Cisco revealed key technology trends for 2025, emphasising a landscape shaped by shifting consumer behaviour, an expanding digital ecosystem, and the need to integrate AI.
Reflecting these dynamics, the Middle East emerges as a hub of innovation, with rapid adoption of AI, cloud, cybersecurity, and smart city initiatives. IT spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to total $230.7 billion in 2025, an increase of 7.4 per cent from 2024, according to Gartner.
David Meads, Vice President for the Middle East, Africa, Türkiye, Romania, and CIS at Cisco, commented: “By embracing this year’s technology trends with both strategic foresight and pragmatism, companies can effectively navigate challenges and seize growth opportunities.” He added: “The Middle East is witnessing a significant surge in technology investment, driven by a strong commitment from both governments and private enterprises aimed at establishing the region as a leader in technological innovation. This rapid adoption of technology provides businesses with unique opportunities to enhance efficiency, boost productivity, improve customer experiences, and gain a competitive edge.”
Agentic AI will fulfil AI’s promise of personalisation and efficiency
Many AI-powered tools in use today are based on static rules or datasets. Agentic AI differs in that it can continuously learn from user inputs and make decisions with little to no human oversight.
Imagine a customer service AI that predicts user needs before a query is made, or a network management AI that identifies potential issues and resolves them autonomously, ensuring uninterrupted service. In response to the rise of Agentic AI, we will see organisations implementing mandatory ethical guidelines to ensure fairness and transparency in algorithmic decisions and protect intellectual property.
Humanoids and humans collaborating will force companies to rethink workplace dynamics
AI-powered humanoids will form a part of the future workforce. This will force companies to completely reimagine their workplace dynamics. For example, companies will need to ensure their connectivity has the right levels of latency and throughout to process and analyse data in real time. At the same time, organisations must ensure their security postures.
This human and machine collaboration will be inspiring and allow organisations to greatly scale operations but will also likely trigger concerns about AI replacing jobs. Leaders will need to be clear and uncompromising about harnessing AI’s power without losing the human touch that defines world-class customer experiences.
AI will present challenges for companies, particularly regarding infrastructure and data readiness
AI will continue to captivate businesses, promising unprecedented innovation and efficiency, and companies will continue to invest in AI-powered solutions. As AI journeys progress, so too will the understanding that the path is fraught with hurdles. Despite billions of dollars invested into AI models and AI-powered solutions in 2024, new data from Cisco’s AI Readiness Index shows that AI readiness has declined as now only 13 per cent of companies are ready to leverage AI-powered technologies to their full potential.
In 2025 organisations will grapple with how best to secure the right level of compute power to meet AI workloads. Companies will need to lean on their strategic partners to identify and prioritise their AI use cases. IT teams will experience increasing pressure to optimise the management, hygiene, which is currently spread across multiple systems and locations.
Cybersecurity will face new threats, leading companies to enhance human efforts with machines
Advancements in quantum computing are increasing pressure on security teams to address the vulnerabilities of traditional encryption methods against quantum attacks. As these technologies gain traction, organisations must adopt quantum-resistant security protocols to protect sensitive data.
The interconnectedness of digital ecosystems complicates security, making attacks more sophisticated. According to the latest Cisco AI Readiness Index, only 30 per cent of companies globally have the capabilities to tackle these threats. As cybercriminals adapt their tactics, networks will become essential as the first and last line of defence. Integrating AI will enhance human capabilities, strengthening network security and policy enforcement.
Network downtime due to misconfiguration will approach zero
Over 40 per cent of network outages are directly caused by misconfigurations and can cost businesses 9 per cent of their total annual revenue. AI has the potential to virtually eliminate these manual misconfiguration mishaps.
Intelligent, automated tools can execute workflows throughout the network lifecycle and provide traceability for every action. AI-driven tools will revolutionise network management, learning from each configuration to reduce errors and ensure uninterrupted operations. As AI adoption increases, we expect to see a rapid decline in misconfigurations and network downtime caused by human error approach zero.
Companies will need help to balance sustainability and growth in an AI-powered era
The environmental impact of AI is the elephant in a lot of rooms. AI requires high energy consumption levels that impact carbon emissions across the board. The energy used by AI-dedicated data centres is expected to match the amount consumed by a country the size of the Netherlands in one year. Sustainability frequently arises in discussions with customers, who increasingly seek partners that can help them achieve net-zero commitments and sustainability goals.
Successful businesses will prioritise energy-efficient products and circular business models. AI technology will be pivotal in enhancing energy efficiencies, ushering in an era of “energy networking” that combines software-defined networking with direct current (DC) microgrids for improved visibility into emissions and optimisation of power usage, distribution, and storage.
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