Charles Crouchman is the Chief Product Officer of Redwood Software, a leader in automation fabric solutions.
On the cusp of a new year, enterprise IT faces a fascinating conundrum: One of the least automated functions in any company is IT itself. I expect that to change, though it won’t always make for a clear picture. While pundits and media outlets will continue to trumpet revolutions in artificial intelligence (AI), many won’t go into any depth as to the specifics.
Those working with technology must do better in 2025 by working toward the five enterprise automation and technology trends below.
1. In Enterprise IT, AI Will Assist Humans—Not Replace Them
There’s been much talk about AI replacing human workers and to be certain, we’re seeing tectonic shifts in writing, administrative and clerical roles. But in the enterprise landscape, things are unfolding differently.
AI in business operations translates to bolstering best-in-class IT systems and systems management. As fast as things move today, that’s an evolutionary phenomenon and will remain so. Expect to see AI expand in concert with “quick gains” in already automated areas.
Enterprises will enter 2025 wary of AI upstarts that overpromise and underdeliver. Instead, they’ll start with mission-critical business objectives and outcomes. The driving question will not center on how to apply AI to the enterprise as a whole but how to apply it to specific enterprise challenges. Interestingly, many of those rest with optimizing already existing technology: AI augmenting or unifying systems and stacks.
2. AI’s Compose And Control Stages Will Be Built For (And By) Non-Experts
Six in ten business owners believe AI will increase productivity.
In getting enterprise AI ready for prime time, we’ll need to think differently about two crucial stages: compose (how the technology’s functions are set up and expanded for day-to-day use) and control (how it is monitored and course corrected).
In the compose stage, we let non-IT experts drive the bus. That is, business users, not just technologists, will automate business processes. “Citizen developers” take a practical approach to end use: They care about order to cash, record-to-report, supply chain and warehouse management because it is directly connected to their work and business outcomes. Thus, they can help produce more automation with a higher level of utility.
In the control stage, citizen developers should likewise be able to monitor and make direct requests of the technology, asking questions in plain English as though it were a co-pilot. These might include: “Did my automation run successfully? If there were errors, what were they?”
3. Agentic AI Will Gain Steam
Agentic AI refers to intelligence-based entities that work autonomously in any environment without human intervention. Think of it as AI’s leap from processing language, video, images and sound to taking action on the user’s behalf. Enterprises will increasingly employ it to monitor customer data and detect fraud. And if that fraud is found, Agentic AI will get to work investigating the issue, alerting relevant teams or even taking corrective action—all without awaiting further instruction.
To leverage Agentic AI you need two things: a workflow engine—because you’re automating processes and not individual tasks—and connections into your corporate systems. This is where automation comes into play. Automation connects into IT infrastructure and business applications in a way that lets Agentic AI act with the greatest efficiency to correct issues or respond to service requests.
4. Disconnected Automation Will Shrink
On the automation front, many SaaS platforms and cloud-native applications are no longer correctly architected for enterprise use. So, how do businesses take the next step in their modernization journey?
Before you add yet another automation platform on top of your other platforms, stop. This only leads to a proliferation of disconnected islands. Smart enterprises, instead, will assess their current platforms and review their road maps around tech adoption to see whether there’s a match.
Expect a movement toward single-platform models in 2025. Enterprises will bet on platforms that can both service legacy applications—that is, work with what they already have—and move into a consolidated future that links all applications: legacy, current and emerging.
5. Automation Fabrics Will Take Hold
The era of disconnection is marked by siloed data and process components. Chalk this up to an explosion of best-of-breed applications that, while exceptional for a singular purpose, fail to work well with others. But in 2025, businesses that want to excel can no longer follow the model of “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”
An automation fabric knits the disparate parts into a seamless whole, creating a tight alignment between established applications, processes and data. Think of it as a “central nervous system” that enables smooth communication and operation across a tech stack.
Automation fabrics also save on labor costs (especially training), reduce system fragmentation, decrease error rates and prevent massive interruptions. Think of it as one platform, demanding one skillset, creating one place to find and address potential issues.
Preparing For The Next Wave
How should you prepare for the future of automation?
Assess Your Automation. Fixating on a single solution to solve a granular problem misses the larger issue of how your IT components work in concert. IT success begins when you address the flow and unity of your whole system.
Take A “Users First” Approach. We must enlist those who will use the technology to have a hand in building it. Take on the tools that make this possible and put aside the mindset that only the IT team can handle the task.
Bring In Experts To Help You. Maintaining an IT system, especially one that’s siloed and rife with misalignment, can be a full-time job in itself. Instead of wrestling with limited bandwidth, bring in seasoned pros who are well-versed in the latest solutions.
I look forward to witnessing the breakthroughs the new year will bring, ever mindful that technology performs at its peak when in the service of focused, visionary professionals who embrace positive change. If you like, call it a form of intelligence that outlasts every trend and that no machine can replicate.
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