According to the latest data from Statista, AI market valuation came out to over $184 billion in 2024—a meaningful increase from its $50 billion valuation in 2023. Today’s entrepreneurs across industries have the chance to capitalize on AI-driven products and services during this period of rapid transformation.
Making money using AI is easier than ever now. The 10 AI business ideas outlined in this guide can help entrepreneurs earn money, and—with any luck—gain a long-term competitive advantage by establishing an early presence in this new business landscape.
What are AI automation tools?
AI automation tools are software applications that leverage artificial intelligence solutions to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Those automated tasks could include things like data analysis and pattern recognition. They have a lot of benefits, such as enhancing efficiency and accuracy in various industries.
Examples of AI tool use cases include:
- Chatbots for customer service
- Machine learning algorithms for predictive analytics
- Natural language processing (NLP) tools for content generation
Why should you consider starting an AI business?
The global artificial intelligence market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 28% over the next six years, reaching a total market value of more than $826 billion by 2030—and the business world is taking notice.
A 2023 McKinsey & Company survey found that 55% of companies are already leveraging AI technology to support business processes, and more than two-thirds of businesses plan to increase investments in AI over the next three years.
Entrepreneurs can take advantage of this trend by starting businesses designed to capitalize on the AI market’s growth. As tools continue to evolve and corporate adoption of AI technology accelerates, businesses and service providers that leverage AI startup ideas will be positioned to outpace the competition.
10 AI business ideas
- Become an AI content marketer
- Become an AI content editor
- Start an AI personal assistant business
- Become an AI graphic designer
- Become an AI SEO specialist
- Become an AI social media manager
- Start an AI marketing agency
- Become an AI implementation consultant
- Launch an AI-driven customer service platform
- Create an AI-powered data analytics service
There are many ways to make money with an AI-based business idea. Use these 10 profitable AI business ideas to help jump-start your brainstorming process.
1. Become an AI content marketer
Content marketing is the practice of creating and publishing content that provides value to your target audiences. The goal is to attract new customers and build trust with your customer base. You can start a content marketing business with AI-based writing tools, which use NLP, machine learning, and predictive analytics to generate human-like language in response to user inputs.
AI content marketers help sales and marketing teams develop content marketing strategies, design prompts, and use AI-powered tools to generate content designed to meet the needs of a particular target audience. You can also help businesses publish content, monitor results, and adjust strategy based on performance.
2. Become an AI content editor
AI-generated content isn’t always perfect, which means there’s an emerging need for AI content editors who can proofread and fact-check content generated by AI-powered systems like ChatGPT. Although an AI writing tool might allow businesses to specify voice and tone, AI-generated content is more generic than human-generated content.
The difference is particularly apparent if a company has a distinctive and well-defined brand voice. If you have a talent for creating voice-driven content, you can expand or amend AI-generated text to communicate a brand’s unique personality.
3. Start an AI personal assistant business
Life is full of mundane tasks. Starting an AI personal assistant business allows companies or individuals to offload some of these tasks to you. Instead of taking it all on yourself, you can leverage AI-powered software to efficiently complete tasks such as paying bills, scheduling appointments, or handling projects that require manual data entry, like invoicing or preparing expense reports.
As an AI assistant business owner, you’ll be responsible for selecting appropriate AI solutions, configuring them to complete your clients’ desired tasks, and monitoring them for quality and accuracy.
4. Become an AI graphic designer
AI image generators can create branded images and other visual assets for companies, allowing entrepreneurs with minimal graphic design experience to help companies create visual content. As an AI graphic designer, you can help brands develop unique visual identities and determine the role of imagery in their larger marketing strategies.
For example, you might use an AI-powered logo maker to create a unique logo and accompanying set of brand guidelines. You can then also help companies create parameters around image type, tone, and use. Once a strategy is in place, you’ll be able to create images using an AI app and vet them for quality and consistency.
AI video generation tools can also allow visual brand strategists to expand into video content production without needing an entirely new set of technical skills. If you have a knack for storytelling and evaluating the quality of branded visuals, consider creating impactful video content for businesses using AI tools.
5. Become an AI SEO specialist
Search engine optimization (SEO) refines a site’s content and structure to generate more high-quality traffic, helping it rank at the top of search results. You can start an AI business that offers SEO services to companies using AI-powered SEO tools.
These tools can conduct keyword research, create keyword-optimized content, monitor backlinks, track a site’s search engine performance, evaluate competitor performance, monitor page speed, and identify dead or broken links. They can also analyze data from search engines to identify trending topics and generate content ideas.
Use these tools to help small businesses more affordably optimize their on-page SEO, develop SEO content, and improve their technical SEO.
6. Become an AI social media manager
AI-powered solutions can independently create, schedule, and publish social media posts—but that doesn’t mean companies don’t need to involve a human social media specialist.
AI social media managers help brands develop social media strategies, configure AI tools, and oversee AI social media tools in the same way that a marketing manager might oversee a human employee.
For example, you might review scheduled content for accuracy and marketing value, and monitor social feeds to confirm successful publishing, review quality, and manage audience engagement.
