It’s an incredibly exciting time to be working on any technology product or software. The tech industry is changing at a rapid pace, with AI exploding and reaching into our work and home lives. Here at Wrike, we’re always trying to stay a step ahead of what’s coming up.
While it’s an exciting time, it’s also a time to be very mindful that you’re taking advantage of the technology available, and that you do so strategically and ethically. Let’s dive into a few trends I view as important in the coming year.
AI will move beyond automating low-level tasks
According to our recent Impactful Work Report, knowledge workers report that AI only helps with 14% of their workload. Currently, AI automates low-level tasks but, over the course of 2025, AI will expand into more administrative work and deeper, more meaningful tasks, helping employees work smarter and more efficiently.
We’ll see AI tools begin to serve as intelligent collaborators, automatically generating first drafts of documents, presentations, and code, aiding in strategy and brainstorming tasks, and providing real-time suggestions and insights for workers throughout the day. In fact, Wrike already has built-in AI tools that can summarize, translate, and create outlines, significantly accelerating the workflows we follow every day. And those who adopt and embrace AI’s help will become productivity powerhouses.
AI-driven assistants will also become more advanced and context-aware, anticipating needs, learning individual work patterns, and offering insights based on personal productivity trends. These AI assistants will learn from historical project data to draft initial project plans based on high-level objectives, identify bottlenecks, and even recommend optimal team structures. We’re working to make these features a reality here at Wrike in 2025.
Shadow AI will continue to be an issue in the workplace
Unfortunately, one issue I’ve seen with the rapid pace of AI is that many companies aren’t following best practices that help keep employees and clients safe from data and ethics issues. When employees are using AI without the timely approval of their company’s IT department, that’s called “shadow AI,” and it can result in serious privacy breaches.
For example, employees using consumer-grade AI applications to analyze customer data would be considered shadow AI — and could result in major data privacy issues. In fact, most employees are already using AI in the workplace to help ease workloads and get their jobs done. However, less than 40% have actually received training for it.
In 2025, organizations need to ensure that their employees have access to tools that easily integrate AI into their existing workflows and create a work environment and culture that is open to exploration with AI. IT teams and business leaders will need to prioritize this in the next year in order to enable their teams to use AI in a safe and productive way.
Maintaining AI best practices at your organization will help you maximize the benefits of AI while mitigating the risks it poses. Here at Wrike, we’re combatting shadow AI by implementing robust AI best practices (here’s a free, comprehensive eBook we put together on the topic), which will help us ensure that AI is used in the most ethical and effective manner.
Visual collaboration tools will power employee engagement
While AI and automation might get the most air time, visual collaboration tools are going to be surging in 2025 as well. Our recent research has shown that a lack of engagement is a real culprit in loss of productivity, and disengaged employees cost companies globally almost $9 trillion every year.
Visual collaboration tools will be essential for keeping employee engagement high, and I’ve seen firsthand how these tools can enhance every step of a team’s workflow. We typically think of visual collaboration tools as digital whiteboards filled with sticky notes or doodles, but there is so much more you can do with a visual collaboration tool, from visualizing customer journeys to getting a clear handle on results and analytics.
Because we know visual collaboration is going to be so important in the coming year, Wrike has just announced our new visual collaboration tool, powered by Klaxoon. With Wrike’s new visual collaboration features, you’ll be able to reduce the inefficiencies in your workflows that hamper productivity and inhibit growth. I’m excited to see how our customers are able to boost productivity, drive innovation, and achieve the highest level of engagement for their teams, with full participation from ideation to outcomes.
I’m excited to see what 2025 has in store for us all, and I’m confident that Wrike is in the perfect position to help our customers stay on top of these trends and hit their goals this year. If you’re ready to join us in automating low-value work and keeping employees engaged, snag your free trial today.
