As AI matures from generative to agentic forms and automation reaches new levels of complexity, the focus for companies will shift from experimentation to urgency by late 2025. Rather than testing the waters, firms will be working to keep pace with AI’s rapid development.
At the same time, heightened geopolitical uncertainty will make smart tech investments a crucial driver of growth and competitive edge. In its latest research, The Top 10 Emerging Technologies in 2025, Forrester outlines key innovations that can help business leaders embrace AI-driven change while safeguarding long-term stability.
Biswajeet Mahapatra, Principal Analyst at Forrester, said APAC’s evolution from fast adopter to global innovator is a narrative marketers can’t afford to ignore.
“The Asia Pacific (APAC) region is no longer following global tech trends — it is setting them. Once seen as a fast adopter, APAC is now a bold innovator, building new technologies from the ground up,” said Mahapatra.
The Asia Pacific region is no longer following global tech trends — it is setting them.
“For example, Japan and South Korea have taken the global lead in humanoid robotics, with lifelike service robots now deployed in hotels, hospitals, and retail. China is pioneering quantum communication networks, already operational in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. India is pushing the frontier of multilingual generative AI, with startups creating foundational language models tailored to all 22 of the country’s official languages. And Singapore is at the forefront of smart city technologies, including AI-led urban planning and edge-powered infrastructure.”
“In Asia Pacific markets, emerging technology adoption broadly aligns with global trends but is shaped by distinct regional factors, including data sovereignty requirements, strategic government involvement, and longer return on investment (ROI) horizons,” said Frederic Giron, VP, Senior Research Director, Forrester.
“Enterprises are prioritizing localized AI models to navigate linguistic and regulatory diversity, data sovereignty regulations, and adopting synthetic data as a privacy-native AI enabler. APAC enterprises tend to have longer ROI horizons compared to North America, reflecting strategic patience over quick wins.”
The research categorizes the top 10 emerging technologies by their impacts over short-term, mid-term, and long-term benefits horizons to help enterprises and leaders prioritize their investments.
Overview of Forresters’ findings
Forrester provided the following summary of key findings:
Emerging technologies that will offer significant benefits to enterprises within the next two years by balancing AI acceleration with security needs include:
- IoT security. As cyber threats increase, IoT security technologies will be critical to strengthening defenses for critical data and connected devices. Businesses with high technology integration will see the biggest benefits from IoT security.
- Synthetic data. New to Forrester’s emerging technologies list this year, this technology enhances AI model training while improving trust and privacy. With regulators encouraging organizations to adopt synthetic data to minimize risk, industries including financial services, insurance, healthcare, and the public sector will benefit the most.
Mid-term emerging technologies that will deliver benefits to enterprises in the next two to five years given their real-world complexity include:
- Agentic AI. The immediate potential of this technology is increased flexibility and adaptability to automate specific business processes. Although early examples of AI agents are promising and offer autonomous decision-making, this technology still requires stronger accuracy, trust, and coordination to become mainstream.
- GenAI for visual content. This technology is changing the way companies create and deploy photorealistic images, videos, and motion graphics. GenAI for visual content is poised to make the biggest impact in marketing, advertising, retail, and e-commerce sectors, delivering immersive and personalized preferences, and boosting consumer satisfaction.
The emerging technology that will take at least five more years to deliver tangible value for enterprises:
- Humanoid robots. This is the first year that this emerging technology has appeared on the list. GenAI’s rapid advancement and decreasing hardware costs are driving the advancement of humanoid robots — autonomous robots that resemble humans in appearance and functionality and are equipped with advanced sensors, AI, and actuators to perform tasks. However, challenges including high research and development costs, and complexities surrounding robot integration into existing workflows and infrastructure will hinder their widespread adoption.
“As AI becomes ubiquitous, business and technology leaders should prioritize investments that will deliver the greatest impact for their organizations in terms of driving business growth, innovation, and competitive advantage,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester.
“Despite global uncertainty, AI’s rapid acceleration will continue. Enterprises that strategically balance AI innovation with risk mitigation will be ones that successfully thrive and achieve sustainable growth.”
Mahapatra added: “GenAI adoption is surging across APAC, especially in multilingual markets such as India and Southeast Asia. Businesses are using genAI not just for content generation but also for localization, visual asset creation, and code development.
In Japan, AI-generated anime is gaining traction. In South Korea, genAI helps marketers craft hyperlocalised campaigns at scale. Various e-commerce platforms in China utilize genAI to create personalized product descriptions and dynamically generate images for different customer segments.”
Learn more here.
