complex problems.
  • Predictive Analytics: uses past data and consumer behavior to forecast what’s coming next.

End-to-End Digital Solutions

A strong AI partner knows how to build complete solutions. Think of it like constructing a plane: you need more than an engine. You need navigation, safety checks, and support for smooth flights. 

What Full-Cycle Support Includes:

  • Planning & Strategy: define the problem, set clear goals, analyze diverse data, understand business needs, and decide on the right AI or ML approach.
  • Design & Development: create the system architecture, build models, design user interfaces, connect data pipelines, and integrate algorithms. 
  • Testing & QA: validate that the system works as intended (functional testing, performance checks, data accuracy verification).
  • Deployment: move the system into production, set up servers or cloud AI infrastructure, and configure access for users.
  • Support & Maintenance: provide ongoing updates, monitor system performance, troubleshoot issues, and adjust models or features as needed.

Data Security and Ethics Come First

When you work with AI, keeping data safe is the backbone of trust. You want a partner who takes protecting your users and your reputation seriously, preventing any data breaches.

How your AI acts matters just as much. A system that makes biased decisions or picks up bad habits from flawed data can cause real problems.

Look for a Company That:

  • Follows strict customer data protection rules (like GDPR) 
  • Builds ethical AI models (fair, explainable, and accountable) 
  • Stays transparent about how the AI makes decisions

Clear Communication & Long-Term Support

AI changes, learns, and needs updates. Your AI team should feel more like a partner than just a contractor. 

Pick a team that listens, explains things in plain language, and stays with you after launch. Your software will evolve, and so should your relationship with your developers.

Ask These Questions:

  • Will we check in regularly?
  • How do you handle bugs and updates?
  • What kind of post-launch support is included?

Let’s discuss your AI project and ongoing support options. Reach out to us.

Conclusion

Today, AI is part of how businesses operate, helping you deliver products faster, make data-driven decisions, and treat customers with respect. While general AI models handle many tasks, specialized solutions go a step further: they understand industry-specific nuances, terms, and patterns, which allows them to solve more complex issues.

However, AI isn’t a set-and-forget solution. It changes, learns, and requires updates, which is why your AI team should feel like a true partner, someone who explains things clearly, listens to your goals, and stays with you after launch.

Many say the right partner makes all the difference, and we can show you how. Most of our projects go from prototype to live in 3 months or less.

If you want to discover the potential of industry-specific AI, contact us for a custom strategy session.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is applied AI, and how does it differ from general AI?

Applied AI refers to AI solutions designed for specific tasks or a particular industry. Instead of being a broad tool that can handle many general problems, applied AI focuses on solving real-world challenges in a particular context. 

For example, a general AI chatbot can answer basic questions, but an applied AI agent for finance can analyze data, transactions, detect fraud, or give investment insights. The main difference is focus: general AI is flexible but broad, while applied AI is customized to deliver results in a specific field.

How long does it take to implement an AI solution?

Project length depends on its complexity, tasks required, the industry, and the level of customization. Typical ranges are:

✓ Small pilots or MVPs: 2–6 weeks to test a basic AI agent in a controlled environment.
✓ Full-scale deployment: 3–6 months for enterprise-level solutions with integration into multiple systems.

Factors like data quality, regulatory compliance, and model training requirements can also change implementation time. At Inoxoft, we plan milestones, provide iterative feedback, and scale gradually to reduce risk, delivering on time in almost 100% of the projects.

How do companies measure the ROI of AI agents?

Companies track ROI (return on investment) by the tangible impact AI agents have on business performance. Key metrics include:

✓ Time saved: Hours or days reduced on repetitive tasks.
✓ Cost reduction: Savings from automating labor-intensive processes.
✓
Revenue growth: Increased sales, better client engagement, or faster project turnaround.
✓
Error reduction: Fewer mistakes in data handling, compliance, or operational tasks.
✓
Employee productivity: The ability for staff to focus on strategic work instead of routine tasks.

Many business leaders often combine these metrics into a comprehensive ROI calculation to justify the AI investments and plan future expansions.

Which industries can benefit most from AI agents?

AI agents can bring value to nearly any sector, but the industries that work with large amounts of repetitive, domain-specific data see the most immediate benefits, including:

✓ Finance and banking: for fraud detection, automated reporting, and personalized customer advice.
✓ Healthcare: for patient support, diagnostics assistance, and workflow automation.
✓
E-commerce businesses: for personalized recommendations, inventory management, and customer service.
✓
Education: for tutoring, grading automation, and learning analytics.
✓
Logistics and supply chain: for route planning, demand forecasting, waste management,  and tracking efficiency.