Demand for data centre capacity will continue to snowball. Increased adoption of cloud solutions and the processing requirements of AI are all impacting factors. In 2010 2 zettabytes of data was generated globally, in 2025 it will be 180 zettabytes. The need for capacity will create opportunities for those developing and investing in data centres, and for those able to develop solutions to meet the industry's key challenges. These challenges include developing low cost and low environmental impact solutions to data centre energy demands, be that small modular nuclear reactors, distributed cloud solutions or even subsea or orbital data centres – for those willing to be bold there is the possibility of turning science fiction into reality.

There could be a major shake-up for the cloud infrastructure market. Dominated by two major players, both the CMA and European competition authorities are looking at this closely including whether the barriers to entry for new players are too high. With the CMA providing it's provisional finding on the cloud services markets on 28th January 2025. Buyers of cloud services could soon face greater choice, and opportunities could be created for those suppliers ready to disrupt.

Agentic AI will replace Gen AI as the favourite AI related buzzword. Agentic AI moves past the need for continuous prompts to engage with the AI. It autonomously performs tasks based on the original query, even clarifying the original query to refine the output and making its own decisions on next steps. Most importantly, Agentic AI can ingest data rather than operate only using historic data sets. A powerful tool, full of opportunities. Agentic AI is already out there, but as we see a greater level of adoption those deploying the technology will need to understand the associated legal risks ranging from who has responsibility for the output to how the ingested data is used.

Cybersecurity and resilience will be front of everyone's mind. C-suite will spend more to improve the protections their business has in place. Regulators will lay down more demanding requirements. Suppliers will need to respond by developing more advanced solutions, and business teams will need to understand the regulatory landscape around them. In the EU NIS2 came into force October 2024, DORA in January 2025. In the UK the Critical Third Party regime was finalised in November 2024 and the list of designated Critical Third Parties will be released in 2025. The whole industry needs to be horizon scanning and agile in its response.

With Bitcoin having broken $100k per coin towards the end of 2024, marking a significant milestone and demonstrating the continued adoption of cryptocurrency and an acceptance of the wider world of digital assets. Much talk now turns to how this technology, and adoption of it, can be leveraged by Central Banks to promote Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and the broader use of digital assets in payments. The Bank of England are continuing to consider the Digital Pound and consider how to integrate digital assets into wholesale settlement. The FCA published its crypto road map which sets out the development of the UK regime to regulate digital assets and should result in much needed clarity in respect of the legal and regulatory framework in this space. All of these changes provide potential for the disruption of payment technology as used on a daily basis across the world, and those in this market will need to be ready!