7. Start an AI marketing agency
If you’re a skilled marketing strategist with knowledge of a variety of marketing tactics, you can use AI marketing strategies and tools to start a full-service marketing agency.
Cutting-edge AI technology can support processes like content writing, graphic design, and video creation, allowing you to offer a wide range of services without building multiple technical skill sets. It can also increase the efficiency of research-based activities, like market research and target audience identification. Machine learning applications also take on impactful tactics like offering targeted product recommendations.
AI solutions also let agency owners embrace scalable business models, allowing them to develop and implement robust marketing strategies with a relatively lean staff and bring on employees as their businesses grow.
8. Become an AI implementation consultant
Leveraging AI technology can increase business efficiency and provide business owners with a key competitive advantage—but the AI industry is also evolving so quickly it can be difficult for business owners to keep up.
If you’re passionate about AI technology, you can offer AI consulting services via an AI implementation consulting business to help companies identify and embrace innovative solutions and stay ahead in a competitive business landscape.
9. Launch an AI driven customer service platform
If you’re interested in building an AI-driven customer service platform, it’s a great time to do it. AI CX tools are becoming almost essential within the support space. Sixty-three percent of support professionals believe AI will lead to faster support, and 78% say it gives them critical time back to focus on high-impact conversations.
All this to say, AI-powered automation and chat tools can make a huge difference for CX teams and the customers they support. There is growing demand for AI tools that can provide empathetic, human-like responses in real time, perform quality assurance checks on tickets, tackle repetitive questions like “Where is my order,” and pass off important requests that need a human’s help.
All of this helps support teams focus on high-effort queries where they can make a true impact.
10. Create an AI-powered data analytics service
AI data analytics services use AI to process, analyze, and find insights from data. They infuse traditional data analytics with AI capabilities, increasing efficiency and accuracy and offering more customizable solutions for businesses.
Starting an AI-powered data analytics service could be a great business idea because it addresses a growing need across industries for actionable data-driven insights. Your service can help clients automate manual tasks associated with data analysis like data processing, pulling insights, and building customized reports. Plus, AI can help pull predictive analytics from customer data, which helps businesses make more informed decisions overall.
Types of AI tools
As you start your AI-powered business, here are a few types of AI tools to consider:
- AI logistics tools. AI logistics tools can help businesses manage and optimize fulfillment processes. For example, retail industry companies can use them to monitor inventory levels, analyze supply chains, and streamline shipping processes to reduce fuel and transportation costs.
- AI-powered chatbots.AI-powered chatbots imitate natural human conversation. They can respond to basic customer requests, provide information, and support product discovery. Many businesses use them to support customer service processes.
- AI-powered content generation tools. Content generation tools can create written, graphic, and video content and extend the capacity of sales and marketing teams.
- AI-enabled HR tools. AI-enabled HR systems can help support hiring, monitor employee engagement and performance, and automate HR-related data management tasks. For example, cloud-based attendance apps can make it easy to track employee attendance and monitor working hours. Training software can also use AI algorithms to create personalized learning paths, making it easy for HR managers to provide customized employee development.
- AI project management tools. AI project management tools can help you monitor progress, generate reports, schedule meetings, and analyze and optimize resource allocation. Some tools also incorporate team collaboration software, which can make it easier for teams to connect on projects.
What is the cost to develop an AI business tool?
The cost to develop an AI business tool varies widely depending on the complexity of the tool and the main functions you expect it to perform. Sources cite startup costs ranging anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000, with most costing $10,000 to $49,000 to develop.
Move forward with your AI business idea
Inspired by this list of AI business ideas? It’s time to get started: Choose the niche that you’re most excited about and put the initial steps in place to break into this $184 billion industry.
Shopify can be your partner in innovation, bolstering your new business with its own suite of commerce-driven AI tools. Transform product image backgrounds, get answers for your FAQs, and help with writing great product descriptions. Shopify can even generate personalized and relevant responses to customer questions—all with a little bit of AI-powered magic.
AI business ideas FAQ
How do you start an AI business?
Follow these steps to start a successful business using AI tools:
- Identify your target audience.
- Conduct market research.
- Develop a unique value proposition.
- Market your business.
How do AI businesses make money?
A good AI business idea can help you make money by charging individuals or companies for products or services ranging from consulting to content editing to graphic design.
How much does it cost to launch an AI startup?
The cost of launching an AI startup depends on your industry and business model. In general, costs are higher for business types that require extensive investments in research, development, and manufacturing.
Is AI a profitable business?
Yes, businesses that leverage AI can be profitable. The global AI market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of more than 28% over the next six years, reaching a total market value of more than $826 billion by 2030. A good AI business idea can help you make money by charging individuals or companies for products or services ranging from consulting to content editing to graphic design.
How can AI improve customer experience in businesses?
AI can support better customer experiences in several ways. Use it to perform quality assurance checks on support tickets and provide responses to repetitive questions like “Where is my order?” requests so teams can focus on high effort queries. You can also use AI chatbots to interact directly with customers via chat on your website to give them instant support.
