B2B Technology Trends for 2025

Looking back on 2025, it was a transformative year for the industry and for partner leaders sitting at the intersection of these seismic shifts. 🚀 5 Transformations that Changed How Partnerships Drive Value in 2025 1️⃣ Emerging AI Operating Systems Generative AI & agents are disrupting software workflows. Google's A2A protocol launched while MCP saw broad adoption, making it easier for different software to communicate. Agents need high quality and high quantity data to perform, so integrations remain essential. Systems of record, LLMs, point solutions, and AI startups are racing to become the center of gravity and a "system of action" for customers in the new AI ecosystem. While AI-assisted coding and new protocols make launching integrations easier, they also introduce security and quality risks. This requires more robust data protection and better mechanisms for surfacing the right app at the right time. 2️⃣ Cloud Marketplaces: The B2B Everything Store 📈 Cloud marketplaces continue to become a one-stop shop for software and service purchases, promising vendors higher close rates, TCV, and new revenue. Omdia estimates businesses purchased $45B in 3rd party software and services from cloud marketplaces in 2025, up from $30B in 2024. 3️⃣ Shift to Outcome/Usage-Based Pricing AI is pushing software companies beyond seat-based models: 25% of SaaS companies now use usage-based pricing, 22% use hybrid models (Kyle Poyar/Zylo) Only 6% have implemented success-based pricing today, but 25% say it's their future (SaaSiest/Kyle Poyar) Partner leaders must find new ways to monetize and assign value to partners, while enabling partners to help customers, amidst these changes. 4️⃣ AI's Impact on Partner Operations 🤖 Partner tech, LLMs, CRMs, and MAPs all have AI features that help drive better outcomes and efficiency. Key use cases include: Identifying ideal partner prospects and nurturing them to activation Proactive and agentic partner enablement Identifying ideal accounts for co-sell/partner recommendations Researching partner strategy/programs/benchmarks Analyzing data to bring in the right partner at the right time Tracking attribution We are still in the early adoption phase of AI for partnerships - first adopters gain a big advantage. 5️⃣ Services and Technology Partnerships Realign Services companies made huge strides in AI, with major firms making billions on AI consulting last year. AI services are both tech-enabled and dependent on partnerships with technology companies. Siemens and Accenture launched a 7,000-person joint venture, for example. In 2026, expect to see more tightly integrated services and tech partnerships, multi-partner initiatives centered on AI, and tech companies offering more services. The Bottom Line: Coming out of 2025, partner leaders must evolve from relationship managers to strategists and technical orchestrators that can build AI ecosystems at scale.

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 “𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲,” 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲. Teams that upgraded to account-level intelligence and outcome-based measurement saw an 81% lift in closed-won. Not from working harder—but from changing what they measure and how they activate it. Meet the new GTM: not a playbook, a Revenue Operating System (RevOS). 1. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Reveal Invisible Demand Your website is already telling you who’s buying. With identity stitching + enrichment, you can ID 70–75% of anonymous traffic. That becomes the fuel for everything else. 2. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰 — Merge Every Signal High-intent buyers don’t live in one channel. Search queries, G2, dark social, paid media, reviews, surges—each is a pixel. Woven together, they reveal the full picture. 3. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 — Real-Time Readiness AI blends behavior, firmographics, lifecycle, and history into a live score. No more static lead lists. Just dynamic account orchestration. 4. 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Precision Advertising Ads shouldn’t be campaigns—they should be programmable touch patterns. Sync audiences. Train algorithms. Control frequency. Relevance + repetition = revenue. 5. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Triggered Engagement When buying signals spike, AI routes hyper-contextual actions instantly. It’s not outreach—it’s commercial choreography. 6. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 — Revenue-Truth Attribution Modern attribution highlights the touchpoints that actually shift pipeline. (One team learned G2 influenced 35% of pipeline they never credited.) The Meta-Shift: Funnel → System The winners aren’t generating leads. They’re running a closed-loop revenue system where identity, intent, prioritization, activation, and proof compound. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗚𝗧𝗠. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀. 𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

