AI agents bring big risks and rewards for daring early adopters, says Forrester

Each year, the market research firm Forrester publishes a report highlighting 10 emerging technologies poised to transform the business landscape. Unsurprisingly, agentic AI stood out in this year’s list.

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AI agents: The promise and risk

The recent Top 10 Technologies for 2025 report from Forrester highlighted AI agents as a major tech trend that will sweep across the private sector. New agent architectures enable AI tools to autonomously perform tasks for individuals and organizations, marking a major business opportunity. 

However, it wasn’t just the utility of agentic AI that led to its inclusion in the list; the dangers were also a factor. As noted in the report, the technology that powers agents’ autonomy also makes them more difficult to predict and understand, increasing the risk that they will behave in ways that don’t align with the interests of human users. 

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“Clear boundaries, governance, and trust frameworks must evolve alongside the tech,” Brian Hopkins, vice president of Forrester’s Emerging Tech portfolio, wrote in a blog post the same day the researcher published its new report.

While many leading tech companies have recently introduced agents and businesses have begun implementing such systems into their workflows, Forrester predicts it will take a couple of years or more before the tech is safe and dependable enough for mainstream adoption. 

AI generators, robots, synthetic data, and more 

Similarly, the report found that image and video-generating AI tools, which have lagged behind text-generating tools in development and deployment, will have a more pronounced impact on industries like marketing and retail within the next five years.

Another noteworthy mention in this year’s Forrester report was humanoid robots, which weren’t included in the firm’s top 20 emerging technologies last year. While still constrained by lofty R&D costs, among other factors, the rise of embodied robots that can autonomously move and perform tasks, which Forrester predicts won’t truly get underway for another five years, could soon revolutionize businesses, according to the report.

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In terms of more immediately impactful trends, or those expected to benefit businesses over the next couple of years, Forrester’s report highlighted Internet of Things security and synthetic data. 

Across the board, though, Forrester emphasized AI in all its many manifestations as the technological force that will have the most pronounced social impact. The researcher advised business leaders to be proactive.

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“As AI becomes ubiquitous, business and technology leaders should prioritize investments that will deliver the greatest impact for their organizations in terms of driving business growth, innovation, and competitive advantage,” Sharyn Leaver, Forrester’s chief research officer, said in a statement. 

“Despite global uncertainty, AI’s rapid acceleration will continue. Enterprises that strategically balance AI innovation with risk mitigation will be ones that successfully thrive and achieve sustainable growth.”