Leveraging AI to transform operations, people, and innovation
Technology sector outlook: HLB Survey of Business Leaders 2025Even though the global economic outlook is volatile, there's plenty of confidence within the technology sector. To back this up, 90% of leaders have confidence that revenues will grow over the next year and 50% of them indicate that they are “very” confident. This optimism is particularly evident among those who reside in India in South America, as well as pockets of South America and Southern Europe.
Around 61% of respondents expect an increase in the global growth rate in 2025, which is a 10% increase as compared to last year. This may be because the sector is, in effect, a key enabler of digital transformation across other sectors.
Cybersecurity is the elephant in the room
Many respondents are very aware of the risks posed by cybersecurity, and 77% of those state that this is their top concern, (up 12 percentage points over last year). In fact, they're more concerned about cybersecurity risks than economic uncertainty (73%) or geopolitical challenges (65%). Consequently, 72% of leaders intend to increase their investment in both cybersecurity and IT infrastructure. This is twenty percentage points higher than businesses found in other sectors.
Some leaders also intend to automate security audits and compliance monitoring so they can stay abreast of regulatory changes. 18% of survey respondents are spending more on regulatory risks, while 12% of them worry about consumer behavioural changes.
Prioritising the latest technology
Most leaders understand how important it is to deploy the latest technology. 64% of them will accelerate technology adoption this year and see this as a higher priority than operational efficiency or new product development. 77% of them call AI the most critical technology for their success in the future. This is greater than cloud computing at 58%, machine learning at 42%, or the Internet of Things at 33%.
Meanwhile, renewable energy is also under the spotlight, with 32% of the leaders calling this an important technology. High-margin firms are even more engaged, with 48% giving this critical attention.
Adopting AI in tech
Perhaps unsurprisingly, technology firms are entirely focused on applying AI - and much more so than other sectors.
Firms in the sector are actively exploring its full potential versus some others that merely use AI for content generation.
Some of the top AI use cases include process automation, customer analytics, sales and marketing, HR and workforce management, and research and development.
In sales, marketing and HR in particular, AI adoption is up 10 percentage points over the last year.
90% of tech firms believe that they are AI innovators or explorers; ready to leverage AI for a competitive advantage over their peers.
“Dynamic pricing, AI market analysis, and predictive analytics for sales forecasting and inventory management are driving revenue growth,” according to one CTO from the Africa and Middle East region.
AI is also having an impact on workforce management. An ever-growing number of companies intend to use AI powered HR analytics so they can optimise their staffing levels.
They believe this will boost employee engagement and as one North American CEO puts it: “workforce optimization has had the most positive impact on profitability for our business. Since using it we've been able to manage work schedules more efficiently which helps our employees tremendously and they become very productive. It's also helped us to predict our staffing needs and optimizing staff deployment successfully.”
Other areas may receive new investments. 65% will invest in upgraded data analytics and business intel capability. A chief information security officer in North America puts it this way: “the automation of data analysis has been a game changer for my business.”
62% will increase investment in digital transformation and emerging tech, with 25% of them planning significant spend. Meanwhile, 61% will push spending on the automation and digitisation of core processes, 17% significantly so.
Tech firms stand ready to innovate
Many organisations are putting the most emphasis on operational efficiency these days, but tech firms are looking at things rather differently. They intend to focus on innovation, with 53% of those surveyed prioritising new product and service launches. 64% think that they're successful innovators and this is double the number of likeminded business leaders in other sectors.
Around 50% believe that they need to encourage a culture of innovation, while 40% intend to promote cross functional collaboration. No fewer than 84% are leveraging AI for customer insights and predictive analytics, while 75% intend to use AI for rapid prototyping and testing. One business person in North America says that "Ai has been very impactful for Product/R&D as it lets us prototype and fail faster so we can learn and deliver great products”
AI Innovation is Followed by Profits
HLB finds a number of high performing tech firms are growing their profits by more than 5% annually.
These market leaders are far more confident in their innovation capabilities versus their peers (81% versus 64%). As they invest in AI, their operational efficiency improves, and their product development strategies gain ground.
“The most profitable contribution AI has made to my business is in focusing on innovation and technology,” observes a chief digital officer from the Asia Pacific region.
98% of tech firms are fully confident in their ability to grow even more in 2025, while 80% expressed full confidence in global economic growth
What the survey tells us about the future of AI driven growth in tech
AI is set to revolutionise the technology sector according to HLB's annual survey. The 2025 survey version finds that AI has been a fundamental driver of growth in the areas of cybersecurity, workforce efficiency, and product innovation.
Overall, the sector is very confident despite economic headwinds, as tech firms focus on AI adoption and digital transformation. The higher margin firms express an even greater commitment to innovation and AI powered efficiency, as they pursue a greater profit.
As AI technologies improve, tech leaders will refine their strategies and growth. They intend to embed automation, predictive analytics, and machine learning into new business models.
Getting further information
So, technology firms are strategically leveraging AI, keeping pace with the rate of change and defining the future of business. If you want further insights from the HLB Annual Survey of Business Leaders 2025, get in touch with HLB today. We’ll show you how HLB can support AI driven transformation at your place of business.
Survey of Business Leaders 2025
