5 Trends for 2025

2024 was a year of letting go. As a combination of conflict and transformation threw old assumptions into doubt, business leaders had to reassess their appetite for risk. They had to weigh the need for speed against the safety of proven processes—then change the habits that were holding them back. 

Generative AI was at the center of this shift, introducing a world of new opportunities, as well as uncharted risks. Agentic AI, which refers to systems and programs that perform a variety of functions autonomously, can act on behalf of employees while they do other work. By giving AI agents specific permissions and rights, they can automate decision-making, problem-solving, and other tasks that go beyond the data the system’s machine learning models were trained on in a way that most AI assistants don’t.

And as digital labor evolves, it puts the power of digital transformation firmly in employee’s hands. New technologies make it possible for employees to increase productivity and redefine workflows—and challenges preconceived notions about what it means to lead.

The fact is, leaders don’t have time to vet every innovation. As agentic AI augments roles across the organization, they need to delegate more decisions to truly pick up the pace. Leaders still need to define the destination—and the rules of the road—but they must empower teams to rethink workflows and deploy AI agents in new ways to improve performance at scale and deliver a competitive advantage. 
 

While 77% of executives say they need to adopt gen AI quickly to keep up with competitors—only 25% strongly agree that their organization’s IT infrastructure can support scaling AI across the enterprise. 

In this environment, leaders are walking a tightrope between agility and security, striking a balance between resilience and risk. It’s no easy feat. To learn how they’re gaining ground, the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBM IBV), in partnership with Oxford Economics, surveyed 400 global leaders across 17 industries and six geographies in October and November 2024. We asked them about the challenges they must overcome to succeed in an artificial intelligence-fueled competitive landscape, how they’re preparing their people to drive change, and what opportunities they expect to accelerate progress most next year. 

We paired these results with the insights we’ve gained from dozens of surveys, in-depth interviews, and client engagements conducted in 2024 to map out the trends that will reshape the AI roadmap in 2025.

We found that leaders are still struggling to transform business operations with their AI investments—but they believe they’re on the cusp of a major breakthrough. In fact, 63% of executives say their AI portfolio will have a material financial impact on their organization in the next one to two years.
 

Over the next three years, 85% of executives say AI will enable business model innovation and 89% say it will drive product and service innovation.

To deliver on these expectations, organizations plan to push teams forward at a rapid clip. Today, 30% of executives say their organizations are primarily experimenting with AI, testing its use in low-risk, non-core functions to gain experience, build confidence, and identify potential pain points. Only 24% say they’re innovating with AI to advance new opportunities and create new business models.

In 2025, leaders expect to see a major shift. 46% of executives say their organizations will be scaling AI, focusing on the optimization of existing processes and systems, while 44% expect to use AI to innovate. Only 6% say their organizations will still be experimenting.
 

Leaders are pushing their teams to innovate with AI in 2025

To turn that momentum into real business value, leaders will need to empower people to make the most of the technology at their fingertips. That means democratizing decision-making and giving people the tools and training they need to succeed. People are the secret ingredient to winning with AI and automation—but they can’t succeed without strategic reskilling, security guardrails, and data-driven decision support. 

In the coming year, it’s likely that some organizations will begin to set themselves apart. Will yours be one of them? Download the report to explore these five technology and business trends for 2025, learn what leaders need to know to overcome the obstacles that lie ahead—and discover what they can do to gain a competitive edge.