Cloud and AI will drive infrastructure software growth of 13.3% from 2025 to 2029, and application software will see slower growth of 9.5%. Infrastructure categories in security, databases, and AI platforms will see the fastest growth. For application software, the fastest growth comes from tech operations management, vertical software, enterprise resource planning, and supply chain management. 2025’s challenging economic environment will force software firms to optimize headcount and help enterprises better manage their returns from software spend, notably from cloud, genAI, and agentic AI.