5 IT Automation Trends That Are Hard to Ignore in 2025

IT teams today are stretched thin. Their responsibilities don’t just stop at the data center anymore — they’re juggling workloads across cloud platforms, remote offices, and an ever-growing list of business applications. And somewhere in that mix, automation is becoming less of a “nice to have” and more of a survival tool.

But here’s the thing: the way automation works is shifting. Tools that used to live in separate worlds are starting to mesh, AI isn’t just for chatbots anymore, and what used to require an entire engineering sprint can now be stitched together in days. Based on what’s been brewing in the last couple of years, here are five trends that stand out going into 2025.

1. Different Automation Tools Are Finally Talking to Each Other

For years, automation felt like a collection of small islands: RPA in one place, low-code apps in another, workflow scripts running elsewhere. Lately, those boundaries have started to blur. Generative AI is one reason — it’s weaving itself into orchestration platforms and even into RPA products, making them less rigid and more adaptive.
Instead of wiring everything together by hand, admins are finding that newer tools arrive already pre-integrated, or at least ready to connect without a week of API wrangling.

2. GenAI Pushing Hyperautomation Forward

Hyperautomation isn’t new as a concept — combining RPA, AI, ML, and process mining into a single push to automate entire processes. What’s changed is how capable it’s become. GenAI can now take on the fiddly, messy steps that used to stop an automation cold, like pulling meaning from dense contracts or finding specific metrics buried in free-form text.
Some enterprises, like Fiserv, are using this to process SLA clauses automatically and feed the results straight into bots for execution. It’s a big jump from the “automate what we can” mindset to “cover the entire process.”

3. The Long Road From ‘Agentish’ to Fully Agentic AI

Agentic AI — self-directed software agents that can handle full processes end to end — sounds like a dream for ops teams. Realistically, 2025 will still be about hybrids: AI taking care of certain steps while rules-based engines manage the rest.
Over time, though, expect to see “worker agents” that own full workflows and, further down the line, “executive agents” that coordinate multiple workers. It’s not all happening tomorrow, but the groundwork is being laid right now.

4. AI as the Binding Layer

Rather than replacing existing automation stacks, AI is slipping in between them, filling the gaps. That might mean an AI model classifies support tickets, passes them to RPA for updates, and lets workflow automation handle escalation — all without a person touching the process.
This “glue” role is what’s making automation feel more seamless, even in companies that still have a mix of older tools in play.

5. Automation Is Escaping the IT Department

HR teams answering onboarding questions, procurement handling supplier queries, legal departments responding to standard contract requests — all without a human in the loop. It’s happening because IT’s automation frameworks are being shared outside their own walls.
With large language models and virtual agents now good enough for company-wide level-1 support, IT leaders are finding they can package their playbooks for other departments, turning automation into a business-wide capability instead of an IT-only asset.

In short: 2025 is shaping up to be less about individual automation wins and more about building connected, AI-infused systems that can adapt, stretch across departments, and quietly take over the boring work. The tools are ready — the question is whether teams are ready to let them run.