AI regulation, Greentech and NaaS to top the CIO agenda for 2025

Mirko Voltolini, VP, Technology and Innovation, Colt Technology Services said, “As the new year approaches, IT leaders are stepping forward with cautious optimism, ready to navigate the evolving global economic, political, and technological landscapes after months of uncertainty. They’re looking for new, unique ways to drive sustainability and generate energy efficiency across their infrastructure; they’re expecting regulators to build frameworks for AI which protect them but give them the freedom to innovate; and they’re exploring the scope and scale of NaaS to secure a market advantage and optimise their infrastructure for AI. The champions of 2025 will be those who are responsible, adaptable, and committed to sustainability.”

Tech Trends

SASE and zero trust

Misinformation, disinformation and cyber insecurity are cited within the top five short-term threats named by the World Economic Forum in 2024. With people and data interacting outside of their network perimeter, enterprises will increasingly turn to Zero-Trust Networking and SASE to create a software-defined perimeter (SDP) to secure their people, their assets and their data. This is compounded by the growing regulation such as NIS2 and DORA. Gartner® forecast that “over the next five years, the market for secure access service edge will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29%, reaching over $25 billion by 2027. The underlying SASE products that buyers will use will be split between single-vendor and dual-vendor approaches.” 1

Next-generation NaaS

Colt pioneered Network as a Service back in 2017. Since then, thousands of businesses across the world have benefited from the agile, consumption-based network model. Now, the market is more competitive, offering greater choice and diversity. In 2025 we’re likely to see a new era for NaaS as operators build increasingly sophisticated portals with deeper levels of automation and API-access to global partners

Networks for AI

As more use cases are reaching maturity level, AI is becoming a key driver and enabler within enterprises’ digital transformation plans. Gartner forecast that “by 2026 more than 90% of enterprises will extend their capabilities to multicloud environments” 2 .The distribution of AI models, enterprise datasets, and IT / OT applications (required for AI training, augmentation and inference) on different public and private clouds is going to challenge the current networking paradigm. We expect to see an increased adoption of solutions incorporating multicloud, high speed, secure and flexible networking capabilities. Inference at the edge will also emerge as a key AI use case, driven by data sovereignty and low latency requirements.

Low Earth Orbit collaboration

With markets likely to encounter socioeconomic headwinds into 2025, businesses will retain a tight cost-control; partnering to expand skills and capabilities is set to continue. This applies across digital infrastructure, as vendors trial new ways to reach customers with secure, low latency infrastructure. One area set to see further collaboration is in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) sector, as LEO companies plan satellite launches throughout 2025, extending the reach of powerful, high-performance networks bringing connectivity to less accessible areas.

Growth in SDLAN

Traditional Local Area Networks are giving way to Software-Defined Local Area Networks, which offer businesses enhanced security, improved optimisation and deeper levels of automation, while allowing for centralised control of network management. We’re seeing them in areas such as manufacturing environments, in which high numbers of IoT devices connect to an SDLAN, and in Financial Services organisations which require the robust protection of sensitive financial data. Growth will continue as we see SDLANs’ convergence with Edge driving take-up and AI tools driving optimisation. SDLAN growth will also benefit from the adoption of high speed, low latency, massive IoT capable wireless technology such as private 5G and WiFi7.

Market Trends

Sustainability driving new wave of innovation

Eyewatering power consumption statistics behind AI and large language models have accelerated innovation across Greentech. With 71% of CIOs now responsible for their organisation’s sustainability strategies according to Colt’s Digital Infrastructure Report, tech leaders will be held accountable for reducing power consumption and meeting environmental and governance targets. These two factors are driving innovation, as tech leaders pilot groundbreaking technologies which are powerful and effective, with minimal environmental impact.

ESG credentials and Scope 3 reporting influencing B2B decision-making

Research in the Digital Infrastructure Report reveals the emerging importance of buyers and vendors in collaborating on environmental and governance goals. 66% of the global CIOs questioned say it is important that a vendor provides services to help them reduce their own environmental impact and 17% would leave their supplier if they did not share their ESG goals. One in five looks to their tech partner for support with their carbon reporting, and 19% for information to help drive Scope 3 reduction. We see this symbiosis continue into 2025 as vendors and partners work together to drive clarity around reporting and progress towards goals, particularly as non-financial (ESG) reporting is brought up to the same standard and rigour as financial reporting. ESG performance and credentials are being brought to the fore and value chain considerations - including, for example, human rights - will be a key focus, with the right partnerships crucial to compliance and driving positive impact.

AI and the regulatory landscape

From ethical guidelines in Japan and a ‘regulatory sandbox’ approach in Singapore, to business-friendly AI policies in India and a new EU AI Act in Europe, businesses will be looking to global regulators to provide guidance and clarity around AI as more use cases emerge and countries have a clearer understanding of business and societal impact. New governments coming into power in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia will further influence the regulatory landscape, and IT leaders will be watching and responding.

‘AI for good’ use cases

Organisations are seeking ways to use AI wisely, sustainably and responsibly. 64% of CIOs questioned in Colt’s research say that AI plays a role in supporting or facilitating their environmental impact and governance strategy, and we continue to see examples of positive ways generative and traditional AI models are helping organisations and communities interact with their environment. From utilities firms using AI to collect and map data on trees in cities such as Singapore to support natural cooling, to businesses using generative AI to support neurodiverse employees with accessibility improvements, we expect to see more positive use cases for AI emerge into 2025.

Telecoms firms retrenching to domestic markets

A wave of incumbents has begun retreating from global to domestic markets, a trend which is likely to continue into 2025 as firms double down on cost reduction. This leaves the market open to truly global operators, and those such as Colt – now the largest pureplay B2B operator in Europe by size, and with infrastructure across Asia, Africa and the Americas - will continue to differentiate on global scale, sustainability credentials and customer experience

Digital sovereignty

The need to safeguard data and secure digital infrastructure is more important than ever before with increasingly-sophisticated threats, a wider attack surface and geopolitical tensions. In the summer of 2024, the UK government classed data centres as critical national infrastructure. Against this backdrop, digital sovereignty will be crucial as countries look to secure and maintain control over their data and their digital assets. It’s a focus we included in our 2024 forecast and we expect it to maintain its presence on the global agenda in 2025.