In the year 2025, several technological advancements are poised to accelerate and influence our daily lives. Scale has been achieved such that commercial joy will meet technical advancement virtuously.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration: even as large language models in AI become deeply embedded across various sectors, enhancing efficiency and decision-making, ‘Agentic AI’ systems will bring a never before tech-human interaction. For the first time, initiative will move from man to machine. Designed to act with autonomy, they will pursue specific goals based on contextual understanding. Thereby, the “agency” to perform tasks, make decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances will cease to be the preserve of humankind. It brings up ethical concerns about control, accountability, and alignment with human values. We are unlikely to see a ‘killer app’ for ‘all things AI’ but instead likely to have ‘AI in all things’ instead.
2. Quantum Computing: This will revolutionize data processing capabilities, enabling complex problem-solving beyond the reach of traditional computers. The chip world is in ferment and established players are getting wiped out by new winners as Nvidia. It is a race between the United States and China in establishing domain supremacy.
3. Sustainable Technology: Advancements in renewable energy solutions and sustainable manufacturing practices will be commercialised globally. Whatever the politics of it, the consumer sensibility around this is now sharper than ever before and private sector commitments will remain in place.
4. Extended Reality (XR): The convergence of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) will create immersive experiences in entertainment, education, and professional training.
5. 6G Networks: This will facilitate advancements in IoT and real-time communication. Network sophistication is hygiene.
6. Robotics and Automation: Powered by AI,more autonomous and adaptable machines will prevail in manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. This is seen at both ends of the spectrum from nano and micro devices to gigantic industrial scale automation.
7. Blockchain and Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Blockchain technology will continue as a disruptive challenger to traditional financial systems, promoting transparency and reducing reliance on intermediaries. Anybody who wrote its obituary prematurely should now plan a baby shower all over again.
8. Neurological Enhancement Technologies: As Western population ages, the developed world is deeply invested in longevity and ensuring an independent existence for older persons. Innovations aimed at enhancing human cognitive functions through technology are emerging.
9. Influential Influencers: The rise of influencers has revolutionized the way people consume content, interact with brands, and form opinions. Fueled by the globally widespread adoption of social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, influencers have become powerful voices in shaping trends and driving consumer behavior. These individuals, often relatable and authentic, build loyal audiences by sharing curated aspects of their lives, expertise, or entertainment. Brands increasingly partner with influencers to reach niche markets, leveraging their trust-based relationships with followers to promote products and services. This shift from traditional celebrity endorsements to influencer-driven marketing underscores the growing importance of digital presence in the modern economy, highlighting the impact of everyday creators on global culture and commerce.
These trends indicate a transformative period ahead, with technology being an enhancer, disruptor and destroyer. As a marketer – in my assessment – the most significant acceleration is the rise and rise of the “creator-influencer” population.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are the two most successful and well known people on the planet today and both are significant media influencers revealing how the power shift has occurred. Musk’s posts are often cryptic, humorous, or provocative, mixing personal thoughts, memes, and major announcements. His tweets can move markets and he uses social media to directly engage with followers and customers, bypassing traditional PR strategies.
Donald Trump’s biggest venture on the road to winning the Presidency was ‘Truth Social’ for enabling his direct communication. He drives entire news cycles and sets public discourse. His ability to mobilize supporters through social media is a hallmark of his political strategy. The internet as a creative studio is inefficiently democratic, chaotic, and unequal.
However, Social media is brutally efficient as an ecosystem and a distribution channel. Millions compete for attention, a happy few go big, and a microscopic minority get fantastically rich. Then too, success is short lived.
Social media in an era of AI
The era of social media is accelerating into an era of AI enabled content. Everyone is a walking studio. Everyone has a shot at being a star. Over the past five years American companies have roughly tripled the amount of marketing spend they lavish annually on influencers, to $7bn, according to eMarketer, a research firm.
Goldman Sachs estimates that as of last year there were more than 50 million influencers globally, from fashionistas on Instagram and comedians on Tiklok to gamers on YouTube. This tribe is growing by around 20% annually. Fully 57% of Gen Zs in America would like to be a social-media influencer, according to Morning Consult, a pollster; 53% describe it as a “reputable career choice”.
