2025 tech trends IT leaders can’t ignore
As we go deeper into the enterprise software landscape in 2024, one thing is clear: The convergence of generative AI (GenAI), high-performance low-code, and platform engineering is more than just a shift in tools and techniques. It signals a fundamental transformation in how businesses innovate, compete, and thrive in the digital world.
This transformation is driving the key trends that shape the future of industries, businesses, and consumer behavior. These trends not only reflect the advancements in technology but also underscore the changing dynamics of how business users interact with software as a service (SaaS) and platforms.
In this blog, I summarize three trends that OutSystems has identified that will accelerate digital innovation velocity in 2024. You can learn about all the trends in our on-demand webinar, Top Tech Trends for IT Leaders That Will Define 2024.
Trend #1. The rise of GenAI in software development
Generative AI (GenAI) is promising to revolutionize every facet of enterprise operations—from customer engagement to software engineering and beyond. And in 2024, the rate that it is used not only to develop software but also to further democratize it will increase significantly. GenAI in particular, if well-harnessed, presents a huge opportunity to make entire businesses run better, although this opportunity is coupled with the challenge of making sure that it’s possible to achieve scalability, governance, and security.
Using low-code to bootstrap GenAI apps
Companies that choose low-code with generative AI functionality as part of their services and foundational layers will be best equipped to address GenAI fever. Low-code application development tools enable developers to code nearly 10 times faster with two-thirds experiencing a significant boost in productivity. 2024 is the year to promote GenAI experimentation, which is made far easier in a governed platform that provides guardrails from start to finish. A high-performance low-code platform enables IT teams to create secure reusable modules and applications with GenAI that use your own content and intelligence.
Using GenAI and low-code to build from scratch
As for code development itself, GenAI will have changed that game by the end of this year. The handwriting is on the wall: A survey reveals that almost 60% of developers feel more fulfilled with their work when they use GenAI-powered app development. At OutSystems, we have been working on making it easy to use GenAI to create an initial version of an application in a matter of minutes. Developers can then quickly customize the application with real-time change suggestions that incorporate industry-standard best practices.
Trend #2. Security posture in a GenAI world
The transformation of cybersecurity is a major trend for 2024. There is universal agreement that jobs in cybersecurity are getting harder. Security professionals report that the sophistication of threats is increasing, and stack complexity makes things worse. Some security teams are trapped in react mode, overwhelmed by both the number of attacks and the number of false positives. Too many tools require specific skills and do not provide end-to-end context. As a result, bad guys are getting in, and when they do, they spend, on average, nine weeks there. Friction between security teams and resource owners provides plenty of places to hide and impedes proper incident response handling.
Implementing better cybersecurity management
Many security teams and IT leaders want to take advantage of current and future cybersecurity investments, including using GenAI to prioritize security tasks against risks and threats. At the same time, they know they need secure environments for GenAI experimentation that embed AI policies and secure content stacks for safeguarding data integrity and compliance. There will be greater focus on making sure that the tools chosen to implement standards and policies will do so from the beginning, rather than as add-ons.
Managing risk with DevSecOps in every step of the process
An evolution in security and governance mechanisms is essential for maintaining trust and ensuring that the deployment of new technology aligns with ethical standards and regulatory requirements. We believe that more IT teams than ever will apply DevSecOps practices to help manage the risks and mitigate threats in their custom software.
One of the fundamental transformations is to use a development platform that enforces best practices like avoiding cross-scripting injection, OWASP Top 10 validation in every version of the apps, automatic encryption, and more. This automation of security best practices massively reduces threat exposure when compared to the traditional approach where every component and coder represents another threat vector. Additionally, what distinguishes a high-performance low-code platform from a regular one is the ability to scan source code for source tracing and vulnerabilities, in the same way that traditional developers do in source code.
Trend #3. Platform engineering and the value of composability
Platform engineering enables a dedicated product team to create and maintain an engineering platform that supports software development with common reusable tools and capabilities and interfaces to complex infrastructure. This emerging discipline is trending in 2024 because it abstracts the complexity of infrastructure and operations, increasing the focus on value delivered. Developers can focus on iterating app versions instead of managing infrastructure. Standardized environments, reusable components, and automated deployments reduce the risk of errors, downtime, and performance issues. Security practices are integrated throughout the development lifecycle.
Looking at development platforms as a product
Practitioners of platform engineering view development platforms as a product. They take a portal for developer tools and reusable modules and make it available to multiple development teams. The layers they need—reusable modules, developer tools, self-service portals, and a mix of prebuilt components modules—enable much faster deployment. Since all this is in an engineered platform, it’s being done systematically as DevSecOps. Each time someone promotes an app to the next phase of the software development lifecycle, best practices are applied. This mindset accelerates the quality and velocity of the software delivered.
Reducing complexity—a real world example
Here’s a real-world example of composable platform engineering. Multiple stores set up on the same ecommerce platform were selling all kinds of different brands. When a customer made a purchase at any of the stores, the ecommerce platform connected to the store. Each store then communicated to to each brand’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software separately. As a result, all these ERP custom development efforts were creating silos and slowing the process. Platform engineering created a unified integration layer to eliminate the silos, reducing complexity and enabling faster time to value.
Navigating the path to augmented development
The tech trends of 2024 are cementing a future where technology is the cornerstone for business agility, innovation, and competitive advantage. The fusion of GenAI, low-code platforms, and intelligent services are redefining the contours of enterprise software, heralding a new era of digital excellence and business resilience. The integration of GenAI into high-performance low-code platforms, as well as intelligent applications into the fabric of enterprise software, presents unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Organizations that adeptly navigate this landscape—balancing innovation with governance, security with accessibility, and agility with sustainability—will set new benchmarks for success in the digital era.
In conclusion, these trends and others offer a roadmap for enterprises that are beginning or ramping up their digital transformation journeys. By embracing these trends and adopting a holistic, forward-thinking approach to technology adoption and implementation, businesses can unlock new horizons of efficiency, innovation, and growth. For a deeper dive into the top tech trends of 2024, view Top Tech Trends for IT Leaders That Will Define 2024.
