Forrester’s Top Tech Trends for 2025: AI Agents Take Center Stage
Forrester’s annual report on emerging technologies has identified AI agents as a major trend for 2025, bringing both significant opportunities and risks for businesses. The market research firm highlights that new agent architectures enable AI tools to autonomously perform tasks for individuals and organizations, marking a substantial business opportunity.
However, the autonomy of AI agents also increases the risk of unpredictable behavior that may not align with human interests. Brian Hopkins, vice president of Forrester’s Emerging Tech portfolio, emphasizes the need for evolving ‘clear boundaries, governance, and trust frameworks’ alongside the technology.
While many tech companies have introduced AI agents and businesses have begun implementing them, Forrester predicts it will take a couple of years or more before the technology is safe and dependable enough for mainstream adoption. Other notable trends in the report include:
- Image and video-generating AI tools, expected to impact industries like marketing and retail significantly within the next five years.
- Humanoid robots, predicted to revolutionize businesses within five years despite current high R&D costs.
- Internet of Things security and synthetic data, highlighted as immediately impactful trends.
Forrester emphasizes that AI, in its various forms, will have the most pronounced social impact. The firm advises business leaders to prioritize investments that will drive business growth, innovation, and competitive advantage while balancing AI innovation with risk mitigation.
“As AI becomes ubiquitous, business and technology leaders should prioritize investments that will deliver the greatest impact for their organizations,” says Sharyn Leaver, Forrester’s chief research officer. “Enterprises that strategically balance AI innovation with risk mitigation will be the ones that successfully thrive and achieve sustainable growth.”
