The Future of AI: 2025 Predictions from Cengage Group Leadership
In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to become an even more integral part of our daily lives, influencing how we learn, work and conduct business. The rapid advancements in AI technology are reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace, offering new opportunities and challenges.
According to our CEO Michael Hansen, “GenAI is the next powerful tool that holds great promise - helping personalize learning for students and driving improved outcomes for educators and learners alike.” However, Michael cautioned that new technology will not revolutionize everything overnight and he’s seen firsthand in education that “lasting technological impact comes from thoughtful applications and solutions that aim to enhance the learning experience, not replace it.”
Building on this, additional Cengage Group executives have shared their insights on how AI will shape education, enterprises and employee success in the near future. Their predictions highlight a future where AI not only enhances efficiency but also personalizes experiences across domains.
AI Supporting Learners
Darren Person, Chief Digital Officer at Cengage Group, envisions that “AI will continue to play an increasingly pivotal role in reshaping education.” He highlights that this transformation is already underway with AI-enabled tutoring, which provides personalized support to learners around the clock.
Looking ahead, advancements such as agentic AI, coupled with growing positive perceptions of the technology, will significantly expand its applications in education. He continued, “In the coming year, more educators will lean on AI for tasks like creating customized learning materials, supporting assessment grading, offering predictive analytics for student performance and even tapping into real-time translation services to help better communicate with students. These developments promise a future where education is more accessible and tailored than ever before.”
AI Supporting Enterprises
Jim Chilton, Chief Technology Officer at Cengage Group, emphasizes the competitive edge that autonomous or semi-autonomous AI systems can provide across all departments within an enterprise—not just IT or customer service. According to Chilton, "Organizations have a competitive edge to operate more efficiently and adapt to market changes faster than competitors."
He explained that, “To stay competitive, companies will need to enhance processes, executing them faster and more thoroughly than ever before. In addition to more complex AI systems, ‘basic AI’ can drive radical automation across processes that make organizations more efficient, effective, and adaptable to changing business environments.”
AI Supporting Employee Success
Keatron Evans, Vice President of Portfolio Product at Infosec Institute, part of Cengage Group, underscores the importance of understanding technology's underlying mechanisms for workforce success in 2025: “People that are serious about maintaining an edge in the workforce, need to get themselves closer to technology, not just the consumer usage of it. This year will be the year of truly advocating for understanding the underlying technology, like AI, and how it works.”
Employees who educate themselves and experiment with AI to truly grasp how these technologies work will become exponentially more valuable assets within their organizations—a crucial factor as businesses navigate rapid technological advancements.
As we move further into 2025, AI is set to not only revolutionize the education industry, but also deeply transform business operations and workforce development. Insights from Cengage Group executives underscore a future where AI enhances efficiency and personalizes experiences across these domains. As the impact of AI continues transforming industries, it’s crucial that educators, business leaders and workers embrace the potential benefits of AI while continuing to address critical challenges, gaps and risks associated with using this technology.