Forrester’s 2025 Budget Planning Guides reveal that 91% of global tech decision-makers and 87% of global marketing decision-makers intend to spend more in 2025 despite high interest rates, tight labor markets, and election uncertainties. However, results also show that tech leaders are pressured to optimise spending and drive efficiencies.
2025 investments
To extract maximum value from increased budgets in 2025, tech leaders seek to invest in cross-functional efforts that can impact their firm’s growth, as well as capabilities and frameworks for AI governance and trust.
Forrester projects a scale-back on journey mapping without clear objectives, an executive champion, or customer insights. Forrester also suggests that leaders replace the sprawl of their bespoke applications and isolated infrastructure with limited use cases to reduce technical debt and enhance IT performance.
In 2025, Forrester predicts that tech leaders will experiment on platform teams to break down silos and encourage innovation. Moreover, more experimentation is expected for quantum security in 2025 to future-proof their organisation against data breaches.
Thoughtful investing
“Optimistic budget expectations will serve leaders well as they enter 2025, but they need to be super thoughtful about investing in areas that support their firms’ overall growth,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “While leaders should continue experimenting with more advanced AI capabilities in 2025, those shouldn’t be the only experiments they pursue. They should prioritise investments that benefit their entire firm and help establish long-term trust with customers and partners. Forrester’s Budget Planning Guides provide detailed guidance on where leaders should invest, pull back, and strategically experiment to succeed amid continual, rapid change.”
