After facing AI integration hurdles and resource constraints last year, tech leaders now see digital trust as a key software development challenge for 2025, according to Infragistics’ sixth annual Reveal 2025 Top Software Development Challenges survey. Respondents cited security (51%), AI code reliability (45%), and data privacy (41%) as top concerns. Similarly, PwC’s 2025 Global Digital Trust survey found that 66% of tech executives view cyberattacks as their biggest organizational risk.
“As software evolves and we enter an era of agentic AI, user confidence in the security, reliability, and integrity of digital interactions and technologies has become increasingly vital,” said Jason Beres, SVP Developer Tools, Infragistics. “We are facing a complex threat landscape where even advanced software struggles to keep up with modern cyber-attacks, sophisticated threats, and privacy and security challenges. The tech sector has a responsibility to address these risks by integrating protections into their solutions.”
Top 2025 Business Challenges: AI Deployment and a Dearth of Talent
Artificial intelligence continues to be a hot button issue in the software industry, according to the Reveal survey. AI adoption has become exceedingly widespread as evidenced by 73% of tech leaders citing expanding the use of AI within organizations as their top priority for 2025. Even with widespread deployment, execution topped the business dilemmas of 2025 with more than half (55%) of tech leaders viewing incorporating AI as their biggest business challenge.
“Our survey indicates that many CTOs underestimated the complexity of AI deployment and they are finding that adoption alone isn’t enough,” explains Beres. “Execution determines success or failure. Early adopters who rushed AI integration without a strategy are facing fragmented systems, inefficiencies, and unpredictable performance. Without a clear AI strategy, companies are at risk—not because they failed to adopt AI, but because they failed to scale and combat the challenges AI presents.”
The rush to incorporate AI in 2024 led to a strong demand for skilled AI engineers (28%) in 2025, which is nearly double the next most in-demand technical titles–IT security engineer (16%) and cybersecurity engineer (13%). These talent shortages align with the 2025 top software development challenges–security, data privacy, and AI code reliability. The hardest to fill technical jobs of 2024—software developer (25.4%), data analyst (14.6%) and web designer (11.7%)–did not even make it into the top three in 2025, pointing to a need for specialized skills to meet burgeoning challenges with AI and security.
Tech Companies Grew in 2024, Belying Expectations
In 2024, many tech companies defied modest growth expectations by experiencing significant expansion despite a backdrop of economic uncertainty and global challenges. In the previous Reveal survey, tech leaders predicted a subdued 2024, with 33.2% planning to expand into new markets, 33% expected to increase revenue, 32.8% expected to take on new projects, and 21.7% planning to hire additional staff. Yet most tech leaders reported extremely robust growth in 2024, with 8 in 10 increasing revenue (80%), 67% expanding their staff, 82% taking on new projects, and 72% seeing more requests for proposals, illustrating strong performance in the tech industry.
Survey respondents also identified business intelligence (BI) as a key area poised for growth because data-driven decision-making is no longer optional—it’s a competitive necessity for unlocking trends and driving strategic initiatives. In fact, a striking 78% tech leaders expect to increase their focus on BI in 2025. The main ways companies plan to use embedded analytics and BI software in 2025 are to improve productivity (47%), identify trends, patterns and outliers (42%), make better business decisions (39%), and increase revenue (33%).
“Data-driven decision-making is no longer merely a strategic advantage—it’s the cornerstone of success,” said Beres. “As more tech leaders harness the power of business intelligence and embedded analytics, one thing is certain: those who unlock the full potential of their data will reap the rewards of increased productivity, growth and innovation.”
Read the Reveal 2025 Top Software Development Challenges survey report here.
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Survey Methodology
A total of 250 technology leaders participated in Reveal’s sixth annual survey from December 2024 to January 2025. Infragistics research has been providing a comprehensive analysis of current trends and challenges in software development, business intelligence, and AI adoption, while identifying opportunities for businesses to optimize operations, address emerging risks, and navigate the evolving technological landscape since 2019.
