AI expectations 2025: Here's what thousands of cloud customers reveal they're looking for

Each month, our Leader's Digest newsletter serves up the most relevant tech stories and business insights from inside Google Cloud. In each issue, our Forecast column features an exclusive note from Google Cloud's top leaders on what they're working on, where the industry is going, and how it matters to your business.

Normally, you can't read The Forecast anywhere but your inbox, but we wanted to share the latest one so you could see what we're up to and might consider signing up for future editions. In this one, we put a simple question to some of Google Cloud’s top executive: Based on the hundreds of conversations you’ve had with customers this year, what are you expecting to see from them in 2025?

Matt Renner, President for Global Revenue:

In 2024, gen AI continued to dominate agendas, with three themes that stood out: the speed of development, the business impact our customers are already seeing, and the importance of security in the AI era.

This was the moment when we really saw customers move from proof-of-concept to production, with companies across the board seeing real returns on their investment. This wasn’t just coming up in conversations — a Google Cloud report from September found that 74% of enterprises using gen AI in production are already seeing returns on these investments, with an additional third anticipating ROI in the next 12 months. 

At the same time, security remains top of mind. From small businesses to large enterprises, organizations are seeking robust, reliable solutions to protect their data and systems in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

At Google Cloud, we're committed to empowering our customers on all fronts. We're delivering cutting-edge AI solutions that are easy to deploy and integrate, focused on providing true business value, while also providing industry-leading security tools and expertise to safeguard their businesses. 

Just consider all our announcements from earlier this month, with the launch of our most capable AI model, Gemini 2.0, our groundbreaking quantum chip, Willow, our most powerful AI chip, Trillium, and Agentspace, our new cloud service that combines organizational knowledge with enterprise search and agentic capabilities. This incredible pace of development means our customers continue to seek trusted partners to guide them through this wave of innovation to deliver business value and impact. 

The promise of AI yesterday has become real AI impact today. 2025 will be a defining year for many companies. CEOs know this is table stakes — they need to move faster than ever before, and we’re here to support them wherever they are on their journeys. Together, we have the opportunity to change the core of industry.

Lee Moore, Global Vice President, Google Cloud Consulting:

As we look ahead to 2025, the shift to AI is no longer a question of 'if' but 'when' and 'how.' Yet what many companies are realizing is that the foundation of a successful AI strategy is their underlying data cloud. 

At Google Cloud Consulting, we're seeing a surge in demand for not only building and integrating AI agents across all facets of business operations, but also in building robust data foundations that can power those AI applications. Companies and organizations recognize that this AI-powered transformation, built on a strong data foundation, is the key to future-proofing their business and staying competitive in the years to come.

Sharon Prosser, Vice President, SMB Sales and Scaled Acquisition:

As we head into 2025, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are facing considerable pressure to innovate and grow in the fast-paced digital world — often with limited IT resources and budgets. They're looking for top-notch AI capabilities that are quick and easy to deploy. In our meetings, we’ve regularly heard how many SMBs are finding value in tools like Gemini, Vertex AI, pre-trained APIs, and pre-built agents that let them make big changes easily without having to hire and create specialized teams.

We’ve also heard loud and clear that security is a must-have for medium-sized businesses. Tools like Security Advisor in Google Workspace, and Security Command Centre in Google Cloud have been a hit with customers because they provide enterprise-grade security and deliver smart, actionable insights directly to IT admins. 

Finally, one of the biggest concerns we hear from SMBs is the cost of cloud migration and the potential for ongoing expenses. SMBs take advantage of our pay-as-you-go model, along with migration packages, which provide financial flexibility and incentives, as well as extensive support from account managers, customer engineers, and large partner ecosystem all eager to help SMBs pilot proof-of-concepts and provide tailored resources that maximize ROI. 

Our customers want technology that empowers, not complicates. That’s why Google has built its AI and cloud solutions with speed, ease of use, security, and cost-efficiency in mind.

Duncan Lennox, Vice President & General Manager, Applied AI 

Customers are fired up and ready to go all-in scaling AI for strategic initiatives, and they are looking to us for help. The need to go from experimentation to production is clear. They see the opportunity to differentiate themselves and their offerings with their customers and are keen to take it. They are looking to us to be a very strategic partner — this is a long term bet — and help them determine where and how to start, as well as leverage all our expertise.

Opening image created with Imagen 3 running on Vertex AI, using the prompt: a New Years baby... wearing a diaper, top hat, and sash... the sash says "happy new year"... looking to the future... looking at the viewer... through futuristic, high-tech binoculars... the lens of the binoculars each show "20" and "25"... in the middle of a New Years celebration full of streamers and confetti that look a little sci fi... a visual metaphor for the future of technology