Four headline digital customer experience trends for 2025
The start of the new year is a time when many of us are thinking about our priorities for the coming months and planning out our activities. In terms of digital customer experience – both from the marketing and the technology angle – there are variety of different data inputs that can impact strategies and plans. These include wider industry trends and the general direction of travel.
It is likely by this time that you’ll have read a ton of posts with predictions for 2025 and so on. In recent years making these kinds of predictions has become significantly harder as the pace of change increases, leading to a certain degree of uncertainty. Political instability, extreme weather events, fragile economic conditions and the mind-bending evolution of generative AI make it very really hard to say exactly where we will be this time next year. Nobody really knows!
So, with that caveat (or cop out – you decide!) here’s our thoughts on what we will likely see in the digital customer experience (DCX) space in 2025.
- Cybersecurity increasingly becomes a wider business change and risk issue
Cybersecurity has always been a major concern for IT functions, but increasingly it’s also on the agenda for business leaders who recognise that the risk has increased substantially in the past five years. You can find a plethora of quite frightening statistics which show the continuing threat from cybercriminals, as well as high profile cases which demonstrate the way a ransomware attack can bring an organisation to its knees. Chuck generative AI into the mix which can not only result in more realistic phishing emails but also deepfake impersonations of the people around you.
Here at 3chlliies we’ve taken a security first approach to everything we do. As a technology provider that’s essential. However, increasingly we’re seeing cybersecurity extending beyond the responsibility of the IT function and being recognised as a wider risk and business change issue. In 2025 we expect more organisations to ramp up cybersecurity efforts through a multi-pronged approach:
- Adopt a zero-trust policy covering systems access, process design, technology procurement and more.
- Getting the right technology tools in like Microsoft Purview which can then support the implementation of the right policies but also the necessary monitoring for threats.
- Invest in comprehensive training, awareness and change programmes to minimise the risks around cybersecurity – ultimately the actions of employees are often the cause of cybercrime and data breaches
- Ensuring AI approaches and advances are rooted in cybersecurity practices.
At the root of success of all this is ensuring that cybersecurity is accepted as a common business issue that impacts everyone – it’s not just a problem for IT, although they may be most involved in tackling it.
- There’s an emphasis on sustainable technology in DCX and beyond
At the time of writing, the heartbreaking events surrounding the LA fires have been unfolding. The need to take climate change seriously has never been more important. While in some quarters there has been a backlash against net zero, every time an extreme weather event takes
place or we get alarming statistics which provides more evidence of climate change, it emphasises the importance of collective action.
Of course, businesses moving towards net zero and making other environmental commitments is nothing new. The emergence of the term “greenwashing” also reflects the need to back words with actual action. In 2025 here at 3chillies we’re planning to become significantly more active in demonstrating our commitment to net zero, with an announcement coming soon.
In terms of tech, DCX and website projects, we think there will be more emphasis on sustainable practices and technologies in 2025. A typical website project, for example, has a number of tangible ways to reduce emissions. Projects that incorporate generative AI are also incredibly data hungry and come with a big carbon footprint, and we’re observing that there is a greater awareness of this from those proceeding with generative Ai projects.
Over the years progress to take climate change seriously has been grindingly slow. While we don’t think the right sense of urgency will prevail, we’re optimistic that in 2025 sustainability will be top of mind and we will get more teams open to having conversations about how we can reduce emissions on their technology, DCX or website project.
- Customer experience teams limit the take up of composable architecture
If you’ve been to a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) or Content Management System (CMS) or vendor conference or been reading their marketing material, you may have come across the term the “composable DXP” or “composable architecture.” This is basically a “best-of-breed” digital experience platform that is made up a number of independent SaaS-based solutions likely from different vendors that swap data with each other via APIs.
A composable DXP, arguably, provides additional value over a more traditional “monolithic” integrated platform form one vendor which tends to be inflexible, have features you never use, means you are locked into one vendor for years and more; meanwhile the composable DXP means you can construct your perfect DXP for your needs, use the solutions you want, have more flexibility and agility, reduce costs and so on.
Over the past three years the noise and attention given to composable architecture by multiple DXP and CMS vendors has been relentless. Some providers have also spent a lot of effort unbundling their integrated platform available on a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) basis so it also available as a series of independent SaaS=based solutions that you can then pick and choose to use within a composable DXP. The fact that they have done this is great, and it offers more choice for DCX teams, and for some scenarios will work well.
However, there is a significant disconnect between the vendor focus on composability and the actual market demand and awareness of it, at least in what we’re seeing in the marketplace and across our clients. Very few people we talk to actually know what a “composable DXP” is. Even fewer seem determined to take the leap, citing the learning curve, associated costs for the transition and the perception that there isn’t a problem that needs fixing. We find that many marketing teams like the convenience of the integrated system and don’t see the need to move to a composable architecture. We think that limited take up – and the likely disconnect with marketing messages coming from vendors – will continue through 2025.
- The value of generative AI remains unproven while the need for ethics and regulation becoming increasingly clear
It can be hard to get away from AI – it seems to be everywhere, And that’s certainly true in terms of the marketing and digital customer experience. For example, many of the CMS and DXP vendors are adding generative AI integration into their products, and it will be interesting to see how they evolve. However, while some of the things that generative AI can do are truly remarkable, for many of us the value – or the way AI can be implemented to truly drive value – is still unproven.
Many of us as individuals and collectively as teams, functions and organisations are still trying to work how we get full value. During 2025 perhaps some of us will come across the answer, but we think even by this time next year there will still be many unanswered questions relating how to get the best out of AI, Of course, AI moves very fast, so things could certainly change, and very quickly.
While there will be uncertainly around value, we do think in 2025 it will be increasingly clear that there is an urgent need for regulation and a focus on responsible and ethical use. Generative AI has too many associated risks and potential bad actors. A general lack of transparency around LLMs, AI vendors and products doesn’t help; neither does an evolving regulatory climate. Businesses will need to put in appropriate guardrails and double down on policies that stress responsible use, A more stable regulatory environment will also provide certainty and support decision-making. AI governance, ethics and oversight are themes we will see more of through 2025.
Here's to 2025!
Whatever happens we think 2025 is going to be a fascinating year. We hope it turns out to be everything you want it to be.
