As Chief Technology Officer at Deloitte, you help clients anticipate the impact that emerging technologies may have on their business in the future. Based on your experience, what’s a tech trend on the verge of a breakthrough in 2025?
I’ve spent a lot of time hearing about the cross-industry experiences and real-world tech stories of my clients, and what I’ve found is that looking at how multiple trends are converging is much more important than focusing on a single trend. Individual technologies like spatial computing and quantum computing have seen new use cases and increased interest, and that will likely continue into 2025 and beyond, but understanding how those work with exigent systems and shift broader tech ecosystems is the crux of the story. It’s why in our annual Tech Trends report we focus on explaining the holistic changes that are moving new technologies from sensational to foundational. The multitude of elevating forces like spatial computing, AI and quantum that have made headlines this year play as much of a role as grounding forces like core modernization in a complete and balanced tech strategy – and together show how the future of IT is being redefined in 2025.
Deloitte’s Tech Trends 2025 report highlights how AI is “being woven into the fabric of our lives.” How do you see AI continuing to transform the way businesses operate in the short and long term?
In the past, AI was confined to a single trend in our annual Tech Trends report. This year, we’re seeing its impact across nearly all our trends. Rather than contain it to one chapter, AI is a foundational element in nearly every trend. We’re already seeing AI change how organizations deploy talent and resources in real time. It’s becoming essential to businesses, and as AI continues to converge with new technology and tools, its impact will create even more use cases.
Short term, we’re seeing AI integrate with hardware, robotics, and AR/VR tools to create AI embedded processes within teams and industries. Industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and more will all benefit from hardware convergence with AI – as simulations and testing will take on a whole new meaning. Technical engineering and developer teams stand to benefit from AI too, both in hardware and agentic models. Agents can help deploy technical IT talent and resources to the most pressing/important tasks, where hardware can help problem solve and process solutions at a higher, more precise rate – redefining how we use businesses use their critical IT talent.
Long term, AI’s ability to merge with cutting-edge technologies, like quantum computing, will unlock an entirely new era of encryption. This future isn’t as distant as many may think, and AI’s shifting role in work and life will play a pivotal role in how this next age of technology continues to shape up.
Additionally, the Tech Trends report states that the AI revolution will demand heavy energy and hardware resources. How can companies ensure they have the infrastructure required to support their AI needs?
As we move towards a future with AI embedded in core functions, the implications for hardware needs are huge. Leaders really need to make sure they have the right architecture in place to fully realize AI’s potential. Organizations operating with heavy technical debt build up, i.e., outdated legacy systems and patch work IT practices, won’t be able to reap the full functionality of AI. Modernized systems, tools, and practices are the minimum barrier to entry in an AI embedded world.
As AI becomes like electricity, critical but often unnoticed, organizations need to have the right systems/parameters in place. A modernized architecture is where all leaders need to start – understanding the places that are fully functioning along with the areas that need improvement. Starting there and working their way up to talent and training will ensure organizations are prepared to realize AI as a foundational force in business.
The report also puts a spotlight on quantum. While quantum computing is not new, a new era for quantum seems to be approaching. As the report notes, “the question isn’t if quantum computers are coming — it’s when.” How can companies start preparing today for the benefits and risks that quantum pose?
Quantum will change encryption at its core, and this future may not be far away. Although we don’t know exactly when, the time to prepare for widespread quantum adoption is now because of how complex it can be for organizations to safeguard their data and network against a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC). Enterprises that put off the cybersecurity hygiene that secures their tools, teams and network systems may not have time to catch up once that timeline becomes clearer.
Developing a holistic preparation approach ensures the right people and processes are in place to seamlessly integrate new encryption standards into all workflows. Start by prioritizing immediate intervention where needed. Establish governance and policy, understand your current cryptographic exposure, assess how best to prioritize remediation efforts across your infrastructure and supply chain, and build a comprehensive road map for internal updates and contractual mechanisms to ensure vendors meet the updated standards.
Leaders should look to new standards that NIST released in August 2024 that contain encryption algorithms organizations can implement to withstand attacks from quantum computers.
On the other hand, quantum computers are likely to bring significant benefits to a range of areas, such as drug discovery, financial modeling and other use cases that improve people’s lives. This is why enterprises should start hardening their defenses now so that they are prepared to reap the potential benefits of quantum computing without major disruption from its risks.
