Artificial Intelligence – growing trend in importance from 2024 to 2025
McKinsey 2025 Research
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- AI agents are the technologies that matter most for companies in 2025.
- AI stands out not only as a powerful technology wave on its own but also as a foundational amplifier of other trends.
- Autonomous systems, including physical robots and digital AI agents, are moving from pilot projects to practical applications.
Which frontier technologies matter most for companies in 2025? According to McKinsey research, there are 13 new frontier technologies that matter most to companies, including agentic AI.
Also: How AI agents can generate $450 billion by 2028 – and what stands in the way
Research from other industry analyst firms validate the economic impact of AI, including a $450 billion market associated with agentic AI by 2028. This year’s technology developments highlight a future where technology is more adaptive, collaborative, and essential for solving global problems.
McKinsey saw this across various fields, from the increasing prevalence of robotics and autonomous systems to the critical need for responsible AI innovations. McKinsey identified a set of themes that capture the impact of these frontier technologies, including:
- The rise of autonomous systems – Autonomous systems, including physical robots and digital agents, are moving from pilot projects to practical applications. Autonomous AI agents are now enabling companies to be built like a stealth aircraft.
- New human-machine collaboration models – Human-machine interaction is entering a new phase defined by more natural interfaces, multimodal inputs, and adaptive intelligence.
- Scaling challenges – The surging demand for compute-intensive workloads — especially from gen AI, robotics, and immersive environments — is creating new demands on global infrastructure.
- Regional and national competition – Global competition over critical technologies has intensified. Countries and corporations have doubled down on sovereign infrastructure, localized chip fabrication, and funding technology initiatives such as quantum labs.
- Scale and specialization are growing simultaneously – Growth on these vectors is enabled by innovation in cloud services and advanced connectivity.
- Responsible innovation imperatives – As technologies become more powerful and more personal, trust is increasingly the gatekeeper to adoption.
The AI Revolution – Agentic AI
McKinsey
The 13 frontier tech trends
- Agentic AI – Agentic AI is an artificial intelligence system capable of independently planning and executing complex, multistep tasks. Built on foundation models, these agents can autonomously perform actions, communicate with one another, and adapt to new information. Significant advancements have emerged, from general agent platforms to specialized agents designed for deep research. Companies like Salesforce have already realized over one million AI conversations powered by agentic AI, with incredible business results in 2025.
- Artificial intelligence – Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. These systems leverage algorithms, data, and computational power to recognize patterns, make decisions, and learn from experiences. Research from MuleSoft validates the importance of AI as a key digital transformation trend for 2025.
- Application-specific semiconductors – Application-specific semiconductors are purpose-built chips optimized to perform specialized tasks. Unlike general-purpose semiconductors, they are engineered to handle specific workloads (such as large-scale AI training and inference tasks) while optimizing performance characteristics, including offering superior speed, energy efficiency, and performance.
- Advanced connectivity – Advanced connectivity covers a suite of evolving technologies that enhance and expand digital communication networks. This includes wireless low-power networks, 5G and emerging 6G cellular systems, Wi-Fi 6 and 7 standards, and low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites.
- Cloud and edge computing – Cloud and edge computing involve distributing workloads across locations, from hyperscale remote data centers to regional hubs and local nodes. This approach optimizes performance by addressing factors such as latency, data transfer costs, data sovereignty, and data security.
- Immersive-reality technologies – Immersive-reality technologies encompass augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) and include AR smart glasses, advanced haptic feedback, and AI-powered enhancements that improve rendering, tracking, and processing capabilities.
- Digital trust and cybersecurity – Digital trust and cybersecurity covers technologies and practices designed to ensure secure, transparent, and trustworthy digital interactions. This includes identity verification, data protection, encryption, threat detection, and blockchain-based trust systems.
- Quantum technologies – Quantum-based technologies use the unique properties of quantum mechanics to execute certain complex calculations exponentially faster than classical computers; secure communication networks; and produce sensors with higher sensitivity levels than their classical counterparts.
- Future of robotics – The future of robotics covers the advancement of robotics capable of performing tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously, adapting to new, real-life inputs with increasing degrees of autonomy and dexterity, including autonomous mobile robots and humanoid robots.
- Future of mobility – Mobility technologies include autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, drones, urban air mobility solutions (such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft), and micromobility (such as e-scooters and e-bikes). These technologies aim to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of transportation systems.
- Future of bioengineering – Bioengineering is the application of engineering principles to biology, utilizing technological advancements (for example, gene editing and synthetic biology) to improve health and human performance, transform food value chains, and create innovative offerings.
- Future of space technologies – Space technologies cover satellite systems, launch vehicles, habitation modules, and exploration missions, including LEO satellite constellations, direct-to-device connectivity integrating space assets with terrestrial networks, and Earth observation.
- Future of energy and sustainability technologies – Energy and sustainability technologies encompass a broad spectrum of innovations aimed at transforming the global energy landscape toward a more sustainable and resilient future. This includes the spectrum of technologies transforming the global energy value chain, particularly focusing on clean electrons, electrification, and clean molecules.
Talent and labor markets – Agentic AI
McKinsey 2025 Research
Also: A million customer conversations with AI agents yielded this surprising lesson
The healthiest companies of the future are autonomous companies. Autonomous companies utilize a hybrid workforce, embracing AI-first strategies and digital labor to scale speed, scale, and intelligence. When done right, AI agents will unlock unprecedented value creation opportunities with non-linear positive impact that can only be realized via autonomous AI agents.
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