The driving theme in the stock market over the past few years has been artificial intelligence (AI). The biggest winners of the first phase of AI have largely been involved with data center infrastructure. This includes chipmakers, like Nvidia and cloud computing providers like Microsoft. In the private markets, you can also throw in large language model (LLM) makers like OpenAI.
However, as we enter 2026, the next big AI supercycle may be emerging. The first phase was largely about generative AI. This includes chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Alphabet's Gemini, as well as AI assistants, such as Microsoft's Copilots.
The next phase is agentic AI, where AI-powered agents will autonomously complete assigned tasks on their own. While generative chatbots can help you plan a vacation, AI agents can actually go out and book your flights, hotels, and tours.
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In the world of business, AI agents can act as virtual employees. For example, they can provide customer support and help with billing issues, even giving out refunds, or they can help with human resource duties, like granting time-off requests. They can also write programming code or even interact with other companies, helping with things like supply chain management.
Right now, a lot of companies are trying to capture the AI agent opportunity. Many offer preprogrammed agents, as well as the ability to create custom AI agents through the use of no-code and low-code tools.
What this is creating is a plethora of AI agents from a wide array of different vendors. This is where UiPath (PATH 3.41%) comes in and why it may be the dark horse winner of the next AI supercycle.
An AI orchestration leader
With more and more AI agents being created through different vendor platforms, there needs to be a way for organizations to manage all of them. That's exactly what UiPath's Maestro platform was designed to do. Customers can still create their own AI agents through Maestro's own no-code and low-code tools, but it also helps organizations coordinate both these agents and those from third-party vendors.
However, UiPath's platform goes beyond AI agent orchestration. The company started out as a leader in robotic process automation (RPA), which uses software bots to handle simple rules-based jobs like order processing or account reconciliation.
This background gives it a strong edge in AI agent orchestration, as RPA systems already have strong governance protocols in place, a history of managing and monitoring thousands of software robots, and experience integrating with various enterprise systems.
NYSE: PATH
Key Data Points
Even with the advent of AI agents, RPA can still play an important role for businesses. These agents are much more advanced than software robots and can handle more complex jobs.
However, they are also more expensive and aren't needed for simple tasks. UiPath's Maestro platform can coordinate both AI agents and software bots and assign them to the jobs for which they are best suited. This helps save customers money, which is always a big selling point.
Management has recently struck partnerships with several leading AI companies. For example, it will incorporate Google Gemini models to bring voice control to its platform, and it will add Nvidia's Nemotron models and NIM microservices to manage agents designed to run on-premises in highly regulated industries like healthcare.
One of its most intriguing partnerships is with data warehousing company Snowflake, where its technology will provide instant real-world insights and data-driven automation using a customer's data stored within Snowflake's servers.
Time to buy the stock
UiPath is just at the beginning of its AI orchestration journey, trying to position itself as the Switzerland of enterprise AI agents. Its mission is to help customers avoid being locked into a particular vendor in a quickly changing environment, while also helping them save money through the use of cheaper software bots. The company has already started to see revenue growth accelerate, and it has a huge opportunity ahead.
Best of all, the stock is still cheap, trading at a price-to-sales multiple of less than 6. If its revenue growth continues to accelerate, it just might be the next big AI winner in 2026.
