Global Market & Growth (2025–2026)

Market Size & Projections

• The virtual assistant market (human + AI‑enhanced services) was valued around USD 19.5 B in 2025 and is projected to reach ~USD 24.65 B in 2026. The forecast suggests continued strong growth through the 2030s.

• A related virtual assistant services market (including outsourcing services) is estimated to grow from USD 23.11 B in 2025 to ~USD 29.09 B in 2026.

• The broader AI assistant market (including AI agents like ChatGPT) recorded USD 3.35 B in 2025 and is expected to grow rapidly toward ~USD 21.11 B by 2030.

Growth Rates

• These sectors show strong compound annual growth rates (CAGR) — e.g., ~26–26.4 % for virtual assistant software/services through 2026 and beyond.

AI Assistant Adoption & Use in 2026

User Base & Interaction

• ChatGPT alone reached about 800 M weekly active users by January 2026, roughly doubling its user base in less than a year. Daily active users globally for major AI assistants exceed ~250 M.

• Average AI session durations are ~14 minutes, with daily usage reaching over 122 M active users on ChatGPT.

Enterprise & Consumer Adoption

• Around 72 % of companies worldwide use some AI tools in business functions — including AI assistants.

• 40 % of enterprise applications are expected to embed task‑specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up sharply from under 5 % in early 2025.

• Over 84 % of developers use or plan to use AI tools; more than half of them report daily use.

Economic & Organizational Impact

• AI assistants are forecast to contribute up to $2.9 trillion in annual U.S. economic value by 2030 through task automation and productivity gains.

• 51 % of organizations expect AI to augment rather than replace large parts of jobs in 2026.

Human Virtual Assistants (VAs) Industry Stats for 2026

Workforce & Service Demand

• There are ~40 million human virtual assistants globally, span freelance platforms and agencies.

• Global VA market projections show growth and strong corporate adoption, especially for administrative, marketing, and digital support roles.

Usage & Client Insights

• Administrative support remains the largest segment of VA services market share.

• Surveys suggest that ~67 % of business owners hire VAs primarily for email management and scheduling.

• Outsourcing to VAs is often linked to significant cost savings (up to ~65 % in some reports) and productivity improvements (recovering ~13–15 hours/week per business owner).

Technology Integration

• A considerable share (over 40 %) of modern VAs already use AI tools to automate routine work like scheduling, inbox triage, and data entry.

User Engagement Trends

Consumer Voice AI

• Surveys indicate high interaction with AI on phones and smart devices — e.g., 90 % of Americans use AI on their phones in Jan 2026 contexts, though many don’t recognize it as AI.

Broader AI Use at Work

• In U.S. workplaces, ~12 % of employed adults use AI daily and ~25 % use it several times a week for tasks like data synthesis, writing, and productivity enhancements.