Institutional investors and wealth managers believe the AI market is poised for dramatic growth, with nearly all respondents in a new global survey stating the sector is on the brink of a seismic shift.
The survey, commissioned by fund manager Robocap, gathered insights from professional investors managing a combined $1.183tn in assets across pension funds, insurance firms, family offices and wealth managers.
The study found that 99% of respondents believe advances in computing power, big data, and next-generation models will drive an investment boom in AI-related areas. Of those surveyed, 28% strongly agreed that these technological advancements would accelerate adoption in fields such as automation, precision medicine, autonomous systems, and ethical AI governance, while 71% said they slightly agreed.
Robocap, which manages the Robocap UCITS Fund and focuses on AI, robotics and automation stocks, has reported a compound annualised return of 13.82% since launch, equating to a 242% net return. These figures underscore growing investor confidence in the future profitability of AI-linked sectors.
The Dell’Oro Group has forecast that AI infrastructure spending across cloud and enterprise data centres could surpass $1tn annually within four years. It predicts global data centre capital expenditure will increase at a CAGR of 24% through 2028.
More than half (55%) of survey participants believe the AI market will reach between $2.53tn and $3tn by 2033, with the remaining 44% expecting it to settle around $2.53tn.
The robotics market is also tipped for major expansion. Boston Consulting Group estimates the global robotics market will be worth up to $260bn by 2030. However, nearly half (49%) of investors surveyed believe the sector could be valued between $385bn and $390bn by 2033, with 42% seeing it slightly below that figure and a minority forecasting up to $400bn.
Despite the optimistic growth projections, 100% of investors surveyed agreed that regulation in the UK and EU may be holding back innovation. A third (35%) strongly agreed that excessive regulation has curtailed creativity in AI and robotics, especially compared to more relaxed frameworks in the US and China.
Cyber security and ethical concerns remain top of mind for investors. The survey revealed 80% are worried about privacy and data protection, while 71% flagged vulnerabilities such as AI hacking or manipulation. Two-thirds are concerned about autonomous AI systems making decisions without human input, and 61% fear job displacement.
Other prominent concerns include ethical misuse (59%), surveillance risks (58%), unintended consequences (45%) and the societal impact of long-term AI integration (42%). A smaller group (18%) expressed unease about AI surpassing human intelligence.
Robocap founder and CIO Jonathan Cohen said: “We have already seen huge growth in the AI and robotics sectors and given the major advances in computing power, big data and AI models, so we agree there will be an explosion in investment in the next decade. The AI and robotics investment universe is growing all the time, and requires the full attention of an investment team who are specialized in this rapidly expanding area.”
Keep up with all the latest FinTech news here
Copyright © 2025 FinTech Global
