The Biggest Software Development Trends to Follow in 2025

As time moves forward, businesses find prospective niches and new technologies. Building with the tools that innovation gives us is crucial to providing the best customer experience. Businesses that fail to adjust to software engineering trends lose relevance and may fall behind the competition. They have fewer opportunities to grow, which limits their potential.

Each year, the biggest consulting firms and tech giants research the market ecosystem to ensure they don't miss the opportunities that trends may bring. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the trends that will shape the technology landscape in 2025.

Software Development Trends That Are Staying With Us 

As we progress through 2025, several new trends in software development continue to transform how businesses operate and deliver value. These aren't just passing trends but fundamental shifts reshaping our digital landscape and creating unprecedented opportunities across industries. From established technologies gaining new applications to emerging innovations breaking new ground, these developments are defining our technological future.

Artificial intelligence

Prospective industries: Businesses of all sizes and spheres

The AI trend is here to stay. In addition to the advances of AI across healthcare (Novartis’s development of an AI-powered central command center for global clinical trials), there are vast opportunities that AI opens in almost every niche and industry. 

Automated decision-making is becoming possible due to the integration of data, analytics, and AI. The insights generated this way may augment and sharpen the decisions companies make along the way.

In 2025, areas to focus on include decision intelligence, AI engineering, and generative AI.

• Automated decision-making: AI-driven data integration and analytics enable businesses to make sharper, more accurate decisions.
• AI engineering: By integrating data, models, and development pipelines, AI engineering will ensure more consistent business value.
• Generative AI: It will help create innovative content and solutions.

AR/VR and metaverse

Prospective industries: Entertainment, healthcare, e-commerce, media

The augmented and virtual reality relevance makes a great come-back, thanks to the buzz around the metaverse. AR/VR had seemed to drop out of the competition to be the hottest trend all on its own. This is far from true. Hospitals and clinics are developing a wide range of uses for augmented reality and virtual reality, in areas as diverse as telemedicine, in-patient care, and hospital operations. 

As part of the extended reality (XR) industry, AR/VR niches don't show any signs of a possible decline in growth in the years to come. The unique combination of realistic graphics, sounds, haptic feedback, or even smell it brings to the table makes the area a perfect soil for many projects in the entertainment industry.

The metaverse is expected to become the new standard for digital presence by many global companies in the world and the next level of social technologies. It's no wonder it will heavily rely upon new technologies and AR/VR. As a replacement for social life and engagement available from anywhere in the world, the metaverse may provide us with new work, sports events, concerts, shopping and engagement experiences. And there are no limits to what we can anticipate in the future.

Big Data

Prospective industries: Energy, automotive, financial services, manufacturing

Big Data was never an underestimated trend. Still, this year we are going to focus on data fabrics and sharing data between companies within one ecosystem or supply chain as two especially promising areas.

Another aspect that can significantly increase data usage efficiency is data sharing across the platforms that are involved in one ecosystem. The insights shared across platforms made it possible for researchers to develop vaccines or medicines faster when the COVID-19 pandemic had just started.

Internet of Things

Prospective industries: Agriculture, renewable energy, manufacturing, supply chain

Edge computing and IoT continue to dominate as essential software development industry trends. According to BMC, companies can expect edge computing to enhance predictive maintenance, fleet and product management, and voice assistance. The increasing number of interconnected devices is expanding IoT applications beyond personal use, particularly in industrial and agricultural sectors.

• Smart IoT solutions: These solutions will reduce resource waste (such as water and electricity) and provide real-time insights for optimized usage.
• Industrial IoT (IIoT): In manufacturing and supply chain industries, IoT-powered smart sensors will enable automated monitoring, predictive analytics, and real-time tracking, improving efficiency and reducing operational costs.
• Renewable energy sector applications: IoT will enhance energy efficiency by monitoring and optimizing solar farms, wind turbines, and grid distribution, reducing environmental impact and improving reliability.

Cybersecurity

Prospective industries: Automotive, financial services, healthcare

With the rapid expansion of cloud computing, IoT, and AI, cybersecurity threats have become more sophisticated. Organizations must implement zero-trust architecture and cybersecurity mesh strategies to secure assets across distributed environments.

• Cybersecurity mesh architecture: This integrates multiple security tools into a unified framework, enabling better protection of business assets across cloud and on-premise environments.
• AI-powered threat detection: Modern cybersecurity tools leverage AI to detect, analyze, and respond to threats in real time, minimizing potential damage from cyberattacks.
• Quantum-resistant cryptography: As quantum computing progresses, traditional encryption methods may become vulnerable, driving the need for quantum-safe security measures.

The rise of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and supply chain attacks has increased the demand for automated security monitoring, privacy-enhancing computation, and endpoint detection solutions. As businesses migrate to cloud-first infrastructures, cybersecurity strategies must evolve to protect sensitive data and ensure regulatory compliance.

Robotics and drones

Prospective industries: Agriculture, automotive, healthcare, military

Businesses strive to automate as many processes as possible, which often requires orchestrating tools and platforms. This trend, known as hyperautomation, is driving the growth of robotics across various industry sectors. Nations like Japan and the EU are investing billions into robotic automation.

• Manufacturing sector transformation: Robotics and drones are enhancing productivity by automating repetitive and hazardous tasks. Industries are deploying AI-powered robots to optimize production lines, reduce errors, and improve safety.
• Healthcare applications: Robots are being used for surgical assistance, patient care, and disinfection, reducing the need for human intervention in high-risk environments.
• Military and defense advancements: Robotics and drones are playing a growing role in modern warfare and defense strategies. Autonomous combat drones, AI-driven surveillance systems, and robotic military vehicles are providing enhanced security and operational efficiency.
• Agriculture and logistics: The agricultural sector is leveraging drones for crop monitoring, automated spraying, and yield prediction, while logistics companies use drones for last-mile delivery and warehouse automation.

