AI moves from experimentation to enterprise-scale transformation: Deloitte Report

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond experimentation and is increasingly reshaping how organisations are designed, governed and scaled, according to Deloitte’s 17th annual Tech Trends report.

The report says technology trends are now converging around AI, pushing companies to rethink operations, infrastructure and workforce models amid economic uncertainty, policy shifts and rising competitive pressure.

Commenting on the report findings, Deepa Seshadri, partner and CIO program leader at Deloitte India, said, “We are seeing that most technology trends today are pivoting decisively toward AI, and the shift is no longer about experimentation or isolated use cases. What stands out in this year’s Deloitte Tech Trends report is how AI is becoming a catalyst for rethinking how organisations are designed, governed, and scaled end-to-end. For India, this moment is especially relevant. Our enterprises operate at unmatched scale and diversity, which makes incremental change insufficient. The real opportunity lies in rebuilding core processes, infrastructure, and talent models so human and digital capabilities can work together seamlessly. Organisations that take this systems-level view of AI will be better positioned to drive resilience, productivity, and long-term value in an increasingly complex environment.” 

The report notes that many enterprises continue to struggle to convert experimentation into measurable impact, warning that the gap between testing new technologies and deploying them at scale is where competitive advantage is gained or lost.

Bill Briggs, Chief Technology Officer at Deloitte, said, “The pace of technology change can be overwhelming. Deloitte’s Tech Trends report aims to cut through hype to provide clarity and confidence about the business and mission impact expected over the next 18 to 24 months, with breadcrumbs to the real investments leaders can make today. While AI remains central, other advances, like human + machine dynamics, underlying infrastructure choices and the next wave of cyber, demand attention. Leaders can’t afford inertia; ‘Tech Trends’ highlights real ways to forge new futures across industries worldwide.” 

Kelly Raskovich, Emerging Technology Leader and Tech Trends Executive Editor, Deloitte, further added, “For 17 years, ‘Tech Trends’ has tracked emerging technologies poised to reshape business. This year is different. Innovation is compounding. Forces aren’t simply additive, but multiplicative. Better technology enables more applications. More applications generate more data. More data attracts more investment. More investment builds better infrastructure. Each improvement simultaneously accelerates all the others. We're seeing the S-curves compress in real time, and the distance between emerging and mainstream is collapsing. That’s the reality technology leaders are navigating.”

The report identifies five interconnected forces reshaping enterprise technology, marking a shift from last year’s experimentation to scaling.

One trend focuses on AI-enabled robots, as intelligence moves from screens into physical environments. The firm said robots are evolving from task-specific tools into adaptive systems capable of learning and operating in dynamic settings, requiring coordination among enterprises, regulators and hardware providers.

Another area is AI agents. Despite growing interest, only 11% of organisations have successfully deployed AI agents in production, the report said. Deloitte noted that the challenge lies less in technology and more in redesigning processes originally built for human workers. Companies are beginning to form hybrid human-digital workforces, requiring new approaches to skills, culture and governance.

The report also highlights mounting pressure on AI infrastructure. While computing costs have fallen, usage has increased faster, leading to high monthly expenses. Deloitte said organisations are adopting hybrid models combining cloud, on-premises and edge systems, and in some cases building purpose-designed AI data centers.

AI is also reshaping IT operating models, with Deloitte noting that technology teams are becoming leaner and more adaptive. The report said leading organizations are tying AI initiatives to business outcomes, adopting modular architectures and redefining talent strategies around human-machine collaboration.

Cybersecurity presents what Deloitte described as an 'AI paradox'. AI is creating new vulnerabilities, including shadow deployments and adversarial attacks, while also offering tools for automated threat detection and defense. The report said organizations are increasingly adopting combined 'AI for cyber' and 'cyber for AI' approaches.

Beyond these trends, the report identifies eight emerging technology signals, including neuromorphic chips, edge AI, advances in biometric authentication, evolving privacy concerns around AI agents and generative engine optimisation.

Deloitte said the report is intended to help business and technology leaders identify opportunities for growth, innovation and long-term competitiveness.