Huang: Agentic AI to boost software demand, lifts ServiceNow, IBM

At Computex in Taiwan on Monday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told attendees that agentic AI will raise demand for software and increase hiring. His comments coincided with premarket gains in enterprise software stocks: ServiceNow rose about 10%, IBM about 11% and Salesforce more than 6%.

Those moves followed a rally on Friday, when ServiceNow jumped more than 14%, IBM rose over 12% and Salesforce added roughly 8.5%. Over the past month ServiceNow shares have climbed about 36% and IBM roughly 28%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) gained about 17% over the same month but remains down about 4% year to date.

Agentic AI refers to systems that perform tasks and workflows with minimal human intervention. During his keynote, Huang pushed back on the view that agents will replace existing software, saying “A lot of people have said, ‘Jensen, AI is coming. Agentic AI is coming. Therefore, all of the software companies are going to go out of business.’ I said it’s exactly the opposite.” He said agents will use more tools and that software must be presented in a way agents can use. He called claims that AI will cut jobs “complete nonsense” and noted the number of software engineers is increasing.

Huang also unveiled an RTX Spark PC chip designed to bring AI capabilities to laptops and desktop PCs as part of a multi-year collaboration with Microsoft. He described the effort as aimed at reshaping personal computing for AI applications. Industry participants say local AI processing could speed adoption of AI agents and create opportunities for software vendors whose products can integrate with agent workflows.

Analyst actions reflect changing views. Bank of America reinstated coverage of ServiceNow on May 18 with a Buy rating and a $130 price target, citing ServiceNow’s workflow platform as a potential orchestration layer for autonomous agents across IT, employee and customer workflows. Barclays initiated coverage of IBM with an Overweight rating and a $350 price target, pointing to a stable customer base in regulated industries and noting that about half of IBM’s revenue and a majority of its profits come from software.

Earlier this year software stocks fell as investors rotated into semiconductor and infrastructure firms expected to benefit directly from AI spending. Some investors had worried AI assistants and autonomous agents could replace certain software functions. Recent trading shows increased investor interest in companies that can integrate with new AI systems rather than be displaced by them.