Automation and IT trends for 2025: AI and automation fabrics
As we approach 2025, enterprise information technology stands at a crossroads. Despite being the digital backbone of modern businesses, IT itself often lags behind in automation. However, this dynamic is set to transform in ways that headlines aren’t covering.
This year, operations and IT leaders need to go beyond the buzzwords and align with five essential enterprise automation and technology trends that will define the next era of efficiency and innovation.
Citizen-led automation paired with artificial intelligence
One of the most exciting advancements in automation is the democratization of technology. In 2025, businesses will increasingly empower non-technical users, often referred to as citizen developers, to design, execute and oversee automated processes. This will come into play much more heavily as enterprises look to make both AI and automation more accessible, actionable and relevant for real-world use cases.
Traditionally, AI has been the domain of data scientists and IT specialists. That’s changing. With the availability of low-code and no-code platforms, the user experience is shifting. Everyday business users have a vast opportunity to integrate AI into workflows without deep technical expertise. For example, a supply chain manager can automate inventory forecasting by leveraging AI-driven predictive analytics, or a finance team member can create a bot to streamline invoice approvals.
Citizen automation is particularly valuable in two areas of AI adoption:
- Configuration: Non-technical users can build AI-driven workflows tailored to their specific needs. Processes like order-to-cash or record-to-report can more directly align with measurable business objectives as a result.
- Monitoring and management: Citizen developers can also oversee and interact with AI systems using a plain-language, conversational approach.
AI shouldn’t be a standalone initiative limited to technical experts, and in the upcoming year, it will be more possible than ever to embed it in everyday operations.
Autonomous AI agents gaining ground
Autonomous, or agentic, AI models are poised to revolutionize how businesses approach problem-solving and decision-making. Intelligent agents can operate independently, analyzing data, detecting anomalies and taking corrective action without human intervention.
In a financial institution, this might look like deploying autonomous AI tools to monitor transactions for fraud. When it detects suspicious activity, the AI agent can freeze the account, notify relevant teams and instigate an investigation.
To reap the full benefits of this emerging technology, it’s critical to build your automation systems on robust workflow engines capable of orchestrating complex business processes. They must be able to seamlessly integrate across IT and business applications so AI agents can operate with precision and agility.
The enhancement of human contributions
While discussions about AI often emphasize disruption and job displacement, the reality for enterprise IT is far more nuanced. In most cases, AI will not replace human workers but will amplify their capabilities.
In 2025, the most impactful AI implementations will focus on the optimization of existing systems rather than reinventing the wheel. In IT operations, it will continue to refine monitoring, automate repetitive tasks and bring inefficiencies to light.
Gartner reports that 92% of CIOs say their organizations will implement AI in 2025, but 49% of those involved in AI say it’s hard to estimate and demonstrate its value. Forward-thinking enterprises will resist the hype of all-encompassing AI solutions that promise an overnight, futuristic digital transformation. Instead, they’ll apply AI strategically to boost skilled individuals’ contributions, starting with mission-critical use cases.
These include:
- Enhancing system performance
- Delivering better customer experiences using real-time responses
- Improving data analytics with built-in generative AI (genAI) like ChatGPT
A dissolution of automation islands
Disjointed automation, created by a massive increase in isolated tools and platforms, remains a persistent challenge. I predict organizations will increasingly move away from this fragmented approach and embrace unified automation ecosystems.
There’s an urgency to consolidate disparate systems into single platforms capable of managing legacy applications and supporting modern, cloud-native solutions. There is a world in which all your systems — past, present and future — can work together without friction.
The single-platform model is the way to go to position your enterprise for whatever challenges or opportunities 2025 will bring.
Automation fabrics as the norm
The days of siloed processes and disconnected data are rapidly fading. In their place, we see automation fabrics coming to the forefront and solving problems via effortless connectivity: integrated applications, data and workflows.
Think of an automation fabric as the connective tissue of your organization, making smooth communication and coordination between your varied tech stack components possible. Systems become more reliable. Error rates drop. Downtime is a non-issue.
Beyond operational benefits, automation fabrics are the foundation for innovation. Why wouldn’t you move toward reducing technical debt and focusing on your larger strategy for 2025 rather than devoting excess resources to maintenance?
3 tips to prepare your IT team for 2025
- Audit your automation landscape: Build a holistic view of your current systems. Where are there gaps or redundancies?
- Empower your workforce: Scaling automation starts with giving more people the power to innovate. Invest in tools that enable non-technical users to participate in design and development.
- Partner with experienced industry leaders: Working with experienced consultants can accelerate your journey. Look to established automation leaders for new solutions and actionable advice.
Looking ahead
Enterprise IT will never be about chasing tech trends, but there is much to be said for remaining open to leveraging new technologies to drive meaningful change. Learn how to do so thoughtfully and strategically in 2025 and beyond by engaging in a conversation with the Redwood Software team.
About The Author
Charles Crouchman
Having served as CTO or CPO of five software companies in 25 years, Charles is an experienced technology executive. He has driven results in all stages of company evolution, from early-stage, venture-backed startup to mid-stage expansion to F500 global execution.
His expertise in selling enterprise software to corporate IT in infrastructure management, automation and machine learning has developed the unique perspective he brings to his role as Redwood’s Chief Product Officer. Here, Charles will further expand his track record of creating winning strategies for delivering breakthrough products with high-performance product management and engineering teams in the process of scaling.
Before joining the Redwood team, Charles was CPO and CTO at Turbonomic, which evolved into a role as Head of Strategy for IT Automation when IBM acquired the company. He also held executive roles at Opalis (acquired by Microsoft) and Cybermation (acquired by CA). These experiences and his strong vision of an automation-first future make Charles poised to uphold Redwood’s mission of delivering lights-out automation solutions.
Charles lives in Toronto, Canada, and is a proud father of four and an avid reader and hiker. He holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.
