IT predictions: 5 things that won’t change in 2025

Every January futurists opine on what will be different. Just as important, but typically underappreciated, are trends that will perpetuate themselves deep into the year to come.

Here’s a look at what I see staying the same for IT leaders in 2025.

Musk’s shadow will continue to loom over all things technology

The top-of-tech bromance between the President Trump and Elon Musk will last much longer than most observers think. This is because the new commander-in-chief needs the billionaire influencer-in-chief to have his social media platform buy the President’s social media platform, Truth Social. Until this happens the elected alpha male will have to share the spotlight with the boss of Tesla and SpaceX.

This matters to CIOs because Musk will never be far from the bully pulpit and thus be erroneously perceived by many as the de facto spokesperson for all things technology. Being front and center in the daily news cycle does not equate to being in any way cognizant of the realities of the daily lived experience of IT providers or IT users.

In Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine,David H. Petraeus correctly observes that “commanding general[s] need to be in the same country as the theatre of operations.” Elon Musk does not “live in” the same IT reality as the rest of us. I am hopeful that post-sale of Truth Social to X, a knowledgeable in-the-know spokesperson for IT-for-the-rest-of-us will emerge. I nominate Dr. Vincent Kellen, CIO at UCSD; Mike Coleman, CIO at Phantom Fireworks; and Will Baumann, co-founder and CEO at Fourthwall.

Talent will remain the key driver of CIO success

IT leaders need to become even more obsessed with finding talent. Having the right talent may be even more important that having the right technology. Ridley Scott, whose 2000 film Gladiator won a Best Picture Oscar explains, “To me, casting director is as important as a good camera.”

Once the staff is onboarded, CIOs will need to create ladders, springboards, trampolines, and/or catapults — anything to help the in situ human capital base realize its full potential.

This will require investing in highly visible skill development and career management programs.

Widespread technology illiteracy will persist

Some employees will never understand computers. Even in today’s digital world there are workers who feel stupid because they are unable to perform routine computer tasks. Since performing some form of Luddite Inquisition — i.e., hunt them down and fire them — is not tenable, the CIO needs to gently but firmly assist those poor souls unable to align their brains with how a computer works to help them resume their duties. 

Dissatisfaction with IT will continue to fester among key stakeholders

IT is not perfect. 2025 will see very visible technology “dropped balls” and “own goals,” some of which may be on par with the CrowdStrike debacle or the typical meltdown associated with buying Taylor Swift tickets. Just outside the range of the visible spectrum is a boiling discontent on the part of the general public with a technology stack that is supposed to make life easier but frequently does not.

The general animus toward technology is understandable. Technology forces us to change. People don’t like to change. As one of the public intellectuals seeking to strengthen society’s “empathy muscle,” Nedra Glover Tawab, in Consider This: Reflections for Finding Peace, explains, “We cannot be our old selves. So many of us are trying to operate in the way that we used to be like.”

CIOs will need to become expert at forensic anger management — figuring out who and why key stakeholders are angry at technology. Merriam-Webster tells us the term “road rage” was first used in 1988. “Air rage,” “desk rage,” and “grocery rage” have been added to the popular patois. In 2025, IT leaders need to make progress at turning the tide of “tech rage.”

Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during a very difficult time, believed, “Anger is a waste of energy. Steam which is used to blow off a safety valve would be better used to drive the engine” (from Jon Meacham, Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship).

The CIO will continue to be more important than ever

Someone in the organization must have a basic understanding of at-scale enterprise IT as set forth in Cheryl Smith’s The Day Before IT Transformation. That someone does not have to be the CEO, his or her direct reports, or the board of directors.

Truth be told most executives don’t really want to understand the details of IT. They want to know — at its simplest form — “if a customer is trying to give us money, we must be able to easily and reliably take it.”  

Optimally one would wish for a senior management camarilla that amplifies and accelerates the value IT creates. For many organizations, the best we can hope for from senior management is that they don’t get in the way.