AI Apps Winning Corporate America: Startups Rise, Incumbents Hold Strong

Okta's new Enterprise AI Index highlights which work software has become more popular in recent years. According to Business Insider, Anthropic tops the ranking for corporate customer growth between June 2022 and June 2026, followed by OpenAI and Cursor.

The takeaway for business leaders: specialist AI tools are no longer just experiments. They are increasingly becoming part of the enterprise software conversation.

The report also points to a major countertrend: established workplace platforms are still growing. Google Workspace, GitHub, Microsoft 365, Slack, Adobe, Notion, Canva, and Zoom all rank among the fastest-growing AI applications.

That suggests companies are not simply replacing existing software with AI-native startups. Instead, familiar platforms are staying relevant as they add or expand AI capabilities.

The clearest pattern is a both-and strategy. Companies are adopting specialist AI tools while also using AI features inside the workplace apps they already know.

For software buyers, that means AI strategy should account for overlap, integration, and employee workflow fit. The winners may be tools that either solve a focused AI need or make existing work systems more useful.

Business Insider notes that Microsoft and Google remain dominant even as Anthropic, OpenAI, and Cursor show fast enterprise growth. That makes the enterprise AI market a contest between fast-moving specialists and deeply embedded productivity platforms.

Teams evaluating AI software should watch whether new tools become daily work utilities or remain add-ons alongside existing suites. The practical question is not just which app is growing fastest, but where employees actually get work done.