B2B Data Market on Track to Reach $15 Billion by 2030, but a New Report Finds the Industry’s Challenge Is Shifting
The market for B2B sales data is on track to reach roughly $15 billion by 2030, about 17 times its size in 2005. Yet according to a new industry report, The 2026 B2B Data Industry Report, the steady growth in data available to sales and marketing teams has not translated into a matching gain in pipeline. The report suggests the industry’s central challenge is gradually shifting from getting access to contact data toward using it effectively before it loses value.
Part of the difficulty is that data ages quickly. A widely cited IndustrySelect study found that 70.8% of business contacts change within 12 months, with 65.8% changing roles or titles, so records can lose accuracy soon after they are collected. Research from IBM and Gartner indicates that more than a quarter of organizations report losses exceeding $5 million a year tied to poor data quality, and other studies estimate sales representatives spend roughly 109 hours each year working around inaccurate data. The report frames these as persistent industry costs that become more visible as expectations for what data should do continue to rise.
Access and execution
The report distinguishes between two capabilities that are often treated as one. Access refers to obtaining and owning contact data. Execution refers to keeping that data current and acting on it through verification, sequencing, personalization, and outreach. According to the analysis, much of the market has concentrated on access, while capabilities such as deliverability and outreach are less commonly offered as native features. As a result, many teams combine several tools to move a campaign from a list to a reply, which adds cost and coordination.
“For a long time, the priority was getting more data, faster and at lower cost, and the industry did that well,” said Vito Vishnepolsky, President and Founder of Martal Group, which published the report. “The harder question is what happens after the data is in hand. As data ages quickly and buyers grow more selective, the advantage is moving toward teams that can act on information while it is still accurate.”
The growing role of AI in execution
The report also considers how AI may influence the next phase of the market. Gartner projects that AI agents will play a growing role in B2B buying, estimating that agents could intermediate 90% of B2B buying by 2028, while McKinsey estimates $3 trillion to $5 trillion in global agentic commerce by 2030. The report suggests that as automated systems handle more of the outreach process, the value of data that is unified and current is likely to increase, since these systems depend on accurate inputs to perform well.
Related trends point in a similar direction. Gartner research indicates that a majority of B2B buyers now pay less attention to outreach that lacks contextual relevance, which favors more researched messaging grounded in real buying signals. And research from MarketBetter suggests that teams consolidating fragmented toolsets onto unified platforms can meaningfully reduce tool spend. The report presents these as indications of where the market may be heading rather than firm predictions.
“The teams that do well over the next few years are likely to be those that treat data and action as one process rather than two,” said Vishnepolsky. “That is less about owning the largest database and more about being able to use it well.”
Methodology
The report analyzes the trajectory of the B2B data industry using estimates of market size aggregated from nine research firms, including MarketsandMarkets, Grand View Research, Precedence Research, and Allied Market Research, alongside research from Gartner, McKinsey, and other independent firms. It also reviews the current landscape of B2B data and enrichment platforms to describe where capabilities such as deliverability and native execution are more and less common. The analysis draws on publicly available vendor data, customer review platforms, and industry reports, and accepts vendor capabilities as reported where independent verification was not possible. Martal Group, which published the report, drew on 16 years of running outbound campaigns for more than 2,000 B2B brands to inform its analysis. Full methodology and sources are included with the report.
Availability
The full report, The 2026 B2B Data Industry Report, is available at https://martal.ca/access-b2b-data-industry-report/.
About Martal Group
Martal Group is a global B2B lead generation and sales acceleration partner that helps companies build pipeline and accelerate revenue growth. Over 16 years, the company has run outbound campaigns for more than 2,000 B2B brands across more than 50 verticals.
More information is available at https://martal.ca/.
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Website: https://martal.ca/
