Software development trends and predictions for 2025

As the world races towards 2025, Developer examines what lies ahead for software development in the new year.

Among the most pressing trends for 2025 are AI development simplification, the integration of cross-functional engineering teams, and the evolution of DevSecOps practices. These shifts promise to redefine how companies approach innovation, security, and efficiency in their development pipelines.

AI-powered development simplification

Avthar Sewrathan, AI Product Lead at Timescale, predicts a significant transformation in the tech stack landscape by 2025.

“The traditional tech stack will continue to collapse,” Sewrathan notes, highlighting advancements driven by APIs and tools that reduce complexity and enable faster development. This shift is anticipated to empower engineers of all skill levels to create impactful AI applications with ease.

“By 2025, the traditional tech stack will continue to collapse, fueled by APIs and tools that reduce complexity and enable faster development,” Sewrathan explains. “Companies that deliver frictionless, accessible solutions with low barriers to entry will empower engineers to create impactful AI apps, no matter their level of expertise.”

This democratisation of AI app creation is expected to increase competition within the industry as more developers gain access to advanced capabilities. Consistency and reliability in AI applications are also set to become paramount.

“As AI apps become central to everyday interactions in 2025, consistency and reliability will take precedence,” Sewrathan observes.

Developer role evolution

Indu Keri, General Manager and Head of Engineering for Hybrid Cloud at Nutanix, envisions a new era of software development starting in 2025.

“Software development and engineering is already being democratised with tools like Copilot,” Keri says.

By combining GenAI with low-code solutions, code will be abstracted to the point of irrelevance. AI will generate applications rather than code, enabling developers to step into strategic roles.

“The day-to-day for developers will change drastically,” Keri notes. “No longer hamstrung by grunt work, developers will step into an up-leveled, strategic role—communicating with decision-makers about how tech can solve business problems.”

This evolution, Keri argues, complements developers’ best qualities – creativity and innovation – and challenges them to grow into leadership roles within their organisations.

“By 2025, engineers at any level will be able to create an AI app through the widespread availability of APIs and models,” Sewrathan adds. “But the differentiators will be consistency, usability, and customer impact.”

Agentic AI and DevOps automation

The hype around agentic AI will reach boiling point in 2025 as organisations bundle specialised agents for different stages of software delivery, including code generation, testing, and quality assurance. This orchestrator-driven approach will drive a more intelligent approach to DevOps automation.

Martin Reynolds, Field CTO of Harness, says: “Instead of having one, basic GenAI assistant, organisations will bundle together specialised agents for the different stages of software delivery—such as code generation, testing, and quality assurance.”

“One agent will act as the orchestrator, directing the others and producing more accurate insights into the end-to-end process.”

Rodrigo Coutinho of OutSystems highlights that agentic AI will answer many, but not all, business problems: “For the last few years, businesses have tried to throw GenAI at all of their problems. The result: GenAI is a remarkable solution for many use cases, but not everything.”

“An AI tool is only as good as the data it’s trained on. Just because tech titans are pushing agentic AI right now doesn’t mean you should scrap simpler solutions. Align your AI strategy with your organisation’s needs, rather than the latest shiny object.”

Integration of cross-functional engineering teams

Moving beyond AI development, the prediction for cross-functional engineering teams is another area of significant change. Reynolds outlines a future where standalone DevOps teams are phased out in favour of more holistic groups that include representation from all engineering disciplines.

“In 2025, organisations will move away from standalone DevOps teams towards more holistic groups that include representation from all engineering disciplines,” Reynolds explains.

This shift towards unified cross-functional teams is expected to eliminate the remaining silos between software delivery teams and accelerate innovation at a whole new level. To support these integrated teams, organisations will increasingly adopt unified platforms providing capabilities across the entire software delivery lifecycle—from CI/CD to chaos engineering and cloud cost management.

In line with these platform shifts, Reynolds emphasises the importance of Internal Developer Portals (IDPs) that enable engineers to self-serve the solutions and data they need.

“To maximise the value of these platforms,” Reynolds advises,“[organisations] will expose these capabilities through IDPs.”

Evolution of DevSecOps practices

The software development landscape is also witnessing a significant evolution in DevSecOps practices.

Dylan Thomas, Senior Director of Product Engineering at OpenText Cybersecurity, predicts that, by 2025, DevSecOps will evolve beyond the “shift-left” paradigm to embrace a more mature “shift everywhere” approach.

This shift will require organisations to apply the right tools at the right stages of the DevSecOps cycle, improving efficiency and effectiveness in security practices.

“Lightweight analysis in IDEs will help developers catch issues early,” Thomas elaborates. “Automation integrated into pull requests and CI/CD pipelines will ensure a cohesive ‘integrate once’ approach for core functions such as SAST, SCA, and increasingly DAST, particularly for API security testing.”

This integration is expected to streamline the development process while enhancing overall security.

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) maturity

One of the critical components in this evolving landscape is the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).

Government mandates are driving organisations to adopt SBOMs at scale, requiring them not only to generate these documents but also to make them actionable.

While producing SBOMs in standard formats is now routine, the real challenge lies in translating raw data into meaningful risk-based insights.

DevSecOps practices will mature, leveraging tools like VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability Exchange) to add critical context to SBOMs—reducing inefficiencies in vendor-consumer relationships and enhancing overall security posture.

PostgreSQL’s role in managing complex data types

PostgreSQL’s extension capabilities are also anticipated to play a significant role in managing complex data types in one place.