The increasing investment in military-grade robotics is fueling technological advancements that are expected to trickle down to commercial and industrial applications.

The New Tech Playbook

Technology is evolving at lightning speed and is creating new opportunities as well as challenges for businesses across all sectors. For the year 2025, a number of emerging software development trends and technologies have demonstrated they are not just short-lived trends but game changers in how we work, connect, and innovate.

Progressive web applications or just PWAs

Prospective industries: Retail, e-commerce, media

PWAs aren’t a new technology in software development. But nowadays, PWAs are entering the software development market with new powers and bring together the qualities of both web and mobile apps by providing quick and dependable user experiences that are immersive without the need, for downloading from an app store. 

Current state:

• Adoption rates have been on the rise lately as big companies such as Starbucks, Twitter, Pinterest and Uber have noticed an increase, in user interaction and sales. 
• Google and Microsoft are actively promoting Progressive Web App (PWA) standards and tools, for development.
• Support for PWAs has become more consistent across web browsers recently. This standardization has made them a practical and universal solution.

5G Technology

Prospective industries: Telecommunications, IoT, smart cities, healthcare, manufacturing, entertainment, autonomous vehicles

5G represents a significant leap in wireless communication with speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, ultra-low latency, and massive connection density.

Current state:

• Global 5G infrastructure deployment has reached critical mass in developed markets
• Consumer adoption has accelerated with most new smartphones now 5G-capable
• Private 5G networks for industrial applications are becoming commonplace in manufacturing
• mmWave 5G deployment has expanded in dense urban areas, offering the highest performance tiers

Edge computing

Prospective industries: IoT, AI, cloud computing

Bringing computing power closer to data sources will improve real-time processing, security, and efficiency for IoT and AI-driven applications.

Current state

• Major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google) have developed robust edge computing platforms
• Telecom providers are incorporating edge nodes into their 5G infrastructure
• Purpose-built edge hardware has matured with optimized solutions for different use cases
• Edge AI capabilities have advanced significantly with specialized ML processors

Low-code/No-code development

Prospective industries: Software development, startups, enterprises

Empowering businesses to build applications faster without deep programming knowledge, reducing development time and costs.

Current state:

• Enterprise adoption has moved beyond simple applications to mission-critical systems
• Capabilities have expanded to include AI integration, complex workflows, and sophisticated UIs
• Market consolidation has occurred with major platforms acquiring specialized solutions
• Traditional development platforms have incorporated low-code capabilities

Quantum computing

Prospective industries: Finance, healthcare, research, cybersecurity

Although still in its early stages, quantum computing is expected to revolutionize cryptography, optimization problems, and complex simulations.

Current state:

• Quantum hardware has advanced beyond the "noisy intermediate-scale quantum" (NISQ) era
• Error correction techniques have improved, enabling longer coherence times
• Quantum advantage has been demonstrated for specific problem classes
• Major tech companies and governments have made substantial investments
• Quantum-as-a-Service offerings have matured through cloud platforms

Microservices architecture

Prospective industries: Software development

Enabling greater scalability, flexibility, and faster development cycles for modern applications.

Current state:

• Widespread enterprise adoption beyond just tech companies
• Mature tooling ecosystem for deployment, monitoring, and service mesh management
• Standardization of patterns and practices
• Container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes have become the de facto standard
• Serverless computing has integrated with microservices approaches

IoB (Internet of Behavior)

Prospective industries: Marketing, healthcare, retail

Analyzing user behavior through data analytics to create personalized experiences and improve decision-making.

Current state:

• Early applications primarily in marketing and customer experience
• Growing adoption in healthcare for behavior modification programs
• Workplace safety and productivity monitoring systems
• Insurance companies implementing behavior-based premium models
• Privacy regulations shaping implementation approaches

Outsourcing development

Prospective industries: Startups, SMBs, enterprises

More companies are opting for outsourcing to reduce costs and gain access to a global talent pool, driving innovation faster.

Current state:

• Remote work normalization has blurred the lines between in-house and outsourced teams
• Specialized outsourcing for emerging technologies (AI, blockchain, IoT)
• Growth of nearshoring to reduce time zone challenges
• Evolution from project-based to long-term partnership models
• Development of specialized outsourcing hubs beyond traditional locations

Emerging Convergence of Software Development Trends

Several of these technologies are increasingly converging to create powerful new capabilities and new tech trends in software engineering:

• Edge AI + 5G + IoT: Creating real-time intelligent systems with minimal latency
• PWAs + Low-Code: Enabling rapid development of sophisticated web applications
• Microservices + Serverless + Low-Code: Building scalable systems with reduced complexity
• Quantum Computing + AI: Tackling previously unsolvable optimization problems
• IoB + Edge Computing: Enabling real-time behavioral analysis with privacy protection

These convergence points represent particularly promising areas for innovation and investment as we move through 2025 and beyond.

Let’s Shape the Future Together

These top software development trends outlined in this article represent a roadmap for the future. Companies that embrace these innovations will lead the way in their industries, redefining customer experiences, optimizing operations, and unlocking unprecedented growth.

Are you ready to future-proof your business? We are here to help you integrate cutting-edge technologies tailored to your business needs. Reach out today and start your journey toward digital transformation!