From personalized recommendations on your favorite streaming service to AI-powered agents that help you plan your day, artificial intelligence is already changing our lives. And for businesses, it's about to get even bigger: 2025 will be a pivotal year as AI transforms how companies operate, compete and innovate. Today Google Cloud dropped its 2025 AI Business Trends Report — here’s a look at five key trends shaping the future of business.

1. Multimodal AI will deliver more context

Multimodal AI processes information from text, images, audio and video. It allows for more intuitive interactions and significantly improves the accuracy of AI outputs. This human-centric approach to AI is essential for businesses in an increasingly data-rich world. For example, in financial services, this could involve analyzing market commentary videos and considering non-verbal cues, like tone of voice and facial expressions, alongside the spoken words for a more nuanced understanding of market sentiment. In manufacturing, multimodal AI can analyze sensor data like noise and vibrations to proactively address maintenance needs.

2. AI agents will simplify complex tasks

As AI agents become more popular in businesses, they’ll be able to manage complex workflows, automate business processes and support employees. Imagine customer agents providing support with a consistent experience across channels — in person, online and mobile. Employee agents will be able to streamline internal processes; creative agents will enhance design and production skills.

3. Enterprise search will give people the knowledge they need

Enterprise search systems — internal search engines for companies — are no longer limited to keyword-based queries. People will now be able to use images, audio, video and conversational prompts to quickly access and use internal data. Financial institutions can tailor internal knowledge searches to specific employee roles, while retailers can allow customers to find products using natural language and images. In healthcare, AI can power intuitive search that understands complex medical terminology.

4. AI-powered customer experiences will get even better

AI-powered solutions are changing the customer experience, in part by anticipating customer needs and helping businesses stay connected to their customers. This translates to increased revenue, efficiency and brand loyalty. Imagine personalized recommendations and AI-enhanced search that understands customer intent. In retail, AI will be able to create personalized shopping experiences and customer support across all shopping channels — online, in store or mobile. Manufacturers will use AI to improve production and customer service.

5. AI will enhance security systems

In 2025, AI will help bolster defenses, identify and combat threats, automate manual security tasks and accelerate response times. However, this also leads to an "arms race" between defenders and attackers, as adversaries leverage AI for more sophisticated attacks. Organizations must proactively address this challenge. Financial institutions can use AI to detect counterfeit documents, and manufacturers can use it to keep data safe and identify potential risks. We also predict that the media and entertainment industry will use AI to combat deepfakes and misinformation.

Check out the report and the Google Cloud blog for more information on Google Cloud’s 2025 AI business trend predictions. And if you want to learn more about building generative AI into your business, visit our YouTube channel.