McKinsey's Baker's Dozen: 13 Tech Trends That Will Own 2025 (Spoiler: AI Touches Everything)
McKinsey just dropped their annual tech trends report. AI isn't just leading—it's infiltrating every other trend like digital oxygen. Your competition is already moving on at least three of these.
The standout revelation? Agentic AI exploded with 985% job posting growth despite minimal current investment ($1.1B). Virtual coworkers that plan and execute autonomously aren't sci-fi anymore. They're your next hire.
The 13 Trends That Matter:
- Agentic AI - Autonomous virtual coworkers planning and executing complex workflows
- Artificial Intelligence - $124B invested, 35% job growth, foundation for all other trends
- Application-specific semiconductors - Custom chips for AI workloads, solving the compute crisis
- Advanced connectivity - 5G/6G, satellite networks enabling edge computing everywhere
- Cloud and edge computing - $81B market distributing intelligence from data centers to devices
- Immersive-reality tech - AR/VR with haptic feedback transforming training and collaboration
- Digital trust and cybersecurity - $78B protecting the exponentially expanding attack surface
- Quantum technologies - Still early ($2B) but critical for cryptography and materials
- Future of robotics - Physical automation learning and adapting in real-world environments
- Future of mobility - $132B in autonomous vehicles, drones, and urban air mobility
- Future of bioengineering - Gene editing and synthetic biology revolutionizing healthcare
- Future of space technologies - LEO satellites enabling global connectivity
- Future of energy - $223B transforming global energy infrastructure
Six themes cut across everything: autonomous systems rising, human-machine collaboration evolving, scaling challenges intensifying, regional tech competition accelerating, simultaneous growth in scale AND specialization, responsible innovation becoming mandatory not optional.
The money tells the story: 10 of 13 trends saw increased investment in 2024 despite market headwinds. Energy leads at $223B, mobility at $132B, AI at $124B. But watch the dark horses;agentic AI's 985% job growth signals where smart money goes next.
- AI amplifies every other trend, not standalone
- Agentic AI: 985% job posting growth, fastest rising
- $800B+ total investment across all 13 trends
When your competitors deploy three of these trends while you debate one, who owns 2026?
Read the full article on McKinsey.
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Dr. Mark van Rijmenam, widely known as The Digital Speaker, isn’t just a #1-ranked global futurist; he’s an Architect of Tomorrow who fuses visionary ideas with real-world ROI. As a global keynote speaker, Global Speaking Fellow, recognized Global Guru Futurist, and 5-time author, he ignites Fortune 500 leaders and governments worldwide to harness emerging tech for tangible growth.
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