I always share a post each year talking about my predictions in technology. Here are my general technology trends for 2025. 🔺 Wider Adoption of Generative AI 🔹 Domain-specific models: We’ll see more specialized generators trained on targeted data (e.g., legal, medical, scientific) that can produce highly accurate and context-specific content. 🔹 Hybrid approaches: Enterprises will use generative AI alongside rule-based or traditional ML methods to achieve more reliable outcomes, minimizing hallucinations and biases. 🔺 Rise of Multimodal Systems 🔹 Unified AI experiences: Instead of siloed text, image, audio, and video models, we’ll see integrated systems that seamlessly handle multiple data types. This leads to richer applications, from next-gen customer support to advanced robotics. 🔹 Context-aware processing: AI will better understand real-world context, combining visual, audio, and textual cues to offer smarter responses and predictions. 🔺 Advances in Explainability and Trust 🔹 Regulatory frameworks: With stricter AI regulations on the horizon, model explainability and audibility will become core requirements, especially in finance, healthcare, and government. 🔹 AI “nutrition labels”: Standardized ways of conveying model biases, training datasets, and reliability will help build user trust and improve transparency. 🔺 Edge and On-Device AI 🔹 Lower latency, better privacy: More powerful AI models will run directly on phones, wearables, and IoT devices, reducing dependence on the cloud for tasks like speech recognition, image processing, and anomaly detection. 🔹 Specialized hardware: Continued investment in AI accelerators, TPUs, and neuromorphic chips will enable high-performance AI at the edge. 🔺 Human-AI Teaming and Augmented Decision-Making 🔹 Decision intelligence platforms: AI will shift from purely providing recommendations to working interactively with humans to explore complex problems—reducing cognitive load, but keeping humans in the loop. 🔹 Collaborative coding and content creation: AI co-pilots will expand from code generation and text drafting to more sophisticated collaboration, shaping design, research, and strategic planning. 🔺 Rapid Growth of AI as a Service (AIaaS) 🔹 “No-code” and “low-code” tools: Tools that allow non-technical users to deploy custom AI solutions will proliferate, lowering barriers to entry and accelerating adoption across industries. 🔺 Emphasis on Ethical and Responsible AI 🔹 Bias mitigation: Tools and techniques to detect and reduce bias will grow more advanced, spurred by public scrutiny and regulatory demands. 🔹 Standards for accountability: Organizations will create ethics boards and formal guidelines to ensure AI alignment with corporate values and social responsibility. 🔺 Quantum Computing Experiments 🔹 Hybrid quantum-classical models: Though still early-stage, breakthroughs in quantum hardware could lead to specialized quantum-assisted AI algorithms.

We surveyed 195 B2B sales and marketing leaders about their orgs. Today, we’re releasing the full results. And if the key trends were a playlist, these hits would be on repeat 👇 🎵 Hold On For One More Day—Budget cuts hit hard. Some B2B marketers are working with half the budget they had last year. Stability is the new priority. 🎵 Under Pressure—Revenue leaders agree: getting buyers to act now is harder than ever. In 2025, expect a bigger focus on audience research, win/loss analysis, and competitive intel. 🎵 Don’t Stop Believin’ (in Shorter Sales Cycles)—For mid-market deals ($50-$100K ACV), the average close time is now 9 months—almost as long as enterprise deals. If you're shifting up- or down-market, don’t assume mid-market buyers will close faster. 🎵 Express Yourself—Product marketing is the most in-demand function for B2B teams in 2025. Positioning and differentiation are make-or-break, and storytelling is the skill that will separate the best from the rest. 🎵 Teach Your AEs Well—Great positioning means nothing if AEs aren’t equipped to sell it. At $25M+ ARR, 83% of companies have sales enablement coverage—but for earlier-stage teams, product marketing and RevOps need to step up and fill the gap. 🎵 It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day, It’s a New Life… for MQLs—Lead scoring as we knew it is fading fast. Only 38% of marketing leaders use it now, down from 50%+ last year. Instead, companies are focusing on setting meetings, a more reliable leading indicator of revenue than MQL volume. 🎵 I Get By With a Little Help From… My AI—Over 60% of revenue leaders plan to adopt AI across multiple use cases, from content creation to pipeline forecasting. The best teams are moving fast and doubling down on RevOps-driven AI adoption. After combing through the data, it’s clear 🎵 The Times They Are A-Changin 🎵. Growth at all costs is out. Stability, predictability, and operational excellence are the priorities for 2025. Dig deeper into these takeaways from the benchmark survey results in my blog: https://lnkd.in/em3PyccV

