By Joshua Burkhow, Chief Evangelist at Alteryx

AI and data have evolved from "nice to have" assets to essential technologies that drive success. The integration of automation into data science, analytics, and AI not only amplifies human potential but also optimizes processes, enabling organizations and their employees to concentrate on more strategic initiatives.

Earlier this year, Alteryx research revealed a striking shift in how organizations approach AI. Driven by the immense value generated by AI, over 60% of organizations are now significantly increasing their investments in generative AI. Notably, data analysis is emerging as the leading application, with 43% of leaders prioritizing this use case for their organization. This investment boom has matured past the point of a fad and indicates a larger transformation in businesses utilizing AI to make data-driven decisions.

With AI more ingrained in everyday business practices, the need to upskill employees and the entering workforce with data science and AI continues to grow. 2025 will face a host of new challenges as organizations navigate how to stay ahead of the curve in leveraging AI, agentic AI, and data to drive productivity and fuel innovation.

1.  How learning data will shape the industry 

In 2025, data roles will continue to evolve through the next generation of data workers. Previously, those pursuing a data-driven career had to learn the ins and outs of applications and code, which also required foundational domain knowledge.  

Today, with alternative sources for education beyond schooling combined with the automation that comes from AI, more workers across industries and departments can focus on the specific jobs and tasks required without spending so much time learning new software and coding.

Overall, this is a significant increase in productivity for all data workers. Because of this, the reliance on traditional data scientists with more profound knowledge of the foundations of data is decreasing. This, however, potentially forces organizations to consider if that leaves them open to any blind spots, such as not having teams equipped to face issues with application coding.

2.  Those without AI in 2025 to face uncertainty 

AI is unlike other innovations organizations have had to learn. When new software comes out, workforces often make small jumps to advance. But with AI, they're instead taking a massive leap forward. Because of this, those delayed in adoption or choosing not to embrace AI will be positioned to have an uncertain future in 2025. Without AI technology, organizations risk leaving themselves behind in innovation and at a competitive disadvantage. Despite this, many organizations remain hesitant to change and haven't implemented AI. Although various reasons may cause delay or indecision to adopt, the reality is that those with AI will largely outpace those without it in the coming years. 

3.  Where AI startups may be headed 

The next one to two years will be a huge opportunity for AI startups to get gobbled up by bigger market players. This will lead to a lot of the typical M&A chaos and, in turn, lots of changes and/or opportunities for those who sit ahead of the curve. The demand will only increase as AI comes down from the hype curve and more customers make moves to get fully into and expand in the AI space. 

The Road for 2025  

According to Tom Coshow at Gartner: By 2028, 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI, up from less than 1% in 2024, enabling 15% of day-to-day work decisions to be made autonomously. This is a ton of work that monotonous and automatable work will no longer need to be done. It will also open more and more peoples' eyes to the capabilities of what is truly possible for AI. Agentic AI will go through the hype cycle like everything else, but it will have a positive impact in 2025.

The key to staying on track for 2025 will be an organization's ability to adapt to and leverage AI and data in meaningful ways. Those who fail to embrace these technologies for decision-making and cross-departmental collaboration will stifle their capacity for growth.  A data-driven culture, supported by accessible AI tools, will empower organizations to make more intelligent decisions and stay competitive in an increasingly saturated marketplace. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joshua Burkhow, Chief Evangelist, Alteryx

As the Chief Evangelist, Joshua Burkhow helps analysts, managers and executives see the value of analytics in just about every aspect of their day-to-day decision making. He balances being both an expert and a practical solutions- oriented user and loves to highlight how automation and productivity can be a basis for delivering amazing outcomes. Joshua's passion, excitement and raging optimism for analytics and data science have propelled his career from day one and allowed him to see practitioners of all levels change the world for the better.