5 unbelievable-sounding things that could happen in tech in 2025

By Elena Mazhuha, Partner at F1V

If someone told you in 2019 that an AI chatbot would shake up Google, or that investors would fund “AI wrappers” with zero defensibility — you’d probably laugh.

But tech surprises us every year.

Looking ahead to 2025, here are five predictions that sound crazy at first, but I wouldn’t bet against them.

AI will be your co-worker, not just your tool

AI will act as an actual team member. Companies will “hire” AI co-pilots for everything from legal work to investment analysis. Startups that don’t integrate AI into workflows will struggle to compete.

Productivity benchmarks will change overnight. If you’re working manually, you’re working slowly. Hard to believe? Sure. But imagine explaining today’s AI tools to someone in 2019. That person would already be awed and shocked. Nevertheless, that’s our reality now.

Crypto payments will become boringly normal

Remember when people laughed at the idea of buying coffee with Bitcoin? I was one of those people — skeptical about crypto for a long time. But now, I’m starting to see real, practical use cases for consumers.

Stablecoins will quietly go mainstream for buying cars, real estate, and even enterprise deals. Countries like the UAE are already setting the trend. Soon, it won’t be newsworthy anymore.

By the end of 2025, paying with stablecoins will feel as normal as using PayPal. Or at least very close to it.

Your face will no longer be entirely yours

AI-generated fraud is getting so good that your face, voice, and even ID documents might not be enough to verify who you are.

Deepfake scams will be wild. Making fraud detection is a billion-dollar industry. I expect a rise in “proof-of-personhood” tools — AI-powered systems to verify humans in a digital-first world.

Legacy industries will get an AI makeover (and they might not like it)

Banking, government, and manufacturing sectors have avoided digital transformation for decades. That is over.

AI will force massive automation shifts in industries buried in paperwork. Enterprises stuck in outdated systems will start losing contracts to AI-optimized competitors. Ignoring AI won’t be an option.

Hype AI startups will go bankrupt — and fast

We’ve seen insane funding rounds for AI startups that are basically just ChatGPT with a UI.

Many of these companies will collapse in 2025 as investors are finally paying attention to real defensibility. This has already been happening: OpenAI has routinely been killing dozens of startups with its updates. The scope will increase, I have no doubts.

The AI “gold rush” will separate the serious players from the quick-flip opportunists. It’ll be brutal, but unavoidable. If a startup wants to stay relevant long-term, it needs to track usage metrics, engagement, and talk to customers regularly to understand the actual value it delivers to end users.

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