“In 2025, PostgreSQL will solidify its position as the go-to ‘everything database’—the first to fully integrate AI functionality like embeddings directly within its core ecosystem,” says Avthar Sewrathan, AI Product Lead at Timescale.

“This will streamline data workflows, eliminate the need for external processing tools, and enable businesses to manage complex data types in one place.”

As companies move towards integrated solutions that can handle diverse datasets without relying on standalone or specialised databases, PostgreSQL is leading the charge towards this future state.

Diverse app stores will reshape mobile distribution

The app store ecosystem is poised for a significant shift as mobile carriers are expected to regain their influence over app distribution.

Matt Tubergen, EVP of Global Strategy & Partnerships at Digital Turbine, said: “The app store ecosystem is set to shift away from an Apple and Google duopoly to an open landscape as mobile carriers regain the power to connect consumers with apps.”

Emerging regulatory changes are also playing a critical role in leveling the playing field. These include bans that prevent tech giants like Google from incentivising app store preloads, which allow carriers and device manufacturers to preload their own apps on new devices.

This newfound autonomy positions carriers as pivotal players in alternative app distribution.

“This renewed autonomy positions carriers as critical players in alternative app distribution, enabling organic growth for alternative app stores,” Tubergen notes.

Carriers are expected to offer developers better revenue opportunities than those provided by Apple and Google, while consumers will benefit from a more diverse selection of apps.

Tubergen points out that “the new, open app store economy will prioritise the needs of developers and users, shifting away from the current model that only serves Apple and Google.” This shift promises a competitive and decentralised landscape where developers gain more control over their revenue streams.

Consumers are expected to enjoy access to a wider variety of apps curated and tailored to their preferences. With third-party app stores gaining influence and major players like Epic Games and Microsoft advocating for inclusivity, the global app distribution model is likely to expand and mirror the thriving alternative stores seen in Asia.

This evolution promises an inclusive, innovative, and consumer-focused mobile distribution ecosystem.

Emergence of xOps

The convergence of DevOps, DataOps, and ModelOps into a new “xOps” paradigm is expected as more traditional applications adopt AI capabilities.

“This new-found set of dependencies will dramatically accelerate ‘AI-aware’ Release Orchestration while also challenging operations teams, support teams, QA teams, and more as the line between more traditional declarative applications blur with the new dependencies to LLMs and GenAI capabilities,” explains Derek Holt, CEO of Digital.ai.

Increasing security challenges

While AI-generated code can significantly increase developer efficiency, it also introduces security risks due to increased volume of code that must still be tested for vulnerabilities and errors.

“While research has shown that generative AI can halve the time it takes developers to complete coding tasks, the increased volume of code being produced must still be tested for vulnerabilities and errors,” warns Holt.

“This will increase security risk and lead to additional toil in the later stages of delivery, wiping out any efficiency gains from AI-generated code.”

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in supply-chain attacks. This is likely to continue into 2025 and beyond.

Aaron Costello, Chief of SaaS Security Research at AppOmni, observes: “The past few years, we’ve seen a steady uptick in supply-chain attacks on SaaS through compromised third-party applications. As a result, organisations are placing these integrations and their requested access levels under far more scrutiny.”

“My research into data exposures has shown that often no initial foothold is needed for threat actors to gain access to the sensitive data they want. The combination of undocumented legacy API endpoints, over-privileged public access, and gaps in vendor logging capabilities will continue to provide a dangerously effective option for threat actors to execute hit-and-run style attacks.”

Heightened regulatory scrutiny

Despite the increasing security challenges, a failure to secure software could have ever more serious repercussions. In light of increasing awareness and demand for reliable software systems, developers must prepare for heightened regulatory scrutiny.

Martin Reynolds, Field CTO of Harness, comments: “In the wake of the CrowdStrike outage, there will be an increase in regulatory pressure around poor-quality software.”

Global regulators are expected to introduce more stringent standards that extend beyond existing frameworks like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This response is driven by a growing sentiment among consumers; a recent survey conducted by Harness found that ~74% of consumers believe there should be regulations holding companies accountable for poor-quality software updates leading to IT outages.

To navigate these impending regulatory changes, organisations supporting critical infrastructure – such as banking, healthcare, and energy services – must proactively enhance their software testing protocols. 

“They will need well-defined response plans to ensure they can recover quickly when the unexpected happens,” Reynolds notes. Implementing modern software delivery practices is crucial, including feature flags and canary deployments, which enable continuous improvement in code quality and more stable release cycles.

By adopting these strategies, organisations not only bolster software resilience but also enhance trust and brand loyalty among consumers. As regulations evolve to emphasise software reliability akin to cybersecurity standards, being proactive will be key to supporting business growth and staying ahead of regulatory measures. This approach not only mitigates risks but positions companies favorably in a landscape where quality is increasingly synonymous with competitive advantage.

Overall, the predictions for 2025 paint a picture of an industry bracing for radical transformation—driven by advancements in AI development, cross-functional engineering teams, and mature DevSecOps practices. These changes promise to accelerate innovation while enhancing security and user experience across industries.

See also: PostgreSQL becomes developers’ choice for AI and real-time apps

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Tags: agentic ai, AI, android, app store, artificial intelligence, coding, cyber security, cybersecurity, development, devops, distribution, hacking, ios, mobile, predictions, programming, sbom, security, software development, supply chain, trends, xops