IDC FutureScape: Worldwide IT Industry 2025 Predictions

IDC FutureScape Figure

• Figure: IDC FutureScape: Worldwide IT Industry 2025 Top 10 Predictions

Executive Summary

IDC FutureScape Predictions

• Summary of External Drivers

• Predictions: Impact on Technology Buyers

• Prediction 1: By 2026, 75% of G1000 Organizations Will Adopt Value-Based AI Economics Models Covering Tech Acquisition Cost, Productivity Gains, Decision-Making, and Innovation, or Risk Missing New ROI Benchmarks

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 2: By 2027, Without Strategic and Organizational Pivots, Frustration with Low ROI Due to Poor Planning and Misallocated Spending Will Cause 30% of Organizations to Reduce GenAI Investments

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 3: By 2027, Regulations and the Need to Ensure Availability for AI-Enhanced Apps Will Force 65% of CIOs to Adopt Unified Cyber-Recovery and HA Practices Across Their Infrastructure, Data, and AI Platforms

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 4: By 2027, More than 60% of Businesses Will Have Modernized up to 50% of Their Cloud Architecture to Encourage Infrastructure and Cost Efficiency and Enable Business and Technical Innovation

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 5: By 2026, the Use of Data-as-a-Product Architectures Will Significantly Break Down Data Silos in 50% of Large Enterprises

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 6: By 2025, 50% of Organizations Will Use Enterprise Agents Configured for Specific Business Functions, Instead of Focusing on Individual Copilot Technologies to Achieve Faster Business Value from AI

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 7: By 2028, 80% of Enterprises Will Require Providers of AI-Enabled Products to Enable Diversified Delivery of Inferencing from Core to End Device with Tunable Cost and Digital Sovereignty Guardrails

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 8: By 2026, 60% of Enterprises Will Implement Sustainable AI Frameworks, Leveraging Data-Driven Decisions to Scale AI Operations Across Datacenter Locations While Meeting Decarbonization Goals

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 9: By Early 2028, 75% of Composite AI Apps Used by Enterprises Will Be Constructed on a Unified Platform Framework That Ensures Trusted and Efficient Use of Code, Data, and Infrastructure Resources

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 10: Driven by the Adoption of New AI-Enabled Work Models, 95% of Current IT and LOB Job Roles Will Be Redefined or Eliminated by 2030

• Associated Drivers

• Contributing/Complementary Predictions

• IT Impact

• Guidance

Advice for Technology Buyers

External Drivers: Detail

• AI-Driven Business Models — Moving from AI Experimentation to Monetization

• The Drive to Automate — Toward a Data-Driven Future

• Future Proofing Against Environmental Risks — ESG Operationalization and Risk Management

• AI-Driven Workplace Transformation — Building Tomorrow's Workforce Today

• Regulatory Flux — Navigating Compliance Challenges in a Shifting Policy Landscape

• Expanding Digital Security Frontiers — Fortification Against Multiplying Threats

• Geoeconomic Reordering — Rethinking Globalization, Supply Chains, and Macroeconomic Challenges

• Battling Against Technical Debt — Overcoming Hurdles to IT Modernization

• Customer Experience Squared — Consumer and Citizen Expectations for Digital Services