By Frederic Miskawi, VP and AI Innovation Expert Services Lead, and Diane Gutiw, VP and AI Research Center Lead at CGI

After starting as a publicly accessible resource generative AI (GenAI) has become the number one AI solution being explored and deployed in organizations. As 2024 fades into the rearview and 2025 approaches, GenAI implementation is in no position to slow down. In fact, it's picking up speed.

As predicted in Fred Miskawi's 2023 "Future of AI" and Diane Gutiw's "Digital Triplets", innovations like agentic AI (multi-model solutions) are poised to become a major resource for software developers and global enterprises in 2025. In addition, demand for GenAI in totality will continue to increase, leading AI providers to explore value-based pricing models as they look to remain profitable and prove its business value to executives. As business leaders continue to invest in AI applications and vie for ROI, the importance of an AI-proficient workforce will be more important than ever - as those skilled in operating AI models will be able to delegate labor-intensive tasks and focus on the bigger picture.    

Below is our full outlook on the year ahead.

Multi-agentic AI will continue to build momentum

Looking forward to 2025, multi-agentic AI will continue to build momentum and complete its evolution from ‘cutting edge' to ‘routine' regarding GenAI implementation. AI agents can now act instantly and continuously as they monitor data sources and act as ‘services' supporting the completion of complex tasks and problem-solving (e.g., one agent to gather information and another to validate, translate, or expand on the information retrieved). It is likely that at the pace at which developers augment software and produce code with AI agents, an increasing percentage of software code will be supported, generated, and/or tested by AI assistance by the end of next year. Rather than threatening the jobs of software developers, AI agents will allow enterprises to deliver high-quality value faster and assist developers in learning as well as addressing the backlog of work due to an impending global talent shortage triggered by an aging population and increasing number of resources retiring. Additionally, job descriptions will shift from ‘developer' to ‘alignment engineer,' as workers will be directly in the loop, ensuring that the agents operate properly. With the help of AI agents and robust prompt engineering, developers can greatly improve productivity. It is not AI that will replace people, it will be resources who are able to work hand in hand with AI that will support the increasing demand for more personalized and complex services.

AI pricing will shift to more competitive, value-based pricing models in 2025

Similar to how we saw SaaS drive subscription-based pricing models, AI foundation model pricing will shift to more competitive, value-based pricing models in 2025, such as usage-based or outcome-based pricing. When it comes to AI solution development use cases and applications, total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) remains at the top of business leaders' minds. This means IT leaders are responsible for demonstrating AI's value to the business. In turn, the pressure is put on downstream AI providers to ensure their pricing model matches the value they're offering, particularly regarding business outcomes. Value-based pricing models, such as usage-based pricing and outcome-based pricing, will become more prominent for AI providers to remain profitable without deterring customers simply because they don't see enough value to justify the cost.

AI won't take your job, people who can work with AI will

The fears that AI will usurp the current workforce are unfounded. AI won't take your job. Rather, the people who know how to use AI will start taking jobs in 2025. Why is that? With 4.5 million people worldwide poised to turn 65 this year and every year through 2027, according to the Alliance for Lifetime Income, we're about to hit a crunch in terms of workforce capacity. As that group inches closer to retirement, there will be fewer employees to replace them. However, if the incoming workforce knows how to use AI, they can use it to their advantage. Leveraging AI will increase the knowledge base of workers, enabling them to do more with less and increasing their overall productivity, making up for the millions aging out in the coming years. Training existing employees who have not yet reached the age of retirement is also of the utmost importance, and will be pivotal in balancing institutional knowledge with innovation, ensuring that long-term knowledge is not lost in the transition.

The road ahead

AI has progressed more in a few short years than in decades preceding the turn of the 21^st century. 2025 will be the catalyst in advancing this development even further, setting the stage for an AI-assisted workforce built on agentic AI and value-based pricing models to flourish.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Frederic Miskawi leads the AI Innovation Expert Services in CGI's AI Enablement Center of Expertise. With over 20 years of experience advising clients on how to build successful, ROI-led technological innovations, Fred has developed an expertise in all things AI, human-centered design and agile delivery.

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Diane Gutiw PhD leads the AI Research Center in CGI's Global AI Enablement Center of Expertise. She holds a PhD in Medical Information Technology Management with doctoral and post-doctoral research in Medical AI solutions including academic engagements with a number of Universities in Canada and the UK. Diane has over 30 years of experience helping organizations understand data through data science, AI and machine learning.