Akamai on cloud and cybersecurity trends for 2025

Cloud predictions
Jay Jenkins, Chief Technology Officer, Akamai Technologies APJ

1. Distributed computing will be the go-to for greater efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness
By 2025, distributed computing will emerge as the solution to our overstretched cloud infrastructure. As technologies like AI, spatial computing, and smart urban infrastructure demand more resources, organisations will shift from rigid centralised models to dynamic, distributed architectures. This transformation will empower platform engineering teams to strategically align processes with user locations, resource costs, compliance needs, and sustainability goals, unlocking unprecedented efficiency and adaptability. In the diverse markets of the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, this flexibility will be vital for innovation and competitiveness, enabling companies to tailor solutions to local demands while minimising their carbon footprints. 
 
2. Optimising AI workloads will be crucial in unlocking cost savings and performance gains
As businesses in the APJ region face soaring AI workload costs, 2025 will mark a critical turning point. Leaders will prioritise optimising the inference phase—where AI generates actionable insights—to streamline operations and boost speed and accuracy. This focus on optimisation will not only cut computational expenses but also enhance performance, allowing organisations to redirect resources toward growth and innovation. The result will be a powerful cycle where smarter AI translates into improved profitability and continuous advancement in AI capabilities. 
 
3.  AI agents will fundamentally change the way people interact with the web
When ChatGPT first exploded onto the scene back in late-2022, it drastically changed the technology landscape and setting us on a course to rethink the world wide web. Looking ahead to the next decade, I anticipate a future where AI agents will play an active role and assist in tasks like scheduling appointments, making purchases, and paying bills, allowing us to step away from our screens.
 
By 2025, we will start to witness the initial phases of this transformation. The chatbots we've become familiar with will develop into basic AI agents capable of performing simple tasks instead of merely guiding users through menus. For example, rather than just helping you navigate the process of booking an appointment with your healthcare provider, these agents could potentially handle it directly, offering you available time slots without any extra effort on your part. This shift will not only redefine convenience but also free us to focus on what truly matters, heralding a new era of effortless living powered by AI. 
 
4. The rising popularity of Small language models among enterprises
Small language models (SLMs) are poised to gain significant traction among enterprises by 2025. Their ability to deliver tailored insights while reducing dependence on high-end GPUs makes them an appealing option for businesses looking to efficiently leverage large language models to enhance their products and services.
 
In addition, the increasing focus on data privacy will drive enterprises to adopt SLMs that are more suitable for on-premises deployment, ensuring easier protection of sensitive information. The modular design and scalability of SLMs will further enable organisations to customise these models to meet their specific requirements, allowing for seamless adaptation to changing business needs. As a result, SLMs are set to transform how companies harness AI, making them not only more accessible but also more aligned with contemporary challenges in data management and privacy.

Cybersecurity predictions
Reuben Koh, Director of Security Strategy, Akamai Technologies APJ
 
1. The need for essential security safeguards in the era of AI
In 2025, we're going to witness a seismic shift in how organisations across APJ embrace artificial intelligence. Nearly half of businesses are gearing up to significantly increase their AI investments, setting the stage for an explosion of innovation. By 2028, we anticipate over $110 billion being funneled into AI technologies.
 
We'll see an essential pivot towards AI security that cannot be ignored. Organisations will need to focus on two key areas: safeguarding their AI systems from vulnerabilities and defending against increasingly sophisticated AI-driven attacks. Cybercriminals are already leveraging AI to make their methods more effective and evasive, which means businesses must ramp up their security frameworks to counter these evolving threats. 
 
2. Electoral cyber threats are a real problem and will continue to be so
In the past year, it was a record year for elections worldwide where approximately 4 billion people across 60 countries were expected to vote, including major elections in the US, UK, EU, Taiwan, South Africa, and India. Generative AI made its mark on these elections with sophisticated attacks meant to deceive voters and impact elections.
 
2025 will be the year these tools and techniques – such as deepfakes, targeted scams, social engineering – move down-market and become readily available to ordinary cyber criminals. Consumers and organisations need to be on the alert for fakes and scams across all forms of interaction: email, text, phone calls and video calls. 
 
3. LLM's security risks become tangible
The hype surrounding large language models will face a stark reality check as security vulnerabilities come to the forefront. While some exploitable flaws have already been publicly disclosed, we can expect an uptick in both the frequency and severity of these issues. LLMs present a significant attack surface for malicious actors, and the nature and locations of these vulnerabilities will become increasingly evident. As the risks become clearer, organisations will need to weigh the promise of LLMs against the potential security pitfalls, leading to a more cautious approach in their AI strategies. 
 
4. Building agile security systems needs to include our security fundamentals
Starting in 2025, I think we will see an increasing focus on two aspects of AI security: protecting AI systems and defending against AI-driven attacks. After all, cyber criminals are also looking at how to leverage AI to make their attacks more evasive, more efficient, and more effective. AI will lower the barriers to entry for attackers, accelerating their ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities.
 
While it is important that we focus on AI, we cannot forget our security fundamentals. Attackers will still come after our API endpoints, and they will still conduct phishing attacks. We need to ensure that patches are deployed in a timely manner, our safeguards are always on, and that people are continuously trained to identify and mitigate malicious activity. Because with or without AI, those threats are not going away.