Wondering what’s ahead in the new year? Unconscious AI integration, cybersecurity, personalisation, connectivity, and sustainability will shape the next 12 months, according to this Australian tech executive.
narrative and cyber taking centre stage. Image: Getty
As we head for the new year, there is reason for optimism in Australia. There are certainly some economic challenges, but inflation is trending lower and Australia’s economy continues to show its resilience. New technologies, and particularly AI, will play a role in building that resilience, while continuing to reshape the way we live and work. So what are we likely to see in 2025? Here are five trends that are likely to reshape the year ahead:
Unconscious AI integration
AI will be everywhere in 2025, and in many cases it’s growth will be so subtle that we won’t even notice it. AI is no longer the preserve of IT specialists. It’s transforming everyone’s lives. For many, it will just appear, integrated into new software suites and hardware systems.
Many AI applications are quite intuitive, which means many organisations will see at least some productivity gains by doing little more than updating their software and refreshing their hardware. HP’s most recent Work Relationship Index (WRI) found that AI usage among knowledge workers surged to 66% in 2024, with 71% of Australian respondents citing productivity as the top benefit.
In the coming twelve months, Australian organisations will spend time figuring out how best to turn AI to their advantage, designing AI applications around specific use cases, while making them as straightforward as using dropdown menus that create specific outcomes. The productivity benefits of tech are most powerful when it’s easy to use. That’s why the challenge will be to make the AI experience more human. We should be able to simply chat with AI using natural language and receive helpful responses and actions.
Cybersecurity
Security will continue to move up the priority stack for Australian organisations with the edge narrative and cyber taking centre stage. Although many organisations are encouraging employees to return to the office, the ABS says more than a third are still working regularly from home. For this reason, endpoint security is still a high priority.
A number of high profile attacks in 2024, (MediSecure, Optus and Latitude, among others) have further raised the stakes, and a new Cyber Security Act will force Australian businesses and government entities to disclose ransomware payments or face fines. For this reason, CIOs will significantly increase their cybersecurity investments in 2025. AI-driven solutions will be among these investments, helping organisations ensure the safety of their clients.
Workplaces will plan on productivity and personalisation
COVID had a nasty habit of ruining everyone’s big plans. Now that it’s well and truly in the rear view, organisations have a little more certainty and will have the confidence for technology planning and contractual engagement to deliver business continuity. Their focus will be on enhanced productivity. A shift to enablement and training will be a priority as businesses focus on the transformation intersection – namely the adoption of AI, the Windows 11 refresh and the complexity of hybrid working. AI will improve the workplace by incorporating better insights, intelligence and automation. When this happens, workers will be better informed and more efficient, enabling greater profitability for business.
Also, workers will want a more personalised work experience. This desire for personalisation is so strong that 87% of knowledge workers would be willing to forgo part of their salary for it, according to our most recent WRI report. A strong majority says this would make them more invested in their company’s growth, would enhance their overall well-being, and would incentivise them to stay with their current employers longer.
Tech will be more essential than ever in bridging social divides
Better connectivity makes it easier to access government services, find a job, pay bills and access services like e-health. When these services are available to everyone, we see better outcomes for all. And, thankfully, Australia has been making progress on bridging the digital divide in recent years.
Even so, about a quarter of Australians are still on the wrong side of it. Over the coming year, more tech solutions will be applied to closing this gap. Technology is central to our economic progress and making it more accessible brings tremendous social benefits. Our HP / Oxford Economics report found that 76% of global leaders believe technology is essential for economic inclusion and that AI will help drive progress towards sustainability and social impact goals.
Accelerated investment in reducing carbon emissions from Australian companies
For years, the steady drumbeat of natural disasters around the world has underscored the urgency of climate action – and this year’s hurricane season and fires in the Amazon are clear demonstrations of massive challenge we face. But there is cause for optimism too, emissions may have already peaked. Hopefully, it’s all downhill from here.
By one measure, fewer than one in five companies have comprehensive decarbonisation roadmaps, and 40 per cent have yet to start their efforts to decarbonise. That might change this year, as Australia’s large companies will face greater scrutiny under new laws. From 2025, large Australian businesses will need to prepare annual sustainability reports containing mandatory climate-related financial disclosures. Combined with changing consumer attitudes, we are likely to see businesses redouble their efforts.
The new laws will create some soul-searching among tech businesses too. Tech companies must weigh things like the additional energy resources needed for a generative AI search against the efficiencies it offers, such as more efficien t ways to cool buildings. And collectively we must work to mitigate impacts, which could mean training models more efficiently or using specialised hardware to accelerate the run times of AI jobs.
Brad Pulford is the Managing Director of HP Australia & New Zealand, hailing from South Africa. Brad has worked in the technology industry for almost 25 years, and his experience spans across operations and management in the print, personal systems, and IT services categories. He has held several senior executive roles, most recently with Dell Technologies, before joining HP in 2020 as the Executive Director of Channel Sales and Marketing across Montenegro, Russia, Africa, and Turkey.
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