Top 2025 Business and Investment Trends

With a growing economy and new administration, 84% of corporate leaders are optimistic about business opportunities in 2025.1 How are these executives planning to meet business objectives in the coming year? Despite lingering international trade concerns, C-suite leaders know investments are required for growth.

Business leaders will prioritize spending.

Even in a thriving economy, capital isn’t unlimited. Corporate and finance executives must judiciously weigh planned expenditures to determine which will best enable achieving the goals and objectives of the business.

According to a recent Deloitte survey, CEOs will be laser-focused on four key business and investment priorities – driving innovation (88%), business transformation (59%), talent acquisition (54%) and artificial intelligence (47%).

Among investment priorities, CEOs who plan to grow the business through new product, service and market innovation increased the most (26%) from last year. Generative and other progressive artificial intelligence technologies are spurring 18% growth this year. While talent and acquisition are still among top business and investment goals, 13% of executives ranked it lower than last year.

How will corporate leaders further business and investment priorities?

1. Innovation is leading the way to “reinvention.”

   CEOs who responded to a global PwC survey agree that corporations must adaptively respond to changes in the global economy, the environment and technology to prosper. In the last five years, these leaders leveraged innovation to “reinvent” their organizations in practical ways.
   
   

   

   The PwC study saw a strong correlation between increased profit margins and the number of reinvention actions the companies took.2




2. Leaders are rethinking core business operations.

   Investing in new products and services is vital to achieving growth. An equally important business objective is examining the core business to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. The approaches vary by corporations and industries but there are key components.
   

   Traditionally, business transformation initiatives include analyzing company-wide processes and standards with an eye toward eliminating waste, improving operational efficiency, increasing productivity and reducing costs. These goals are internally focused. However, satisfying customer needs and increasing loyalty is also a high priority.

   Business process automation and digitalization are powerful enablers in driving change throughout organizations. In addition to efficiency gains and cost savings, companies will benefit from improved data accuracy and access, which greatly enhances decision-making.

3. Corporations will adopt flexible strategies to attract and retain highly skilled talent.

   Maintaining adequate staffing and skill levels is critical to corporate profitability. The U.S. unemployment rate – 4.1% in December 2024 – has held steady for the last seven months. There were 256,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added that month, and the healthcare, government, social assistance and retail sectors led hiring.

   Even so, unfilled job openings and the labor force participation rate has hovered around 62% for the last year.3 There are still 7.7 million unfilled job openings with only 7.1 million unemployed workers, yet the quit rate remains high.4 Why are some industries finding it harder to acquire and keep employees?

   
   

   

   The U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls the current employment scenario “The Great Reshuffle.” It’s a term that describes job seekers leaving existing roles in search of employment that offers greater work-life balance and flexibility, higher pay or a strong corporate culture. The perceived disparities aren’t unique to white collar jobs. Hospitality and retail staff also cite pay, scheduling and work-life concerns as reasons for job dissatisfaction.

   Corporate leaders realize they must adjust workforce management strategies to meet evolving staffing needs. Sixty-three percent are planning to hire both permanent and contract new positions, and 34% are filling vacant roles. Company growth (56%) and new projects (48%) are prompting these hiring decisions.5

   To help meet business objectives, organizations are implementing skills-based recruitment methods to attract highly experienced, motivated workers. These efforts include mentoring programs, hiring former employees as consultants and paid internships.

   
   

   

   Enterprise leaders also understand that job seekers want more control over when and where they work. According to a recent Zoom survey, 67% believe flexible working hours and remote work options (58%) are key to employee retention.6 Despite return-to-office mandates, 64.4% of large corporations continue to utilize hybrid work models.7

4. Corporations are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for . . . everything.

   The artificial intelligence (AI) market in the Americas is expected to reach $285 billion in the next five years at an annual growth rate of 27.59%.8 AI offers a broad range of capabilities, including machine learning, robotics, natural language processing, autonomous machines and systems, and computer vision. However, generative AI (Gen AI) — with its unique ability to create new content including code — is fueling the staggering growth expectations in the sector.
   

   CEOs believe Gen AI will not only improve workflow and process efficiencies, but also increase profitability and revenue, which a third of PwC respondents say they’ve already seen.9 The technology offers a wide array of use cases including sales and marketing, customer service, fraud prevention, finance, legal, human resources and product development.

   Gen AI is an emerging technology. However, early adopters across multiple industries are already using Gen AI for business transformation.10

   • San Francisco-based biotechnology company Freenome is developing diagnostic tests to detect cancer and other life-threatening diseases in the early stages when they are most treatable.
   
   
   • With Vertex AI, Vodafone can manage commercial terms and conditions for more than 10,000 contracts with 800 communications operators.
   
   
   • Toyota employees can now develop and deploy machine learning models with the company’s AI platform. This enabled Toyota to eliminate 10,000 man-hours a year.
   
   
   • ADT’s Gen AI-powered customer agent assists customers with selecting, ordering and installing home security systems.
   
   
   • Broward County Florida is improving infrastructure planning and monitoring with Gen AI geospatial capabilities.

   As Gen AI matures, it will continuously empower organizations with more creative means to accomplish business objectives.

Need help with business and investment planning?

Business leaders have tremendous potential in 2025. Corporate growth requires a thoughtful, informed strategy. Synovus has assisted large organizations just like yours, in multiple industries, with capital planning that achieves established business and investment goals. For more information, contact a Synovus Commercial Banker for assistance or stop by one of our local branches for more details.