2 AI Stocks Building the "Picks and Shovels" of the Agentic Revolution

Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is poised to continue in 2026 as more companies move from experimentation to deployment.

One of the big opportunities is growth in agentic AI, where AI models can take a single prompt from a user and complete a series of tasks, such as downloading software and filling out forms. Grand View Research estimates that global enterprise agentic AI could grow from $2.6 billion in 2024 to over $24 billion by 2030.

Here are two stocks to buy today that are building the core platforms and infrastructure to unlock this opportunity.

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1. UiPath

AI agents promise to significantly increase productivity and office workflows, which is why enterprise demand should accelerate in the next few years. UiPath (NYSE: PATH) is one of the top stocks that could deliver substantial returns for investors.

UiPath's platform combines agents and data to seamlessly integrate into a company's operations. Hundreds of companies are using UiPath's Maestro to build agents, positioning it as a market leader. UiPath has been investing in tools to help businesses automate processes since its founding, giving it an early lead on competitors.

There's one particular reason to buy the stock now. The company is starting to turn a profit after years of reporting losses.

In the third quarter, it reported an operating profit of $13 million, up from a loss of $43 million in the year-ago quarter. As unprofitable companies start turning a profit, it can lead to a rerating in the stock's valuation on Wall Street.

The stock trades at just over 5 times trailing revenue, but it's already down 83% from its previous highs. With analysts projecting earnings growth at an annualized rate of 26% over the coming years, the stock offers excellent return prospects at these discounted prices.

2. Alphabet (Google)

UiPath is the orchestration layer of agentic AI, but Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) runs the infrastructure (chips, models, and data centers) that makes it all work. The foundation of Google's opportunity in this burgeoning market is Gemini.

Google Gemini is one of the most widely used AI models, with more than 650 million monthly active users. UiPath offers all the major models on its platform, including Google's. Broad adoption of Gemini for AI agents and other use cases is helping it process more than 7 billion units of data, or tokens, per minute across third-party applications.

Google is building agentic AI experiences across several industries, including travel and commerce. This will benefit Google's advertising revenue by leading to more ways for people to use Google Search. Enterprise adoption of agentic AI will also be a catalyst for Google Cloud's growth, which posted a 34% year-over-year increase in revenue in the third quarter.

With its profitable advertising engine across Search and YouTube, combined with explosive growth in the cloud, Alphabet is a relatively safe way to invest in the agentic AI market. Even after the stock's recent rise, it still trades at 30 times 2026 earnings estimates, which is fair for a company of this quality reporting double-digit revenue and earnings growth.

John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and UiPath. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.