Top 5 technology trends to watch in 2025

The 2025 wave of emerging technologies is being defined by five key trends.

• Agentic AI: Next-generation AI making autonomous decisions
• Digital accessibility: Tech for inclusivity and compliance
• AI-driven cybersecurity: Intelligent, self-defending systems
• Cloud advancements: Multicloud, edge and GenAI integration for agility
• Total Experience (TX): Holistic personalization across stakeholders

Discover how these five tech trends will impact your business in 2025. We’ll explore the challenges they pose and provide actionable strategies for CIOs and IT teams to tackle them. Plus, get the latest 2025 projections. 

1. Agentic AI evolution: The next frontier in automation

What is it?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been a transformative force, but Agentic AI is set to redefine automation. Unlike traditional AI, Agentic AI systems can make independent decisions based on learned intelligence, without human intervention. Gartner frames Agentic AI as autonomous AI that can plan and take action to achieve user-set goals, creating a virtual workforce of agents that assist, offload and augment human work.

Alan Flower, discussed this recently at World AI Summit in Amsterdam: "The combination of agentic systems and multimodal architectures is poised to transform the AI landscape." With both opportunities and risks, IT leaders must prepare for this new era of autonomous, intelligent systems.

Flower observed that the demand coming into HCLTech's AI Labs is “utterly dominated by clients who have found a value stream within a specific business domain where they see a need for a vertical solution.” Clients across sectors, from healthcare and manufacturing to oil and gas, are identifying unique use cases and processes where they believe generative AI can add significant value.

Challenges

• Guardrails and alignment. Agentic systems require robust guardrails so actions align with provider and user intentions
• Operational risk and governance. In McKinsey’s 2025 survey, 47% of organizations reported at least one negative consequence from GenAI use, and many are now actively managing risks related to inaccuracy, cybersecurity and IP
• Leadership ownership: 28% of AI-using organizations say the CEO oversees AI governance; a gap for scaling agentic systems responsibly

Business benefit and how to achieve it:

Benefit: A goal-driven digital workforce that augments humans across customer service, supply chain and risk; planning and acting autonomously.

• Verticalize by value stream (echoing client demand noted above) and embed agents where domain context is rich
• Redesign workflows: McKinsey finds workflow redesign has the biggest effect on EBIT impact from GenAI; 21% of GenAI users have fundamentally redesigned at least some workflows. Track well-defined KPIs and use structured adoption practices to realize value
• Establish governance early (CEO/board oversight, human-in-the-loop, risk controls) to prevent misaligned agent behavior

Projection for 2025:

By 2025, agentic AI moves beyond task automation to complex, goal-driven decision-making across support, supply chain and risk, with early enterprise deployments of AI agents among organizations already using GenAI (Deloitte forecasts 25% in 2025). Expect virtual workforces of domain-tuned agents to emerge where governance and workflow redesign are in place, aligning with Gartner’s framing of Agentic AI as autonomous planners and actors. 

2. Digital accessibility in 2025: Innovation and the EAA

What is it?

As society continues to push for inclusivity, accessibility technology will play a critical role in bridging the digital divide. By 2025, significant advancements in assistive technologies are expected to enable people with disabilities to participate more fully in the digital economy.

New regulations, such as the European Accessibility Act (EAA), are key milestones in these efforts. The Act mandates that products and services be made accessible to a broader range of individuals, including those with permanent disabilities, older adults and those with temporary impairments. By 2025, it is expected to improve the lives of at least 87 million people across the EU.

As digital accessibility becomes a priority, organizations can no longer afford to delay its integration. The combination of AI with accessibility tools will enhance user experiences, making them more intuitive and inclusive. AI-powered features such as voice recognition, augmented reality, and real-time translation services are already enabling people with hearing or visual impairments to engage seamlessly with technology. Additionally, the rise of wearable tech—like smart glasses and haptic feedback devices — will provide richer, more interactive experiences for people with disabilities.

HCLTech’s Accessibility-as-a-Service is driving change through a range of innovative solutions and technologies. By partnering with leading companies across diverse industries, we empower individuals of all abilities, foster inclusion and enable contributions to a more equitable society. From accessibility in design, assessment against international, national and corporate standards to VPAT as a service and coaching and empathy sessions, HCLTech’s Accessibility services has been empowering organizations and people interact with the digital world more effectively.

Challenges

• Complex compliance scope across devices, software, content and services (e.g., aligning with EAA scope and WCAG criteria).
• Legacy tech debt and inconsistent design systems hinder rapid remediation.
• Gaps in organizational skills, testing coverage (manual + automated) and continuous monitoring.
• Third‑party components (widgets, payment, video) introduce noncompliant elements.

