The information technology market size has seen strong growth in recent years. Until 2029 it is expected to grow to 13,176.84 billion USD at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% according to recent global market reports. The expected growth can be attributed to factors such as the mobile revolution and digital transformation, growth of software development and services, open-source movement and cybersecurity concerns. Worldwide IT spending is expected to reach a total of 5.61 trillion USD in 2025. This represents an increase of 9.8% from 2024, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. However, a significant portion of the budget growth will be absorbed by increasing prices – therefore the true budget will be close to the last years.
The strongest growth is expected in segments including data center systems and software, due to generative AI (GenAI) related hardware and software upgrades, as well as due to security concerns and measurements. On the other hand, reports indicate that CIOs are expecting the lowest IT headcount growth since 2011, and they are struggling to upskill their personnel to meet new skills requirements for growing IT segments such as AI.
We have asked CEOs, CTOs and IT experts around the globe to share their insights and expectations about the technology trends and demands that will most significantly influence the IT market in 2025. Their insights show: they see two key areas of influence: “AI” and “Cybersecurity”.
AI related opportunities and challenges will be key in 2025
Democratization of AI vs abilities needed
Tomohiro Sekiguchi, CEO of Brainpad
Balancing innovative approaches and AI Governance
2025 will be the year of getting AI under control – or, in other words, AI governance. Now that organizations know the value of getting AI into production, they realize that controlling cost, quality, and access is critical for making the most of the technology. 2025 will also be the year AI is overused. As the expression goes, to someone who holds a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But after everyone better understands the limitations and costs of AI, I see people often returning to classic analytics and text analysis methods that are cheaper, easier to control and more reliable. The most powerful and innovative approaches will combine those classics with new techniques.
Michael Berthold – CEO of KNIME
The importance of AI Orchestration
Mateusz Majewski, Area Vice President of UiPath in Poland
Computing Power needed for AI
Louis Tian, CTO of KAYTUS
AI benefits will call for more AI skills
Sophie Chelmik, Executive Vice President EMEA, TDCX
AI trends & challenges at-a-glance
- Democratization of AI is expected to make AI easier and more accessible
- While AI enables innovation, there is a strong need for AI Governance
- Tools to support AI ethics will also become a growing requirement
- Automation through AI will enable a significant productivity boost
- Effective orchestration will depend on how humans and AI agents work together
- AI benefits will call for more AI skills among the workforce
- AI applications will require more computing power
- Both AI benefits and limitations will become more apparent
- The most powerful and innovative approaches to utilize AI will combine classic and new techniques
Cybersecurity stays a priority in the light of growing threats
The rise of cybercrime makes cyber resilience a priority
Cybercrime is projected to cost the global economy US$12 trillion in 2025, ranking as the third largest “economy” worldwide. Businesses must prioritize cyber resilience as digital transformation accelerates. Three key trends dominate: increasingly sophisticated ransomware with multi-extortion tactics, AI-powered threats enabling scalable, personalized attacks, and geopolitical tensions fracturing digital ecosystems. Emerging threats include IoT device vulnerabilities and quantum computing’s potential to break encryption. To counter these challenges, organizations should focus on proactive measures such as regular security assessments, AI-enabled defences, robust supply chain security, and collaboration with governments and industry to share threat intelligence. A multi-faceted approach is essential to adapt to the evolving threat landscape, avoid disruption, and build long-term resilience against rising cyber risks.
Teo Xiang Zheng, VP of Advisory, Ensign InfoSecurity
Cyberthreats affect more and more areas of our lives
William Dalton, Vice President & Managing Director Europe, VicOne
Overall efficiency of tools is key to cybersecurity
In 2025, the organizations will address increased complexity by reducing the number of cybersecurity tools in use, and shifting to a unified platform, offering enhanced visibility and control. The ongoing cyber skills shortage will continue to accelerate this trend. A unified platform will provide end-to-end visibility and context, spanning code repositories, cloud workloads, networks, and SOCs. Ultimately this creates a more holistic security architecture with fewer dashboards. The convergence of all security layers onto a unified platform will optimize resources, improve overall efficiency, and enable organizations to build more resilient, adaptive defenses against evolving threats.
Simon Green, President Asia Pacific and Japan, Palo Alto Networks
Security concerns and trends at-a-glance
- Cybercrime is projected to cost the global economy US$12 trillion in 2025
- This makes it the third largest “economy” worldwide
- Cyberthreats are affecting both industries and our everyday life
- AI-powered threats enabling scalable, personalized attacks
- Proactive security measures and regular security assessments are called for
- AI-enabled defenses can help to counterbalance AI-powered threats
- Threat detection and real-time protection gains importance
- Integrated cybersecurity tools and holistic security architectures can help offsetting the increased complexity of cyber attacks
- Multi-faceted approaches are essential to adapt to the evolving threat landscape
Conclusion
Market forecasts from analysts like Gartner expect the strongest growth for information technology in segments including data center systems and software, due to generative AI (GenAI) related hardware and software upgrades, as well as due to security concerns and measurements. On the other hand, reports indicate that CIOs are expecting the lowest IT headcount growth since 2011, and they are struggling to upskill their personnel to meet new skills requirements for growing IT segments such as AI.
These predictions match the trends and challenges the IT experts we talked to reported. Cybersecurity remains one of the most pressing challenges across markets and industries. The ever-evolving threat landscape requires more sophisticated security strategies in the constant race between security risks and security measurements.
The fastest growing IT segment is without a doubt AI related. AI opens new ways to increase productivity and innovation but on the other hand demands responsible and strategic application including governance and ethics.
Both key segments – security and AI – see a lack of skilled professionals – so up-skilling the existing workforces will be a key demand in 2025.
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