AI Predictions For 2025: What India Inc. Is Expecting

Looking ahead to 2025, there are whispers in the air, all the way from the Californian Silicon Valley to India’s own Silicon Valley of Bengaluru, of what’s to come next in AI. Will AI be taking more of our jobs? Are we talking cutting-edge innovation or jugaad with extra flair?

The Secretariat spoke to industry experts across the world who predicted a whole plethora of things from more AI-powered robots to even more indiscernible deepfakes.

“The trends are many and not everything around AI can be predicted with 100 per cent accuracy. The rate of change is so phenomenal. Every other day I come across use cases that I haven't heard of. This is more so the case with GenAI,” said Arif Sultan Shiekh, senior research analyst at leading market research and consulting firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

One thing is clear, AI is moving fast, changing industries, and keeping experts on their toes. Here is a look at what AI could have in store for us this year.

Rise Of AI Agents & Assistants

When ChatGPT debuted in 2022, it introduced generative AI to the mainstream. Initially, the focus was on generating text. But in 2023, multimodal capabilities emerged, enabling AI to create not only just text but also music, images, and videos. 

By 2024, the spotlight shifted to AI agents — intelligent tools that actively perform tasks — the hottest thing in AI right now. In 2025, experts predict that AI agents will be like personalised AI assistants and become smarter, giving helpful and customised support to make people and workplaces more productive. 

“As we look to 2025 and beyond, AI assistants will be the first step in starting any new project or brainstorming an idea. They will go beyond automating tasks and actually do work for and help get more done,” said Sameer Raje, General Manager and Head, India & SAARC Region, Zoom Communications, Inc., in an email to The Secretariat.

AI agents will act as virtual teams, handling everything from research to project management. Raje added that AI assistants will also offer more personalised, emotionally intelligent guidance to strengthen organisations' interactions with others.

AI-Powered Robots

Will we get Ava-like AI from Ex-Machina in 2025? Unlikely. If the robotics displayed at the biggest tech event of the year — Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas — is anything to go by, our future features a Barista Bot that will make you a cup of coffee and a vacuum robot with a retractable arm. It's not exactly groundbreaking stuff.

But Divyendra Jadoun, founder of AI-powered solutions platform The Indian Deepfaker (TID), hopes that we will soon successfully incorporate AI into robotics.

“The next thing I am expecting is putting AI into machines and being able to do physical things. They have already started creating robots and integrating AIs in drones and heavy machinery. Now they are trying to integrate AI into highly precise machines and they will become a norm in a few years," he told The Secretariat.

While companies like Tesla and Figure AI are integrating humanoid robots with AI, whether this becomes a standard in 2025 is anybody's guess. AI-powered machines, as Jadoun put it, will bring automation and precision to industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics.

Scamming Become More Sophisticated

If 2024 was (sadly) the year of Digital Arrests, this year we would likely see more sophisticated deepfakes, brought to you by AI. AI tools are not just mere tools for creativity, but a permanent feature in the arsenal of an evolving and growing scamming industry.

“In terms of deepfakes, the scamming industry is getting so popular and huge. And AI is giving a perfect edge to these scammers. Previously, in illegal industries, people would earn through drugs and mafias. But the scamming industry is giving tough competition to them,” said Jadoun.

The Secretariat earlier reported how deepfakes marred the Indian election cycle last year, blurring the lines between reality and fabrication. 

Globally speaking, in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, scams such as pig butchering are becoming increasingly common. These operations now leverage AI at multiple stages, from voice cloning to automated calls, making them harder to detect and easier to scale.

“It’s going to get worse in 2025 as scams are going to get more high-tech and fast-paced. More people will be vulnerable. AI helps scammers in automation and scaling up. Very soon, human intervention in scams will vanish as a result of voice cloning,” added Jadoun.

India-Specific Predictions

As more businesses in India adopt AI, they’ll face challenges like new regulations, a lack of skilled workers, and high costs for infrastructure.

The Secretariat spoke to Chris Marshall, Vice President at IDC, who said that in 2025, several industries in India are poised for significant AI-driven disruptions, particularly the financial services, IT sector, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. 

Chris Marshall said, “The financial sector, the top AI spender and fastest growing sector in India is expected to leverage AI and GenAI for improved customer experiences and risk management, while retail will likely adopt the technology to optimise supply chains and personalise marketing strategies."

He added, "The Indian IT industry anticipates a rebound in growth fuelled by increased tech spending and a focus on AI solutions, with companies prioritising investments in cloud, AI/ML and GenAI applications to enhance operational efficiency and resilience".

"Additionally, the healthcare industry is set to benefit from AI and GenAI in diagnostics and patient management systems. Overall, these sectors are preparing for transformative changes as they integrate AI and GenAI technologies into their operations,” said Dr Marshall.

After having launched the India AI Mission last year, the government has already tried to address the challenges the country faces by putting their money where their mouth is. This has translated into increased budgetary allocations in research and development, public-private partnerships and a commitment to building AI infrastructures.

The Secretariat also spoke to Abhivardhan, Managing Partner at Indic Pacific Legal Research and Chairperson & Managing Trustee of the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law, who said that the AI landscape in 2025 demands a fundamental shift in the industry’s approach.

“The success of AI in 2025 will not be measured by the number of regulations we create, but by our ability to implement practical, ethical, and sustainable AI solutions that serve real-world needs,” added Abhivardhan who feels that the overflow of regulatory frameworks and AI hype has created more confusion than clarity for businesses and practitioners alike.

“We need streamlined, actionable guidelines rather than overlapping governance documents,” he added.

India’s IT Ministry recently released a report on AI governance guidelines, which recommends the creation of an interministerial committee and a technical secretariat to oversee AI development in the country.

“I think there is a lot of work going on in terms of use-case identification and development. Besides, India is probably the biggest source of human capital in the tech sector globally, and AI is no exception,” said Shiekh.

And while India may not be the AI Vatican just yet, its AI market is expected to grow from US$ 6.36 billion to US$ 8.30 billion by the end of 2025, as per Statista Market Insights. In the United States, the AI market is set to expand from a staggering US$ 50.17 billion to US$ 66.2 billion, and in China, from US$ 34.2 billion to US$ 45.45 billion.

This highlights the scale of the gap but also the opportunity for India to carve out its niche in the global AI ecosystem.