If 2024 was defined by AI adoption and compliance with new regulations, 2025 will be the year these trends have a real-world impact—bringing tough, unpredictable challenges and unforeseen obstacles.
Regulations such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) have already brought financial services up to a higher, and much-needed, standard of cyber resiliency. And the UK is set to follow suit in March, with its own DORA act. However, unapproved or unnecessary AI adoption can risk both security and compliance. Firms are uncertain about their strategy in this rapidly changing landscape, with 70% admitting that they have “organisational chaos” within their organisation.
While the path ahead may seem daunting, understanding the landscape is key to navigating these challenges. Here are Software AG’s top business and technology trends for 2025.
Proprietary data will become an AI differentiator in 2025
Generalized AI models offered a competitive advantage for those who were the first to adopt them, but implementing the tech has become a prerequisite for competing in today’s marketplace. In other words, AI in itself isn’t a differentiator, but the way that it’s used certainly is. Companies need to keep their ‘value wedge’ (or their differences from the wider industry in the ways they do business) central to their AI strategies.
Training models on proprietary historical data attunes them to a specific organisation’s nuances, yielding hyper-focused outputs and predictive analytics that are far more likely to serve business goals than blanket advice. If data is king, context is its crown, and there’s no better way to validate AI outputs than keeping its training environment airtight and focused entirely on your company.
Business leaders will start to treat AI as an embedded practice
And not just as a new technology either. A frenzy of AI investment in 2024, 2025 will be marked by a greater sense of urgency from upper management in operationalizing these shiny new tools in not-so-shiny ways. AI’s most useful applications will likely be invisible to most, potentially causing fatigue among workers to whom it has been hyped as the “next big thing.” A fundamental shift in the way that decision-makers think of AI will be needed—it has to be seen not just as a technology, but as an embedded organizational practice that’s rarely given a second thought.
In other words, AI needs to be integrated in a way that’s pervasive and effective yet seamless and unseen. Understanding its many nuances will be a quality that’s emblematic of future CEOs. Decision-makers need to grasp not just technical skills like how to train a model, but also discern how models operate at their cores, anticipate the ripple effects of integration across functions, and tailor workflows accordingly to maximize the tools at their disposal.
Training leaders on AI fundamentals: the ‘MBAI’
In 2025, advanced AI training – or what I’d like to think of as an ‘MBAI’ – will be a differentiator for business leaders. Those who overlook the fundamental changes that AI can bring to operations will miss critical opportunities in an increasingly competitive landscape. To succeed, organisations need CEOs and leaders who not only understand the fundamentals of AI, but also appreciate its value propositions, associated risks, and success stories.
Continuous development and learning will be essential for leaders navigating the complexities of AI. One core skill that leaders must cultivate is the ability to communicate and champion the vision for AI as they bring their teams along on their journeys. A top-level understanding of the AI domain will enable leaders to articulate what they’re doing, why it matters, and how it will impact both the organisation and its employees.
AI is often quite misunderstood, scary, and demotivating to employees who perceive it as a threat rather than an opportunity. To overcome this, leaders must prioritize clear communication, technological proficiency, and emotional intelligence, helping employees understand AI’s implications and the disruption it may cause. By fostering an environment of trust and transparency, leaders can turn scepticism into enthusiasm, empowering teams to contribute to refining the AI strategy.
The road ahead
Something that business leaders should be getting used to by now is that change is the only constant. Finding success in this evolving landscape depends on organisations’ ability to simplify processes, enhance efficiency, and remain agile in the face of new challenges.
The latest Reality Check report offers a key lesson for 2025: maintain clarity – of systems and structures – to stay flexible. This adaptability enables businesses to turn challenges—such as AI integration and its associated risks—into opportunities for growth and transformation.
