In 2024, there were several key technology trends that have transformed the way that many businesses work. Most notably, the meteoric rise of AI productivity tools, such as Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, has meant that employees in all industries now have their own AI-powered personal assistants.
As we look towards the year ahead, this democratisation of AI tools will continue, but that is just the beginning. There are multiple technology trends that are starting to gain popularity, which will set the scene for IT investments in 2025 and beyond, covering AI, cybersecurity and the cloud.
In this article, we will break down some of these upcoming trends, and what impact they may have on businesses of all sizes, in all industries.
The Rise of AI Agents
Every big tech company has invested in AI in the past 2 years. This has led to the creation and proliferation of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Meta’s Llama, just to name a few.
While there is much debate about which models and implementations are the ‘best’, one thing that all the tech giants agree on is that the next stage of AI innovation is AI agents.
An AI agent is a program that can interact with systems, collect data and use this data to perform self-determined tasks to meet pre-defined goals. A real-world example of this may be a customer support AI agent, that is given the goal of answering customer queries. The agent will be asked questions from a customer, and then find answers from internal documentation to help the customer.
But this example is just the beginning, as the barrier of entry to creating AI agents is lowered, businesses may be able to create their own bespoke AI agent for a specific use case.
The impact this will have on businesses is that it will save time and money on staffing, allowing existing employees to spend less time on busy work. It will mean that the importance of a strong data strategy will become more important than ever.
The Need for Public Cloud
Public cloud, such as Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud Platform, are certainly not a new trend, with public cloud spending increasing by 20.4% YoY in 2024. However, this is set to break new records in 2025.
Some of the expected increases in spending are due to standard migrations of on-prem servers, but the majority comes from businesses looking to make the most of the AI opportunities. Whilst it is possible to implement AI solutions using on-prem infrastructure, it is prohibitively expensive for most organisations, and the public cloud simplifies it too.
All public cloud platforms have AI services built into their service offering, allowing businesses to add AI to their existing cloud deployments, or take advantage of AI-powered reporting and business intelligence.
The impact this will have on businesses is the ongoing need for expertise in the cloud space, often relying on managed service providers. There will also be a need for better cost and security optimisation to ensure that businesses are getting the most value from their cloud deployments.
Energy Efficient Computing
In server, laptop and desktop computing, there has been a recent push for more energy-efficient chips.
When considering servers, in the era of AI, it has been essential to use high-powered graphic processing units (GPUs), but this comes at a significant cost in hardware and electricity. In order for AI to be adopted by all organisations, this cost needs to come down, which has meant that many tech giants have shifted their focus to making more energy-efficient chips. The impact of this will be lower-cost public cloud services, allowing more businesses to move to the cloud
In the world of laptops, 2024 saw the release of the first Windows PCs running on ARM architecture. Historically, Windows has run on x86 processors, which are more power-hungry. These new ARM-based Windows devices are not yet commonplace, but in 2025 we expect to see more organisations making the move to ARM to improve battery life and take advantage of lower power consumption.
For desktop computing, 2025 will see a new wave of ultra-low-cost ‘thin’ clients, with all compute being through the cloud. Microsoft has recently unveiled their Windows 365 Link, a $349 desktop that can be used to access Windows 365 cloud PCs. We believe this will usher in a new wave of energy-efficient, cheap desktops, specifically designed for cloud-first businesses.
Focus on Data Strategy and Security
With businesses turning towards AI for innovation and to gain a competitive advantage, the need for data strategy and data security is more apparent than ever before.
Platforms such as Microsoft Fabric provide an end-to-end solution for data storage and analysis, but it is only as powerful as the strategy that underpins it.
This trend towards data strategies will see medium-sized businesses investing in Chief Data Officers, or Head of Data Strategy roles, and small businesses looking to IT providers to support them in creating and implementing a holistic data strategy.
With data becoming more important, and more businesses collecting data, its security becomes more important. This will mean that businesses of all sizes will need to beef up security, and turn towards security professionals to reduce the risk of a data loss incident.
Democratisation of AI-attacks
Just as small and medium businesses will be able to take advantage of the democratisation of AI in 2025, the same can be said for AI-based attacks.
Whilst the rise of AI-powered phishing attacks has resulted in a 60% increase in all-up phishing emails in 2024, in 2025 we will see a new rise of AI-powered malware attacks, by less skilled bad actors.
There is a vast suite of tools available on the dark side of the internet, that allow anyone to buy a kit that can be used to create malware or launch AI-phishing attacks. This will mean that businesses will be targeted more often and whilst these attacks will not be overly complex, a holistic security strategy will still be essential to safeguard against.
Underpinning this security strategy will be technologies such as email security, extended detection and response and identity and access management.
Many of these technologies use AI for detection, and we will see a constant arms race between attackers and defenders in 2025 and beyond.
Rethinking Security Models
With the world of cybersecurity moving so quickly, businesses need to rethink their security strategies and adopt a timeless approach.
In the past, this has meant adopting a zero-trust approach, where no one is trusted by default, and verification is always required. This is still a strong method of reducing cyber risk, but it will be superseded by Secure Access Service Edge and Continuous Threat Exposure Management in 2025.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud-based framework that combines network security functions with wide-area networking (WAN) capabilities to provide secure and efficient access to applications and data from any location. It integrates technologies like SD-WAN, secure web gateways, cloud access security brokers, and zero-trust network access into a unified service.
Similarly, Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is a proactive cybersecurity strategy designed to continuously identify, assess, and mitigate vulnerabilities across an organisation’s digital footprint. Developed by Gartner, CTEM represents an evolution from traditional, reactive security measures by emphasising continuous monitoring and real-time responses to threats. It involves a five-stage process: scoping, discovery, prioritisation, validation.
Both frameworks are expected to become more commonplace in 2025 due to the increasing need for secure remote work solutions, the rise of cloud services, and the growing complexity of cyber threats.
Adoption of Low Code and No Code Platforms
In the past few years, there has been a steady rise in the usage of low-code and no-code platforms that can be used to create custom apps and automation. This is set to explode in 2025 as these platforms begin to fully integrate AI into their toolkit.
An example of this is Microsoft’s Power Platform, which now is integrated with Copilot, allowing employees of all skill levels to build tools to help them work more effectively.
These platforms not only have transformed how something can be built, but it is transforming what can be built, with tools to build intelligent applications and autonomous AI agents.
The proliferation of low-code and no-code platforms has the potential to spark innovation in all industries and increase efficiency within the workplace.
How We Can Help
2025 is set to be an exciting year for technology and IT. With so many new products and services coming out, it can be difficult to know how to get the most from your IT budget.
We work with companies of all sizes to make the most of the AI and cloud opportunities, without compromising on security.
If you want to find out more about any of the trends mentioned or want to discuss your IT strategy for 2025, contact us today.