The AI revolution continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, even amidst some skepticism this year of the business value it delivers. The allure of quick wins and immediate ROI from AI implementations has led many to overlook the necessity of a comprehensive, long-term business strategy and effective data management practices. But according to Forrester’s State Of AI Survey, 2024, two-thirds of the respondents believe that their organizations would require less than 50% return on investments to consider their AI investments successful, which points to a reality check. Enterprises must build a data and AI strategy that not only addresses business impact and ROI but also focuses on AI principles, governance, talent, operations, and activation of the appropriate use cases.
The journey of AI leaders in 2025 will be dominated by the the critical realization that there are no shortcuts to AI successm and it will be imperative to prepare for the grind. This year’s AI Predictions report highlights the importance of marrying data and AI strategies, bringing business and technical expertise together, and leveraging partners for excellence.
Here are three of our 2025 AI predictions:
- Most enterprises fixated on AI ROI will scale back prematurely. Amidst the enthusiasm for AI-driven transformation, a significant reset is looming. The expectation for immediate returns on AI investments will see many enterprises scaling back their efforts sooner than they should. This retreat risks stifling long-term growth and innovation as leaders realize that the ROI from AI will unfold over a more extended period than initially anticipated. To avoid this, AI leaders need differentiating use cases and a solid strategy that aligns with business aspirations and balances immediate gains with sustained ROI. This will fuel a virtuous cycle of reinvestment from early successes into future AI projects.
- Forty percent of highly regulated enterprises will combine data and AI governance. The complexity of AI governance, already intense due to rapid technological innovation and the absence of universal templates, standards, or certifications, is set to increase further. With stringent AI regulations coming into force, especially the EU AI Act in February 2025, along with a growing demand for transparent AI operations, highly regulated enterprises will unify their data and AI governance frameworks. This shift and convergence is required for more than just compliance — it represents a fundamental move toward a more integrated, transparent, accountable, and ethically responsible approach to AI.
- Three out of four firms that build aspirational agentic architectures on their own will fail. The next big piece of emerging tech in the world of AI is agentic AI, but enterprises with ambitions to build advanced agentic architectures themselves will meet significant hurdles. The challenge is that these architectures are convoluted, requiring diverse and multiple models, sophisticated retrieval-augmented generation stacks, advanced data architectures, and niche expertise. Mature companies will recognize these limitations and opt to collaborate with AI service providers and systems integrators, leveraging their expertise to build cutting-edge agentic solutions.
Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2025: Artificial Intelligence report to get more detail about each of these predictions, plus two more bonus predictions on the chief data officer’s evolving role and shift toward predictive AI. Set up a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions with myself and key contributors of this report to plan out your 2025 AI strategy that will set your organization up for success.
If you aren’t yet a client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guide, which covers our top predictions for 2025 across technology and security. Get additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2025 hub.
Source link
lol