One emerging trendline we’re seeing among B2B CMOs on MarketerHire (hirers and talent): a shift in where new marketing investment is going in 2025. Not away from content necessarily, but toward areas like brand, paid media, events, and creative. Channels that are harder to automate, and harder to copy. The reason is probably obvious: in the age of AI the value of utilitarian, SEO-oriented, educational blog content is declining. Fast. AI is already answering basic how-to queries instantly, in the exact place and format buyers want them. Not in blog posts. Not in resource centers. But inside Slack threads, meeting notes, and inboxes. Informational content is no longer scarce or hard to find. And in marketing, when something becomes cheap and abundant, it loses its power. That doesn’t mean content disappears. It means the edge moves somewhere else. We’re seeing B2B companies rethink what marketing content is for. Less about arbitrage, more about storytelling. Less about search, more about salience. Here are a few of the tactics our marketers are being asked for most often right now: 1) Original research drops High-signal, proprietary data packaged like a product launch. Think: benchmarks, market maps, teardown decks. Designed for shares and re-use, not search. 2) Short-form video series Recurring formats designed for social distribution, hosted by the founder or a marketer, shot quickly but with a clear point of view. Not ads. Not explainers. Media. 3) High-conviction paid media Creative-first campaigns built to spark reaction. No generic "awareness" banners, this is direct response thinking applied to brand storytelling. Offline activations 4) Not trade shows. We’re talking intimate dinners, mobile experiences, speaker salons. Budget that used to go into gated eBooks is now going into rooms with the right 20 people. 5) Creative refreshes Not just new logos. Full re-articulation of category, message, and visual identity - led by brand strategists and creative directors, not just designers. The marketers getting hired right now aren’t just content writers. They’re producers, brand builders, creative strategists, and media operators. The best CMOs are ahead of the curve. They’re not just playing defense as LLMs change how people search. They’re going on offense and investing in the kind of marketing that earns attention, builds memory, and creates real differentiation. Thoughts?

My version of 2025 B2B sales prediction post. Since I've been sharing about AI, this one is centered around that. Here are the key trends I'm watching: 🤖 AI will handle the grunt work, but human connection becomes MORE valuable. While AI excels at research and tailoring initial outreach, meaningful business relationships still require authentic human interaction. Ideally, you are using AI in such a way that you have more time to focus on relationship building. When you have the chance to meet in person, or show your face another way, do it! AI can't go to conferences and shake hands but you can. 🎯 Personalization will reach new levels. AI helps us understand prospect patterns and preferences, but the winners will be those who use these insights to have more relevant, human conversations. It's not about having AI write your emails - it's about using AI to better understand your prospects' needs. Ask AI to take the role of the person you are pitching and ask the LLM for feedback. Experiment with turning on the voice feature and have a conversation with it. 💡 Subject matter expertise becomes critical. As basic information becomes readily available through AI, buyers will increasingly value deep expertise and unique insights. The ability to apply knowledge in context will matter more than ever. This is especially true for professional services where your domain knowledge is central to solving your clients' problems. 🤝 The "tech-enabled human touch" will define success. The most effective sellers won't be those who use the most AI tools, but those who best blend AI capabilities with human skills like empathy, judgment, and relationship building. What I'm telling my clients: Don't focus on replacing your sales activities with AI. Instead, use AI to enhance your human capabilities and create more time for meaningful client interactions. How has AI changed how you're approaching work this year? #b2bsales #artificialintelligence #sales2025 #businessdevelopment"

This morning, we released a preview to the press of the TechnoVision Top 5 Tech Trends to Watch in 2025. Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, and our teams have diligently worked to highlight the transformative technologies that we anticipate will reach a pivotal point next year. In addition to leveraging insights from our best experts across all technology domains, we conducted a global study of 1,500 top executives and 500 venture capitalists this year to gain a clear perspective on emerging technology trends. What stands out for us in 2025 is that AI (and Gen AI) are leading the pack. Their ripple effects are also accelerating advancements in adjacent domains, including robotics, cybersecurity, supply chains, and even the energy sector. Drawing from our research and the views of our top experts, here’s a brief snapshot of the Top 5 technology trends set to shape the business landscape in 2025: 🤖 Generative AI: From copilots to reasoning agents, AI systems are evolving into specialized, interconnected agentic systems, enabling autonomous and efficient decision-making. 🔐 Cybersecurity: New threats, new defenses – AI is reshaping the landscape, driving increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and equally advanced defenses to counter these new risks. 🦾 AI-Driven Robotics: Robots powered by advanced AI are blurring the lines between humans and machines, with the promise to transform entire industries. ⚛️ Energy: AI driving the Nuclear Agenda – The growing energy demands of technology in the AI era are driving major tech companies to make significant investments in nuclear energy, potentially accelerating both the deployment of nuclear projects and advancements in reactor technology. 🚚 Next-Gen AI-Assisted Supply Chains: Agile, AI-assisted, and sustainable supply chains are becoming the backbone of modern business resilience and innovation. The full study on these top 5 trends, along with other emerging technology trends, will be released in a global report available at the opening of CES in Las Vegas next year. Stay tuned! https://lnkd.in/e3SWs4iN #top5techtrends Robert (Dr Bob) Engels Marco Pereira Sally Epstein Laurent BROMET Paul Shoemaker Emmanuelle BISCHOFFE CLUZEL🌍

