The State of Tech: Key Innovations and Global Challenges Shaping This Year
We can already tell that certain tech industries are set for exponential growth this year - find out which tech trends to keep an eye on in the coming months.
Technology is at the center of everything we do and it never ceases to evolve. Certain tech industries are facing exponential growth, presenting innovative solutions, and providing new avenues for research and exploration.
From artificial intelligence, to clean, sustainable technology, and quantum computing, the topics are vast. Hence, in this article, we’ll be covering the current state of tech, focusing on what we can expect from 2025.
We’ll also be taking a retrospective look into 2024, and analyzing some of the tech trends that showed immense growth and continue to revolutionize the industry today, as well as exploring the political and economic impacts on tech industry growth.
Tech Trends to Expect in 2025
We’re reaching the end of the first month of 2025 and can already tell that certain tech industries are set for exponential growth. Some of them comprise:
2024 in Retrospective: The Major Top 5 Tech Trends
Although technology is ever-evolving, many of last year’s trends are expected to continue to grow this year, continuously influencing our daily lives and changing the current technological landscape. As we look at 2024 retrospectively, here are the 5 tech trends that left their mark last year:
Generative AI Integration
Artificial intelligence remains the biggest, most prominent trend in the tech industry.?
According to a study by Vention, in 2024, over 80% of businesses have embraced some form of AI and considered it a core technology within their organizations. As AI-based automation can be applied to virtually any business decision, these numbers will likely continue to climb.
AI is revolutionizing healthcare, finance, retail, and a wide range of companies within many other industries, both big and small. Indeed, the combination of open-source AI solutions, lower implementation costs, and reduced system complexity has allowed for an easier democratization of AI.
Companies take advantage of AI to boost customer experience, implement personalized marketing campaigns, create educational content, write complex code, and analyze vast amounts of data.
In 2024, we’ve seen a shift from general-purpose AI models to generative ones, which encompass domain-specific implementations that address particular needs. Tech giants, such as Amazon and Google, greatly contributed with several innovations in Gen AI.
Microsoft, for instance, has incorporated GPT-4 capabilities into Microsoft 365 creating the Copilot feature. It provides real-time intelligence that enables users to complete tasks more efficiently, improve productivity, and enhance the overall work experience.?
From a business perspective, users get content relevant to their work tasks, such as writing, summarizing meetings, and answering questions; all in the context of their work in their Microsoft 365 application.
Edge Computing
The world is becoming increasingly more digital with an obvious growth in data-heavy tech, the personal and enterprise use of IoT, remote health monitoring, and remote work, as just a few examples. This requires IT infrastructure with more processing power than ever.
To address this need, companies are resorting to edge computing, which physically moves the processing power closer to the source of data, improving response times and saving bandwidth. In fact, companies want to reduce their dependence on cloud computing due to its high costs and significant resource demands, especially those who deal with large amounts of data.
By transitioning to edge computing, companies not only reduce their cloud computing bill, but also reduce bandwidth transmissions, provide a faster user experience to end-users, decrease latency, and manage to analyze data a lot faster.
CleanTech and Green IT
Clean technology has gained a lot of momentum in 2024. In fact, $200 billion was invested in Cleantech companies last year alone. Sustainable technology is now a must-have in enterprise IT strategy and not just something nice to show.
A good example of this is Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s GreenLake platform. This hybrid approach to cloud services relies on optimized hardware that prioritizes energy efficiency, allowing companies to minimize their environmental impact while maintaining optimal performance levels.
It even gives companies access to a sustainability dashboard that provides insightful analytics on IT energy consumption, carbon emissions, electricity costs, and more.
The cleantech and green IT trend is more than just about the final product. It encompasses the entire IT lifecycle, incorporating eco-friendly procurement, ethical hardware disposal, and the adoption of renewable energy in data center operations.
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AI-Powered Cybersecurity
Cybercrime remains an ongoing and escalating threat and the previously existing security approaches were insufficient against modern threats. From simple online job scams to complex cybersecurity attacks, when it comes to cybercrime, being well protected is the ultimate goal.
Hence why companies are investing in more sophisticated, AI-powered solutions to detect and stop any attack in its early stages.