Business benefit and how to achieve it:

Benefit: Create an accessible, equitable, fair, unbiased and safe environment for employees in customers across the digital landscape

• Adopt accessibility-by-design: embed WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA in design systems, patterns and CI/CD gates
• Establish a program: executive sponsor, clear SLAs and a measurable roadmap; pair automated scans with manual assistive tech testing
• Produce and maintain VPAT/ACR for key products; include accessibility requirements in vendor contracts
• Use AI to scale captions, alt text, translations and personalized UX without replacing human review

Projections for 2025

EAA deadlines drive enterprise‑wide programs, with WCAG‑aligned design systems, VPAT coverage, and AI‑assisted remediation becoming standard — expanding market reach while reducing legal and reputational risk. 

3. AI-driven cybersecurity: Proactive defense in 2025

What is it?

As digital transformation accelerates, cybersecurity remains one of the most pressing concerns for organizations worldwide. Global conflicts, economic pressures and emerging technologies like GenAI are creating new vulnerabilities, increasing the likelihood of cyberattacks. By 2025, we expect cybersecurity solutions to be increasingly powered by AI, offering smarter and more proactive defenses against ever-evolving threats.

HCLTech’s recent Global Cyber Resilience Study 2024-25 reveals that over half of security leaders (57%) experienced a cyberattack in the past year, with North America (64%) and sectors such as Life Sciences and Healthcare (62%) particularly hard-hit.

Amit Jain, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Cybersecurity at HCLTech, emphasized the necessity for a strategic approach to cybersecurity, “Organizations need to think about security at the beginning of every project, not as an afterthought. When organizations align their security goals with business objectives, they create a more resilient structure,” he added. This cultural shift is essential for ensuring that security initiatives receive the necessary support and funding.

Traditional methods of cybersecurity — relying on static rules and human intervention — are no longer sufficient to combat the sophisticated cyberattacks of today. AI-driven cybersecurity will enable systems to detect and respond to threats in real-time, learning from previous attacks and adjusting their defenses accordingly. For instance, AI can identify anomalies in network traffic, flagging potential cyberattacks before they cause significant damage.

According to the report, 60% of organizations are expected to implement AI-based security solutions by 2025. This security-related trend will also give rise to more decentralized security models, where AI systems manage the security of individual devices and users across the network.

Challenges

• Model exploitation, data poisoning and AI‑generated social engineering increase risk.
• Alert fatigue and skills gaps persist; governance for AI models and data pipelines is immature.
• Fragmented tools and shadow AI create blind spots across endpoints, identities and SaaS.

Business benefit and how to achieve it:

Benefit: A secure and resilient enterprise

• Deploy AI‑assisted SOC: anomaly detection, autonomous response for low‑risk events and AI copilots for analysts
• Shift‑left security: integrate secure‑by‑design patterns, SBOM and model bills of materials (MBOM) and red‑team your AI
• Map controls to frameworks (such as NIST and ISO 27001) and measure MTTD/MTTR and attack path reduction

Projection for 2025

Security teams lean on AI for detection and triage while maturing AI governance. Expect consolidation to platforms with native AI, expanded behavior‑based controls for insider risk, and faster containment windows. 

4. Cloud advancements in 2025: Hybrid multicloud, edge and GenAI

What is it?

Cloud computing has already transformed the way businesses operate, but by 2025, its impact will be even more profound as cloud technologies evolve and become deeply integrated into digital enterprises.

HCLTech’s Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize report highlights key trends such as multicloud strategies, edge computing and cloud native applications, which will empower businesses to scale operations, innovate faster and reduce costs.

A major insight from the report is the growing connection between cloud and Generative AI (GenAI), where cloud platforms provide the computing power and data needed for AI models.

As Vijay Guntur, CTO and Head of Ecosystems at HCLTech, explained: “Generative AI has brought previously unimaginable possibilities and changes to an enterprise’s strategy and value streams while democratizing functions like software development and cloud transformation and enabling differentiated business capabilities. Enterprises require a unified data and AI strategy with the underlying cognitive infrastructure to effectively utilize structured and unstructured data for better insights and outcomes.”

The report also underscores the rising adoption of hybrid cloud strategies. Organizations are increasingly partnering with multiple cloud providers to optimize performance, mitigate risks, and leverage the unique strengths of different platforms — especially those offering industry-specific or sustainability solutions.

Edge computing will also play a crucial role, allowing businesses to process data closer to its source for faster, more efficient decision-making, especially in IoT and real-time applications. Traditional cloud architectures can hinder this agility, which is where hybrid multicloud ecosystems at the edge become transformative. HCLTech’s EdgeLITy offering simplifies the transition to edge-based solutions, enabling businesses to tailor their edge computing strategy to existing infrastructure and objectives.

Challenges

• Runaway spend and FinOps adoption gaps; cost visibility across multicloud is limited
• Data gravity, residency and sovereignty complicate unified data/AI strategies
• Skills shortages for cloud‑native, MLOps and edge orchestration

Business benefit and how to achieve it:

Benefit: AI-powered cloud solutions will drive greater automation, enhance decision-making, and deliver more personalized customer experiences; transforming industries and business operations alike.

