McKinsey's Baker's Dozen: 13 Tech Trends That Will Own 2025 (Spoiler: AI Touches Everything)
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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Frequently asked questions
What is agentic AI and why is it significant?
Agentic AI refers to autonomous virtual coworkers that can plan and execute complex workflows on their own, without constant human direction. Despite minimal current investment of $1.1 billion, it saw job posting growth of 985 percent, the fastest rise among all trends tracked. This signals that businesses are rapidly preparing to integrate autonomous digital workers into operations, making it one of the most important trends to watch heading into 2026.
Link to this questionWhich tech trend received the most investment?
The future of energy led all thirteen trends with 223 billion dollars in investment, transforming global energy infrastructure. Mobility followed with 132 billion dollars invested in autonomous vehicles, drones, and urban air mobility, while artificial intelligence itself attracted 124 billion dollars. Altogether, total investment across all thirteen trends exceeded 800 billion dollars, with ten of the thirteen trends seeing increased investment in 2024 despite broader market headwinds.
Link to this questionHow does AI relate to the other twelve trends?
Artificial intelligence is not treated as a standalone trend but as a force that amplifies and infiltrates every other trend, acting like digital oxygen across the list. It underpins developments in semiconductors, cloud and edge computing, robotics, mobility, bioengineering, and more, serving as the foundation that enables progress in nearly all the other twelve areas identified.
Link to this question💡 We're entering a world where intelligence is synthetic, reality is augmented, and the rules are being rewritten in front of our eyes.
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Dr Mark van Rijmenam
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.
Recognized by Salesforce as one of 16 must-know AI influencers , Dr. Mark brings a balanced, optimistic-dystopian edge to his insights—pushing boundaries without losing sight of ethical innovation. From pioneering the use of a digital twin to spearheading his next-gen media platform Futurwise, he doesn’t just talk about AI and the future—he lives it, inspiring audiences to take bold action. You can reach his digital twin via WhatsApp at: +1 (830) 463-6967.
