The 2025 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies: Shaping the Autonomous Business Landscape
Gartner has unveiled its latest insights with the 2025 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, illustrating significant trends that support the evolution towards what they term the "autonomous business." This report shines a light on core technological innovations—including machine customers, AI agents, decision intelligence, and programmable money—each poised to redefine business practices in the coming decade.
Understanding the Hype Cycle
The Gartner Hype Cycle serves as a visual framework for understanding the maturity and adoption stages of emerging technologies. It maps how these innovations evolve in relevance, especially in the contexts of business problem-solving and opportunity identification. This methodology aids organizations in evaluating the trajectory of new technologies in alignment with their strategic objectives.
Marty Resnick, Vice President Analyst at Gartner, speaks to the sea change experienced as digital transformation gives way to disruptions steered by artificial intelligence and automation. He states that CIOs must strategically assess how these emerging technologies can not only create competitive advantages but also drive efficiency and foster new growth.
Key Trends in the 2025 Hype Cycle
Machine Customers: The Future of Transactions
One of the most striking trends identified is the emergence of machine customers. These nonhuman economic actors—ranging from virtual assistants to IoT-enabled devices—are set to transform how businesses interact with their clientele. Gartner reports that there are already three billion connected machines capable of acting as customers, a figure projected to surge to eight billion by the end of the decade.
Resnick emphasizes the importance of adapting business models in light of this shift. He notes, "Machine customers will play an important role in industries like manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods, unlocking new revenue and efficiency opportunities." Organizations that do not adapt may find themselves at a severe disadvantage in this evolving landscape.
AI Agents: Automating the Future of Decision Making
AI agents represent another transformative force on the horizon. These sophisticated software entities are designed to perceive, make decisions, and act within both digital and physical environments, leveraging tools like large language models. They are being deployed across a diverse range of sectors, including consumer services, logistics, and content creation.
Despite their potential, Gartner highlights a significant hurdle: trust in AI agents. The readiness of these systems to execute critical decisions without human oversight remains a concern. Organizations are encouraged to evaluate the strategic relevance of AI agents as they become increasingly capable and embedded in business processes.
Decision Intelligence: Bridging Insight and Action
The discipline of decision intelligence emerges as a powerful tool to enhance decision-making quality within organizations. By modeling and digitizing decision-making processes, this approach addresses the ongoing gap between insight and action. Continuous feedback loops aim to refine decision quality, making organizations more agile and responsive.
Christian Stephan, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, underscores the pressing need for improved decision-making frameworks amid evolving technological landscapes. He points out, "Agentic AI and generative AI hype, regulatory pressures on decision automation, and recent global uncertainty have revealed weaknesses in traditional business processes." As such, organizations are increasingly demanding decision-making processes that are not only fast and high-quality but also consistent and compliant, capable of navigating complexity.
Programmable Money: The New Currency Landscape
Finally, programmable money stands out as a pivotal trend identified by Gartner. Defined as digital currency governed by software logic— often through blockchain and smart contracts—this innovation is anticipated to reshape financial interactions. Organizations wishing to transact with machine customers will find participation in programmable money not just advantageous but essential.
Stephan describes programmable money as a game changer for the financial sector, enabling new forms of currency and asset exchange. He notes, "It drives innovation in value creation, financing, and asset exchange, including machine-to-machine trading, reshaping supply and financial value chains."
Navigating a New Era of Disruption
As we stand on the brink of this new era characterized by rapid technological advancements, senior IT and business leaders must navigate the challenges presented by automation and artificial intelligence. The four trends highlighted in Gartner’s Hype Cycle are set to usher in significant changes across industries, prompting organizations to rethink their strategies and embrace the future of autonomous business.