Gartner's 2025 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies innovations that are set to define the new era of autonomous business. Among the standout technologies are machine customers, AI agents, decision intelligence, and programmable money, all of which promise to reshape the business landscape.
"After years of digital transformation, organisations now face new disruption as AI and automation reshape competition, customers, products, operations, and leadership," said Marty Resnick, VP analyst at Gartner, VP analyst at Gartner.
"In this new autonomous business era, CIOs must assess how emerging technologies can create competitive differentiation, unlock greater efficiencies, and capture new growth opportunities." Marty Resnick
Gartner’s report distils insights from over 2,000 technologies, identifying a succinct set of “must-know” innovations expected to deliver transformational benefits within the next two to ten years.
Machine Customers are nonhuman economic actors capable of purchasing goods or services on behalf of individuals or organisations. Gartner estimates that three billion B2B internet-connected machines currently act as customers, a figure projected to rise to eight billion by 2030.
Resnick notes, “Machine customers will play an important role in industries like manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods, unlocking new revenue and efficiency opportunities. To capitalise, organisations must reimagine their business models or risk being left behind.”
AI Agents can perceive, make decisions, and take actions to help organisations meet their objectives. With the use of large language models, businesses are deploying AI agents to automate complex tasks across various sectors.
However, trust in these agents remains limited due to concerns regarding their decision-making capabilities. Resnick emphasises the need for organisations to integrate AI agents into their strategic planning, recognising their potential while ensuring human oversight.
Decision Intelligence is emerging as a crucial discipline that enhances decision-making through the modelling and engineering of decision processes.
As Christian Stephan, senior director Analyst at Gartner, explains, “Agentic AI and generative AI hype, regulatory pressures on decision automation, and recent global uncertainty have revealed weaknesses in traditional business processes. Organisations now demand decision processes that are not only fast and high-quality but also consistent and compliant.”
Lastly, Programmable Money represents a transformative shift in financial transactions, leveraging digital currencies that can be programmed with algorithmic criteria. Stephan asserts, “Programmable money is transformative for financial services providers, driving innovation in value creation, financing, and asset exchange, including machine-to-machine trading.”
As organisations navigate this exciting frontier, the integration of these technologies will be essential for sustained competitive advantage and growth in the autonomous business era.