AI-powered tools can recognize attacks before human operators and respond to threats in real time. Because AI is self-learning, these cybersecurity tools can understand how business operations function normally and easily identify any anomaly that could indicate a security breach.
Investing in AI-powered cybersecurity measures is cost-efficient in the long run. A 2024 IBM report disclosed that companies using AI cybersecurity tools and automation in prevention save $2.22 million compared to those who don’t use these solutions.
Quantum Computing
Quantum computing allows data to exist in two states at the same time and its main goal is to increase computation speed. Complex calculations that might take our computers thousands of years to solve could be solved in minutes with quantum computing.
This industry has faced several technological and financial issues but, last, year, it has finally picked up some momentum and the world might be finally close to achieving real-world applications for this type of computing.
Currently, in the lead of the quantum computing race is IBM with its quantum computer Osprey, boasting 433 qubits. The company hopes to evolve this computer to 4,000 qubits by 2025. IBM? also offers cloud access to quantum computing systems and development tools through their Quantum program, for quantum algorithm experimentation.
There’s a lot of anticipation regarding the potential impact of this technology.?
McKinsey reports that quantum computing will provide its highest value in the life sciences (simulating chemical processes, optimizing pharmaceutical designs, and advancing the development of custom medical treatment) and financial (drastically reducing market risks, improving fraud detection, and speeding up customer onboarding) sectors.
Political and Economic Impacts on Tech Industry Growth
The development and growth of the technological industry are shaped by the interplay of current economic and political forces.?
In the realm of politics, regulation and policy play a significant role, with governments enacting stricter data privacy laws such as GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California and drafting frameworks like the EU’s AI Act and U.S. executive orders to ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Government policies and incentives are shaping the technology landscape through initiatives like climate-focused investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and sustainable tech (e.g., the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act), as well as public-private partnerships in quantum computing, space exploration, and telecommunications.?
Simultaneously, regulation of misinformation and hate speech is influencing platform algorithms, while authoritarian regimes, such as China, emphasize surveillance and censorship technologies.?
On the global stage, competition intensifies with countries racing for semiconductor supremacy through efforts like the U.S. CHIPS Act, alongside ambitious advancements in space exploration driven by both public agencies and private companies.
Economic influences are shaping the tech industry through investment trends, with venture capital and private investment fluctuating based on interest rates and market conditions, leading to increased funding in areas like AI, fintech, and biotech during strong markets.?
Governments also play a role, investing in technologies through initiatives such as the EU's Green Deal.?
Meanwhile, corporate spending is influenced by economic pressures like inflation and supply chain disruptions, prompting the adoption of cost-saving technologies such as AI-driven automation and cloud computing.?
Finally, consumer behavior is impacted by economic conditions, with demand for emerging tech products, such as electric vehicles and smart devices, varying based on economic factors, and a focus on cost-effective solutions like SaaS and open-source platforms.
How Will These Trends Affect Recruitment in Tech?
The aforementioned trends directly influence market and hiring trends. Looking at the big picture, it’s clear that companies have begun seeking specialized employees who bring specific, valuable skills rather than generalists who lack deep knowledge in any particular area.
Experts are more adept at managing the complex challenges associated with specialized fields. Some of the most sought-after skills will include AI proficiency, data science, IT operations and support, cybersecurity and privacy, and technology process automation.
This will likely translate into an increase in the demand for roles such as AI/machine learning analysts and engineers, business intelligence developers, cybersecurity engineers, data and DevOps engineers, network/cloud engineers, and digital transformation consultants. Some of these roles might be particularly hard to recruit because of their complexity.
The State of Tech: Key Innovations and Global Challenges Shaping This Year - Final Considerations
Looking ahead, it's clear that the tech industry isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With a strong focus on solving some of today’s biggest challenges and plenty of funding available for the companies that succeed, the pace of innovation is set to keep going.?
The technology trends we’ve covered here will play a huge part in shaping our future, impacting everything from how we live and work to how we tackle global problems. As these trends continue to evolve, they’ll surely help drive progress and open up exciting new possibilities for what’s to come.
When it comes to the challenges that these trends pose to recruitment for your project, you can count on KWAN to quickly help you find the specialists that perfectly match your team. Get in touch with us and let’s assess the needs of your project together.