Brands have shifted their attention towards influencers creating content for narrower audiences, to better target those consumers – fashion tips for the older people, career advise for mid careerists, health and wellness for gen Z, etc.
The influencer industry as it exists today is a complex and far-reaching ‘informational-commercial-personal’ communication apparatus whose incentive system is sub optimal. As the influencer industry has developed, there has been an overarching trend of power shifting away from individuals and individual ownership and toward social media companies, as well as toward companies offering various technologies of self-commercialization.
Every influencer is a creator but every creator is not an influencer.
Perhaps the most significant factor in social media companies’ ability to accumulate power was industry stakeholders’ desire to maximize efficiency and minimize risk: individual participants, particularly influencers, wanted to gain income and visibility; brands wanted consistency and predictability in content; and marketers sought to make these processes efficient and profitable. This macroshift in power toward media and technology companies is a one way traffic.
The drive toward data-driven identification of smaller and smaller subsets of influencers, led to a growing chasm between “classes” of influencers—between those who could be paid handsomely for their work of promotion and persuasion and those who were expected to work for free or for small gratification.
Power has tilted so decidedly toward the influencer industry’s technological gatekeepers that it is their agendas that are most clearly observable in the industry’s continued evolution. A platform’s algorithmic decision is more important than influencer style, inspiration or content. The connection between signature content and platform is unprecedented. It is raising concerns and calls for regulation and legislation.
While regulatory attention is being paid to the veracity of content and the imbalance of power between the major platform companies and those who attempt to compete with them, the gross imbalance of power and lack of transparency between platform companies and their users is not being investigated enough.
Social media companies, brands, and influencers have increasingly adopted the term “creator” for the many forms of social media content producers thriving today, from bloggers, vloggers, livestreamers to Instagrammers and TikTok stars. But there is a key difference.
“Influencer” is an earned label: a certain number of people have done something based on something you posted. Not everyone influences on these terms—but we can all “create”.
Every influencer is a creator but every creator is not an influencer. This is something to watch in 2025.
Shubhranshu Singh is CMO, Tata Motors CVBU. He writes Simply Speaking, a column on Storyboard18. Views expressed are personal.
THE SUMMARY
Key Technological Trends:
– AI Integration is evolving toward “Agentic AI” systems that can act autonomously, shifting initiative from humans to machines. Rather than having a single dominant AI application, AI will be integrated into everything.
– Quantum Computing advances are creating upheaval in the chip industry, with companies like Nvidia emerging as new leaders amid US-China competition for dominance.
– Sustainable Technology is gaining momentum driven by consumer demand and private sector commitments.
– Extended Reality (XR) will create immersive experiences across entertainment, education, and training.
– 6G Networks and improved network infrastructure will become standard.
– Robotics and Automation, powered by AI, will expand across industries from nano-scale to industrial applications.
– Blockchain and DeFi continue to challenge traditional financial systems.
– Neurological Enhancement Technologies are emerging, particularly focused on aging populations in Western countries.
The Rise of Influencer Economy:
The growing importance of “creator-influencer” culture
– Over 50 million influencers globally, growing 20% annually
– U.S. companies have tripled marketing spend on influencers to $7 billion
– 57% of Gen Z Americans aspire to become social media influencers
– Examples like Elon Musk and Donald Trump demonstrate the power of direct social media influence
Key Industry Dynamics:
– Power Shift: The industry has seen power concentrate with social media companies and technology platforms rather than individual creators.
– Creator vs. Influencer Distinction: While all influencers are creators, not all creators are influencers. “Influencer” status is earned through demonstrated impact.
– Platform Control: Algorithmic decisions by platforms now outweigh individual creator style or content quality.
Challenges and Concerns:
– Growing power imbalance between platforms and users
– Need for increased regulatory attention to platform-user relationships
– Inequality in influencer compensation and opportunities
– Lack of transparency in platform operations