In Deloitte's 16th annual Tech Trends report, AI emerges as the unifying thread across nearly every trend, poised to become an integral part of the foundational fabric of how we operate and innovate moving forward. 🤖✨ Here's a snapshot of the innovations that are set to redefine the way businesses operate: • ⚡ AI as an Essential Utility: Much like electricity, AI is becoming an indispensable part of daily operations, reshaping the way businesses function and innovate. What's next for AI? Leverage tailored AI models, from small language models to agentic AI, to optimize specific business needs efficiently. • 💻 Hardware is eating the world: Invest in advanced chips to power AI workloads and enable smarter IoT devices and robotics across industries. • 🚀 IT, amplified - AI elevates the reach (and remit) of the tech function: Transform IT into a strategic enabler by automating tasks and innovating across infrastructure, talent, and delivery. • 🔒 Solving cryptography in an age of quantum: Prepare now for quantum-driven cybersecurity threats with post-quantum encryption and updated cryptographic practices. • 🛠️ AI changes everything for core modernization: Core systems providers have invested heavily in AI, rebuilding their offerings and capabilities around an AI-fueled or AI-first model. 📖 Explore the full report for a deep dive into these trends: Deloitte Tech Trends 2025 (https://lnkd.in/gWz84WwJ) Let's shape the future together—how is your organization preparing for these tech transformations? Share your thoughts in the comments! 💡👇 #TechTrends2025 #GenerativeAI #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #FutureOfWork #DeloitteInsights

A recent MDM whitepaper just revealed what's coming to distribution in the next 5 years.  The goalpost has moved further than most realize. And if you're not preparing now, you're already behind. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 Gartner predicts 80% of B2B sales interactions will be digital by the end of 2025 (NOTE: digital ≠ your website). McKinsey shows 39% of buyers now feel comfortable spending $500K+ per order through self-service. Yet many distributors still require phone calls for order status. Email for invoices. Hold times for tracking. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 Full catalog browsing with customer-specific pricing and real-time inventory is the minimum. Without these, don't launch. Based on recent surveys, the buyers expect: • Invoice history and online payment • Real-time order tracking • Account self-management • Purchase history access These were differentiators 5 years ago. Now they're baseline. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 Per MDM's research, customers will soon demand: • Order modifications after submission • Delivery rescheduling • Self-service quote configuration • Online price negotiations All without human interaction. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Forrester predicts 50%+ of million-dollar B2B purchases will be self-serve by 2025. This elevates sales from quote machines to strategic advisors. Reps focus on complex problems and partnerships, not routine transactions. 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Success requires: • Modern ERP with APIs • Integrated CRM across channels • Clean product data • Simplified pricing logic Those decades-old pricing rules? They're blocking the automation your customers demand. Look for ways to simplify them. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 Companies investing in 2020-2022 are already outdated. You can learn from them by skipping their mistakes and building for 2030. McKinsey: buyers use 10 channels now. 54% will switch suppliers without smooth omnichannel experience. Will they switch TO you or away FROM you? 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄 81% of manufacturers have or plan ecommerce platforms. In 5 years, those without self-service risk being irrelevant. Start with your biggest friction point. Fix it digitally. Then expand. The question isn't whether to adapt. It's whether you'll lead or follow. --- 💡 Found this valuable? Hit like to help others see it. 🔄 Reshare if your network needs this wake-up call. ➕ Follow for more B2B transformation insights.

Hello! Heading into the end of first quarter of 2025, we have seen the expected volatility in geo political landscape while impacting our financial markets. An area that continues to rapidly evolve is the tech landscape which is demanding our attention. Here's a quick snapshot of what I'm keeping a close eye on: Agentic AI: The Rise of the AI Collaborator: We're moving beyond AI as a tool, expect to see AI agents taking on more autonomous, multi-step tasks, redefining efficiency and personalization. This shift will force businesses to rethink workflows and human-AI collaboration. Cybersecurity: The rise of sophisticated AI also brings new cybersecurity challenges. Prompt injection attacks and the need for quantum-resistant security protocols are becoming increasingly critical. Data Governance and Infrastructure Readiness: AI's potential is heavily reliant on robust data infrastructure. 2025 will see increased pressure on IT teams to optimize data management, hygiene, and organization. Companies that prioritize data readiness will gain a significant competitive edge. Sustainable Tech Practices: With increased AI and data center usage, energy consumption is a growing concern. Consumers and businesses will be increasingly seeking out tech solutions that prioritize energy efficiency and sustainability. Companies that can combine technological advancement with sustainable practices will be the leaders of the future. IMHO. These trends are not just about technology; they're about the future of how we work, interact, and secure our digital world. What tech trends are you watching closely? Let's discuss in the comments! #TechTrends #AI #Cybersecurity #DataGovernance #Sustainability #Innovation #FutureOfTech