Turn Possibilities Into Progress: Deloitte and ServiceNow Release Outlook on Top Five Trends Driving Transformative Outcomes

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2025 — Amid fluctuating customer demands, organizations are seeking creative strategies to remain agile and competitive. To help enterprises meet this moment of transformation, Deloitte and ServiceNow have released the fourth annual “Workflow Automation Outlook,” a roadmap outlining key trends and considerations for business leaders across industries.

This trends-based report highlights essential strategies to maximize the impact of technology investments — from workflow automation to Generative and agentic AI. With input from leaders across Deloitte’s global network, the Outlook answers the top questions the two organizations get from clients and identifies potential next steps based on where organizations are on their journey.

“For customers to realize the full value of both current and new technologies, generic solutions just aren’t going to cut it — especially in this new world of AI,” said Erica Volini, executive vice president worldwide industries, partners, and go-to-market at ServiceNow. “If we’re going to deliver true business transformation, it has to start by embracing unique, industry-specific solutions to create tangible results. At the crossroads of business-as-usual and agile growth, it’s vital for enterprises to build resiliency into their workflows and invest in their people to drive long-lasting success.”

Key takeaways
The “2025 Workflow Automation Trends Outlook” illuminates a path forward with five key focus areas:

1. Tailored outcomes are imperative. Business transformation starts at the industry level, informed by experience, continuous learning, and cutting-edge use cases built on leading IP.
2. Infuse automation beyond the tech function. If companies want to innovate, it is important to unite data and processes across the enterprise.
3. Future-proof tech by building a resilient ecosystem. Orchestrate a powerhouse of capabilities across the tech stack. Instead of disparate point solutions or tools, technology should have end-to-end integrations and operate seamlessly together.
4. Stay human-focused and AI-powered. Tested AI use cases and the rise of agentic AI show organizations how to support employees with next-level tech that can boost productivity and supercharge efficiency.
5. Instill a culture of continuous innovation. Expand the lifecycle of innovation to optimize cost and maximize resources, narrowing the skill gap without overwhelming investment.

AI and automation strategies should be as unique as the industry pain points they are solving for. Deloitte and ServiceNow have seen this in action, highlighting numerous business transformations throughout the Automation Outlook. Examples include a manufacturing client that leveraged this technology to enhance equipment effectiveness and reduce labor, maintenance and warranty costs and a financial institution client applied a data-driven approach to optimizing its legal workloads through consolidating technologies alone.

“Many companies are finding themselves on shifting sands, and realizing value from strategic investments in technology has never been more important,” said Asish Ramchandran, global chief commercial officer, ServiceNow Alliance, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “As we look to 2025 and beyond, enabling the right automation and agentic AI technologies can improve productivity, freeing employees up for more important, strategic work that can make it possible for enterprises to achieve more innovation — faster than ever.”

The full report is available at ServiceNow | Deloitte Global. Learn about Deloitte’s distinct approach to and perspective on the future of industries with IndustryAdvantage™: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/solutions/industry-advantage-business-transformation.html