• Standardize on hybrid multicloud landing zones, automate guardrails and policy‑as‑code
• Treat data and AI as one strategy: shared catalogues, vector/search and governance
• Push inference and streaming to the edge to reduce latency and align with use‑case SLAs

Projection for 2025

Cloud becomes the AI substrate. Enterprises expand multi‑cloud and edge patterns, optimize costs via FinOps and industrialize GenAI platforms on unified data estates. 

5. Total Experience (TX): Personalization that scales in 2025

What is it?

Total Experience (TX) is emerging as a crucial strategy for organizations to thrive in 2025, as businesses face intensifying competition and evolving consumer expectations. HCLTech's Total Experience report highlights how integrating customer, employee, user and multi-experiences can create a seamless, personalized environment that drives both satisfaction and growth.

According to the report, 64% of leaders are using GenAI to offer personalized assistance via chatbots that analyze previous customer interactions, purchases and other behaviors. These AI-driven systems leverage predictive capabilities to tailor content, recommend services and conduct scenario analyses, making interactions more relevant and impactful.

During a recent Trends and Insights interview, Rakshit Ghura, Senior Vice President and Global Business Head for Digital Workplace and Unified Service Management (USM) Services at HCLTech, highlighted GenAI’s transformative potential: “Generative AI promises a revolution that rivals even the industrial age in terms of its impact on people, businesses and the planet.” He emphasized that GenAI’s role extends beyond automation and efficiency, enabling organizations to create, measure and optimize sustainable, carbon-neutral strategies — a key tool for businesses focused on environmental goals.

As GenAI accelerates across sectors, its immediate benefits include boosting employee productivity, enhancing collaboration, fostering inclusion and advancing global sustainability efforts.

In 2025, technologies like AI, automation and immersive experiences will become even more ingrained, making personalized, emotionally resonant interactions critical across all touchpoints. Nearly two-thirds of business leaders agree that customers expect seamless cross-channel journeys, and over half believe personalization amplifies emotional impact.

To stay competitive, organizations must prioritize TX by creating new business models, embracing design-thinking cultures and introducing roles like “citizen developers.”

As Ashish Kumar Gupta, Chief Growth Officer at HCLTech, explained, “Expectations of experiences are being transformed by the generational shift, especially from younger generations who demand personalization from social media, mobile and other technologies.”

Challenges

• Data silos and stale profiles undermine personalization and journey orchestration
• Balancing privacy/consent with real‑time insights and governance of AI‑generated content
• Fragmented channel tooling and KPIs across CX, EX, UX teams

Business benefit and how to achieve it:

Benefit: An enterprise capable of delivering integrated, personalized experiences to not just stay competitive, but lead the market.

• Build a TX operating model uniting CX/EX/UX, standardize metrics (NPS, CSAT, EX, task success)
• Use first‑party data and consented enrichment, activate via CDP and real‑time decisioning
• Apply GenAI for guidance and content at scale with human‑in‑the‑loop quality control

Projection for 2025

Organizations scale personalized, cross‑channel TX with AI copilots and unified data, shifting from isolated projects to programmatic value creation across customers and employees.

A dynamic period ahead

The tech landscape in 2025 promises to be a dynamic period. From Agentic AI that drives smarter decision-making to accessibility tech that makes the digital world inclusive, these trends are set to shape the future of industries and society. As organizations embrace cloud computing and emerging possibilities of AI-driven cybersecurity, the future is full of exciting innovations.

In 2025, these innovations will continue to be at the heart of business strategy, enabling organizations to become more agile, secure and customer-centric in an increasingly connected world.

What else is shaping tech trends in 2025 and beyond

Quantum computing

• What is it? Computing based on quantum bits enabling new approaches to optimization, simulation and cryptography
• Projection for 2025: More pilots on chemistry, finance and logistics. IBM’s roadmap targets a fault‑tolerant system by 2029, keeping enterprise interest high

Spatial computing

• What is it? Blends digital and physical with AR/VR/MR devices for 3D collaboration, training and design
• Projection for 2025: Enterprise traction grows, even as consumer headsets remain niche

Advanced robotics

• What is it? Industrial, collaborative and mobile robots automating manufacturing, logistics and service tasks
• Projection for 2025: Installations remain strong in electronics/auto, with Asia leading and Europe/Americas expanding use of cobots and AMRs

Bio‑digital convergence

• What is it? Fusion of biotech, IT and engineering (genomics, AI and sensors) enabling precise, personalized solutions
• Projection for 2025: Wider clinical genomics pilots, bio‑digital standards work (IEC) and growth in wearables data streams

Trends in 5G/6G

• What is it? 5G scales capacity and latency, while 6G work advances under IMT‑2030.
• Projection for 2025: Ongoing 5G densification and enterprise private 5G, with 6G frameworks advancing toward standardization around 2030