The stock market is off to a solid start of 2024, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index gaining more than 5% yea to date. Software giants are leading the charge thanks to the continued boom in artificial intelligence (AI) tools. But not every big winner is a household name, and some of the best buy-and-hold investments in today's tech sector are not so familiar.

Three Motley Fool contributors with deep tech expertise sat down to share their best-kept secrets in the current market. Read on to see why they recommend adding shares of AI-driven automation expert UiPath (NYSE: PATH), payment-processing specialist Shift4 Payments (NYSE: FOUR), or quantum computing innovator IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) to your portfolio right about now.

Anders Bylund (UiPath): Robotic process automation (RPA) may not sound terribly exciting, but it's a rapidly growing sector with a heavy dose of AI expertise. Claiming a slice of this important market early on can set a company up for lucrative success in the long run.

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Source Fool.com