Where is the business technology landscape heading for 2025 and beyond? 

Was it only a quarter of a century ago we were all consumed with the millenium bug and the possibility of the end of technology as we knew it? Apparently so, but thankfully, that didn’t happen and there’s a lesson there for us all; don’t catastrophize when it comes to technology, we’ll be ok.  

However, we are again at an inflexion point. Facing a business technology landscape poised for, and in need of, significant change. The nascent AI offerings are starting to mature and will become critical to an organization’s success. AI is, of course, just one part of the technology revolution as systems require structure and predictability, as such data management and governance will continue to play a crucial role both in helping present the framework for the topical application of AI as well as that data becoming the fuel for this new technology to really embed itself in your organization. 

AI: Evolving from mundane bots or wildly creative image or text generators to purposeful business-critical process enablers 

In 2024, AI got everyone hyped and excelled at streamlining creativity, tasks that didn’t need the bounds of reality or nuanced context for accuracy. We coined the term ‘prompt engineer’, which quickly became the new ‘data scientist’, as the go to university grads dream job. It’s an exciting time playing with these new toys, but questions remain, and can we make the leap to really handling nuanced, business-critical processes in 2025?  

Perhaps the best answer to where we are heading is in adoption rates. Gartner (2024) identified that 44% of CEOs had used a popular AI service to help in their work, the only time they have seen adoption anywhere close to this was the iPad, when 40% of CEOs had started using it in the first 6 months after release [1]. An interesting comparison of the appetite that is being driven from the top down.
 

AI-powered automation is set to transform various business processes, from finance and human resources to supply chain and customer service. In 2025, we’ll see AI handling tasks that require judgment and decision-making, moving beyond simple rule-based automation. However, the transition won’t be without challenges. Organizations will need to carefully integrate AI into their existing workflows and processes, ensuring that it complements rather than disrupts.

Corporate Readiness for Change 

While the potential for AI-driven transformation is immense, there is an elephant in the room. Many, if not most, large corporations are still running legacy ERP systems, even if transformed into the cloud, the premise is still based on outdated 1980s technology approaches. This has posed, and continues to pose, significant barriers to change. We’re all familiar with IT project lifecycles in years, not weeks, and building AI into such cumbersome infrastructure is not going to be magically solve this. An IBM article identified that 77% of execs say they need to adopt GenAI quickly to compete, but only 25% agree their organization has the IT infrastructure to support it [2].

Organizations must think bigger when it comes to digital transformation. Updating core systems should not mean moving to the cloud version of the same stale product, but basing their future in technology built with the agility to ensure change can continue to be made and integrating seamlessly with new technologies that are trailed and productionized quickly. This requires a significant change in mindset for organizations and staff, and significant investment in both technology and change management. 

Successful companies in 2025 will be those that embrace this flexibility and engage proactively with modern platforms and AI technologies. They will need to foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, breaking down silos between departments to facilitate seamless integration of new technologies. ‘Change manager’ should really be the university grads dream job, the new ‘prompt engineer’, as they are often the missing glue that’s needed to make a modern, innovative, agile organization tick!  

The evolution of organizational data assets (data lakes) in this AI world 

The concept of data lakes has evolved significantly. Once touted as a solution for storing vast amounts of unstructured data, data lakes are now rarely spoken of. The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) has shifted the focus from in-house organizational data to already modelled public, generic data. Imagine relying on the average response on the internet for your decision-making, a scary prospect.
 

The real breakthrough will come for those organizations who can combine the power of generic LLMs with context-rich organizational data, putting those data lakes to work! This fusion could lead to AI systems that truly understand the nuances of a specific organization and its place in the world, making AI significantly more useful for business-critical process challenges. 

How to prepare your organization for this exciting future 

I love a revolution, but we are in need of a good shake-up at a minimum. Organizational structures need to evolve significantly as we’re still very much stuck in the old way of doing things. To prepare for this future, here are a few takeouts: 

1. Skills Development: Organizations must invest heavily in upskilling and reskilling their workforce. Technical skills for those who need it are important of course, but the soft skills that will enable workers to thrive are key. Adaptability and critical thinking are the key to an empowered and enabled workforce.
2. Adaptive Organizational Structures: Companies need to create more flexible, project-based structures that can quickly adapt to technological changes. We need to stop thinking about the old school department structure, and start to bring in the short-lifespan pods with the right mix of people and skills for the specific project at hand.  
3. Collaborative Ecosystems: Businesses should be looking to foster partnerships with tech companies, startups, and academic institutions to stay at the forefront of technological advancements. This brings many benefits such as new revenue streams and empowered workers getting new skills, but more importantly ensures your organization gets a seat at the table to get a platform that truly works for you. A little time and knowledge from your team is a small price to pay for the innovative market-leading systems you’ll be getting hold of first!

Conclusion:

So, let’s lose the blinkers of the past, let’s imagine how the organization should work without the shackles of our legacy approaches (whilst still keeping good governance of course). Let’s embrace the opportunity to be on top as this era-defining transition unfolds. And be bold in your choices, as if you’re not the competition, that may not even exist yet, will be! 

[1] https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/how-your-ceo-is-thinking-about-ai#:~:text=The%20next%20theme%20of%20business,distant%20second%2C%20with%209%25.

[2] https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/business-trends-2025