Top technology trends: Cybersecurity, clean technologies, multifunctional robots and a lot of artificial intelligence. These are the main trends that will characterise 2025, at least according to several consultancy firms that outline the guidelines for the next twelve months every year. There is a risk of repetition because we are still in a transitional phase, but it is clear that everything, or almost everything, revolves around the developments of GenAI, which will influence the choices and objectives of companies, as well as impact a long list of sectors, not only industrial ones. Considering just a few of the best-known and most widespread forecasts, such as those drawn up by Gartner and Capgemini, it is always from AI that we must start in order to try to understand the trends that will take place in the coming months.
The GenAI quantum leap
If so far we have scraped the first layers of a surface that promises to be very deep, we are about to gradually sink our hand into the cauldron of GenAI. The watchword is ‘agentification’, which sums up the evolution of AI systems, which will be increasingly specialised. The transition from isolated and limited activities to interconnected and more complex domains will be accompanied by the ability to plan and act autonomously in order to achieve the user’s predefined goals with reliable results based on concrete data.
This would complete the transformation that, for many insiders, would mark the real beginning of a new era. For it will no longer be man who will have to guide AI, but AI that will guide operations within a system to facilitate and speed up tasks according to the user’s needs. It remains to be seen whether 2025 will be the decisive year for this leap, but the premises for it are there.
Especially in the corporate world, multi-agent systems could prove to be the decisive virtual assistant for making complex decisions quickly, even in unforeseen scenarios. This is a potentially crucial detail for sensitive areas such as healthcare and financial services. The last stage of evolution, then, would be the AI super-agent, capable of managing multiple systems, optimising operations according to the user’s needs. But for this, there is time. The important thing is to go step by step.
Clean technology
Progress, yes, but on condition that the process is sustainable. It is the most heard refrain of recent years, so time is short, and the need to improve things is very urgent. The growth of renewables, biofuels and low-emission hydrogen are tangible results, as is the rise of nuclear energy, which will be a central topic of debate in 2025. Because there is an extreme need for clean energy that can support the huge demand for energy consumption coming from the AI front.
Many chips have been staked on the development of small modular nuclear reactors, although time is needed before concrete results are achieved. In the meantime, investing in invisible ambient intelligence is gaining ground. It is a model made up of low-cost smart mini-sensors that can be used to achieve real-time tracking and sensing solutions that are accessible on a large scale. Again, we are in preliminary tests, but during the first phase, the innovation could simplify stock control and logistics of perishable products, improving efficiency. And that would be no small thing.
Multifunctional robots and cobots
From robots to cobots, the step is short because it is precisely thanks to AI improvements that collaborative robots are already emerging, capable of adapting to different scenarios and constantly learning from the environment in which they operate. That 2025 could be the year of the consecration of the robot metamorphosis is also indicated by the confidence of venture capitalists and corporate executives towards AI-powered robotics, considered by almost half of the sample surveyed by Capgemini Research as one of the top three tech trends of the year. Numbers also depend on the expansion of the sectors in which robots are used, which are particularly important in areas such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Great expectations also concern multifunctional robots designed to operate close to and together with humans. In the medium to long term, their success will depend on the gradual disappearance of traditional robots designed to perform one task identically. It will take time, but the road is marked.
Post-quantum cybersecurity
AI has been disrupting the industry for months now, as it makes it easier for cybercriminals to attack. However, on the corporate and private sides, it also increases the difficulty of hacking a system. Thanks to GenAI, the threats orchestrated by hackers will become increasingly sophisticated in the coming months, with the response of companies shifting from increased investment to automated threat detection. To do this, the emerging solution is post-quantum cryptography, which can protect data from the decryption risks of quantum computing. This shift will force many companies to change their encryption methods.
