Our ideas that matter most in 2025Continue to Homepage

It's clear that change is the only constant in 2025. We're witnessing shifts in every arena, from politics and technology through to personalisation and ethics. This raises important questions: How do we balance new innovation with real-world implications? How do we create solutions that serve people, not just processes? And how do we ensure the ideas we invest in today keep up with the future?

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How did we get here?

We've reflected on the conversations that have shaped us at IE over the past year - across our team, with our clients and within the industries we serve, and we've identified 6 key conversations to have in 2025.

AI Overload

Artificial intelligence used to be the ultimate sci-fi villain - think HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey or Agent Smith from The Matrix. For years, the fear of AI taking over dominated headlines and conversations. But now, the problem isn’t the AI overlord - it’s AI overload.

Hyper Personalisation

Inboxes bombarded with email offers full with generic messages, meaningless offers via text, creepy push notifications and bot-driven pop-ups that help less than they do hinder. More noise than value, just because customers once browsed or purchased something, doesn’t mean they are interested in a continuous stream of junk. Instead, imagine putting purchase history, browsing behaviour, location and other data to use by making relative, timely recommendations. That's the power of Hyper Personalisation.

Tech FOMO

Ever scrolled through Instagram and felt that pang of envy seeing everyone else having the time of their lives? That's Tech FOMO: the fear of missing out in the digital age. It's that nagging feeling you get when you think everyone else is using cooler tech, going to better events, or just generally living a more awesome life online. And let's be real, it's kinda stressing us all out.

Ethical Innovation

It's not just about making cool tech anymore; it's about making sure that tech actually benefits people. That's where ethical innovation comes in, making sure that honesty, fairness and responsibility are at the heart of every tech breakthrough. Think of it like building a house: you wouldn't cut corners on the foundations, right? Building things the right way earns trust and makes a real difference in the world.

Accessible Tech

Accessibility in tech is a big deal because it's all about making sure that everyone can use and enjoy technology. This means creating websites, apps and anything else digital so it can be used by everyone and a variety of abilities. Think text alternatives for images, captioning videos, using clear and simple language, designing websites that can be navigated with a keyboard and loads more.

The Informed Customer

We’re seeing the rise of the informed customer: discerning consumers who are doing their homework before they buy something. Thanks to the internet, it's super easy to compare prices, read reviews and get the lowdown on pretty much anything on the market. This means people aren't falling for good old marketing tricks anymore – they want reliable facts!

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