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This time last year, generative AI was still fairly novel; CISOs, CIOs, and CTOs were just beginning to lead entirely new conversations with their boards about business risk and materiality; and the U.S. government had recently introduced its National Cybersecurity Strategy.
While we should continue to take stock of progress and change over the past year, I urge you to keep your gaze forward. Looking ahead and preparing for the future is the foundation of digital resilience. The most adaptable organizations harness the winds of change to propel growth and innovation. As they do, they’ll rise above any predictable — or unpredictable — event that comes their way.
At the close of every year, Splunk leaders and technology experts propose business and technology predictions for the year to come. With perspectives shaped by careers in tech and countless customer conversations, our team offers advice on future trends and possible impacts for organizations to consider as part of strategic planning. This time, we’re proud to include insights from Cisco’s leadership as well.
Our goal is to inspire proactive and holistic thinking, from ITOps and engineering to the security operations center (SOC) and the boardroom. Data regulations continue to shift, leadership wants AI investments to deliver real business returns, and resilience is harder to achieve with an expanding hybrid, multicloud ecosystem and rapidly evolving network demands. The most successful leaders will reflect on what it all means and thoughtfully prepare to be well-positioned for every possible outcome.
Moving forward
There is no shortage of change on the horizon: Data regulations are a moving target. Major outages have increased scrutiny of technology vendor security and uptime. Observability is transforming from a reactive to a proactive practice. These events will reshape how executives respond to governance, plan their investments, and adapt to an expanding threat landscape. In the year ahead, business and technology leaders will collaborate more extensively in their search for pivotal solutions that drive sustainable growth, innovation, and resilience.
As organizations raced to adopt AI-driven solutions and demonstrate their business value, 2024 proved generative AI is no passing fad. “AI is pervasive in its influence,” says Splunk SVP and General Manager of Observability Patrick Lin. Splunk and Cisco leaders predict AI’s grip will only intensify next year.
But whether it’s a security, observability, or business application, AI must prove its worth. It also needs to make financial sense. For example, large language models (LLMs) run on expensive GPU servers. Next year, AI will be all about the ROI, and executives will ask themselves some tough questions.
AI won’t be the only thing shaking up businesses next year. After a turbulent 2024 in which digital disruptions impacted millions, organizations will team up with their vendors to continue building resilience. As the geopolitical landscape evolves globally, regions will de-harmonize regulation, forcing CISOs, CIOs, and general counsels to stay vigilant and agile through uncertainty. Meanwhile, ITOps and engineering teams will use observability data to influence product roadmaps.
For business and technology leaders, 2025 will require a keen sense of creativity when it comes to problem-solving. “Modeling resilient behavior and showing flexibility and openness to change is a hallmark of future-proof executive teams,” says Jeetu Patel, EVP and chief product officer at Cisco. As a result, executives will emerge from next year smarter and stronger than ever.
This time last year, generative AI was still fairly novel; CISOs, CIOs, and CTOs were just beginning to lead entirely new conversations with their boards about business risk and materiality; and the U.S. government had recently introduced its National Cybersecurity Strategy.
While we should continue to take stock of progress and change over the past year, I urge you to keep your gaze forward. Looking ahead and preparing for the future is the foundation of digital resilience. The most adaptable organizations harness the winds of change to propel growth and innovation. As they do, they’ll rise above any predictable — or unpredictable — event that comes their way.
At the close of every year, Splunk leaders and technology experts propose business and technology predictions for the year to come. With perspectives shaped by careers in tech and countless customer conversations, our team offers advice on future trends and possible impacts for organizations to consider as part of strategic planning. This time, we’re proud to include insights from Cisco’s leadership as well.
Our goal is to inspire proactive and holistic thinking, from ITOps and engineering to the security operations center (SOC) and the boardroom. Data regulations continue to shift, leadership wants AI investments to deliver real business returns, and resilience is harder to achieve with an expanding hybrid, multicloud ecosystem and rapidly evolving network demands. The most successful leaders will reflect on what it all means and thoughtfully prepare to be well-positioned for every possible outcome.
Moving forward
There is no shortage of change on the horizon: Data regulations are a moving target. Major outages have increased scrutiny of technology vendor security and uptime. Observability is transforming from a reactive to a proactive practice. These events will reshape how executives respond to governance, plan their investments, and adapt to an expanding threat landscape. In the year ahead, business and technology leaders will collaborate more extensively in their search for pivotal solutions that drive sustainable growth, innovation, and resilience.
As organizations raced to adopt AI-driven solutions and demonstrate their business value, 2024 proved generative AI is no passing fad. “AI is pervasive in its influence,” says Splunk SVP and General Manager of Observability Patrick Lin. Splunk and Cisco leaders predict AI’s grip will only intensify next year.
But whether it’s a security, observability, or business application, AI must prove its worth. It also needs to make financial sense. For example, large language models (LLMs) run on expensive GPU servers. Next year, AI will be all about the ROI, and executives will ask themselves some tough questions.
AI won’t be the only thing shaking up businesses next year. After a turbulent 2024 in which digital disruptions impacted millions, organizations will team up with their vendors to continue building resilience. As the geopolitical landscape evolves globally, regions will de-harmonize regulation, forcing CISOs, CIOs, and general counsels to stay vigilant and agile through uncertainty. Meanwhile, ITOps and engineering teams will use observability data to influence product roadmaps.
For business and technology leaders, 2025 will require a keen sense of creativity when it comes to problem-solving. “Modeling resilient behavior and showing flexibility and openness to change is a hallmark of future-proof executive teams,” says Jeetu Patel, EVP and chief product officer at Cisco. As a result, executives will emerge from next year smarter and stronger than ever.
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