The AI year in review: What 2025 taught us about the future of enterprise intelligence

By Balakrishna DR (Bali), EVP – Global Services Head, AI and Industry Verticals, Infosys.

2025 wasn’t about AI hype; The year was about AI maturity. Across sectors and industries, companies worked intentionally to move beyond pilots and proofs of concept, embedding intelligence into the core of enterprise strategy and sought to create long term value and competitive advantage. From agentic AI systems to domain-specific and function-focused small language models (SLMs), from governance frameworks to sustainability mandates, one truth emerged: The future of AI isn’t just about technical maturing; It’s organisational, ethical, and contextual deepening of the concept of human+AI reality.

Maturing AI: A delicate balance

There was an acceleration of true innovation in model capabilities. When it comes to reasoning and planning, open-weight LLMs pushed new horizons, while SLMs advanced in precision, efficiency, and privacy-friendly deployment capabilities. Enterprises made and publicly reported tangible productivity ...