Fresh from SXSW and the unveiling of the 2025 FTSG Tech Trends Report, I came back inspired — and a little awestruck — by the scale of transformation underway. While artificial intelligence remains front and center, it’s the convergence of AI with biotech, sensors, and advanced materials that signals a deeper shift: we’re not just evolving our tools; we’re evolving our environments, organizations, and even ourselves.
At Atomic Object, we build custom software for companies that range from scrappy startups to enterprise giants. With that lens, here’s a breakdown of the most impactful tech trends from this year’s report—and how they might influence your next product, platform, or innovation roadmap.
1. Living Intelligence: The Convergence of AI, Biotech, and Sensors
We’re entering an era where intelligent systems sense, learn, and adapt in real time. Think smart environments that respond to customers, manufacturing lines that evolve based on output, or wearable tech that continuously optimizes personal health.
Living intelligence is not a single product or platform—it’s a system-level shift. It will demand thoughtful integration across hardware, software, and business processes, which is exactly the kind of complex design challenge we love solving. Companies that start experimenting with this convergence now will be far ahead when these capabilities become industry standard. Early efforts can begin small: a single smart dashboard, a sensor-driven alert system, or a biometric-informed user experience.
For our clients: This is a call to look beyond AI chatbots and into the realm of embedded intelligence. Consider pilot projects involving smart sensors in physical spaces, or personalized digital products that evolve based on biometric input.
Thought prompt: What data are you already collecting — but not yet interpreting in real time? Could embedded intelligence help you respond faster or more personally to customer behavior?
2. From Language to Action: The Rise of Large Action Models (LAMs)
While language models like ChatGPT can talk, action models can do. Large Action Model (LAM) systems are trained on behavior, not just text, enabling them to predict, execute, and automate complex tasks.
As these models mature, they won’t just streamline workflows — they’ll unlock entirely new ones. You might find that the two-hour manual task you’ve tolerated for years suddenly takes 30 seconds, or that decision support becomes automated in a way that’s more consistent and scalable than ever before. At Atomic, we can help assess where action models can augment your team and how to design systems around them with safety, trust, and transparency in mind.
For our clients: LAMs can power agents that navigate interfaces, trigger workflows, and make decisions with minimal human direction. If you’ve been investing in automation, this is the next frontier—actionable AI with true operational value.
Thought prompt: Where are your operations still relying on human “middleware” to coordinate systems or make simple decisions? That’s LAM territory.
3. Agentic AI: Autonomous Decision-Making Systems
Agentic AI doesn’t wait for commands—it sets goals and solves problems independently. These systems are emerging as digital coworkers capable of orchestrating supply chains, marketing strategies, or even legal analysis.
Agentic systems challenge our traditional relationship with technology — moving from tools to collaborators. Designing guardrails, fail-safes, and escalation paths will be critical to building trust in these agents, both internally and for your customers. For many businesses, the first step may not be autonomy, but *semi*-autonomy—systems that can recommend and propose actions, with humans in the loop. We’re already seeing opportunities to prototype this approach in forecasting, operations planning, and customer experience design.
For our clients: As this evolves, expect pressure to adopt agentic systems in back-office functions—from finance to logistics. But it won’t work without robust governance, clear oversight, and AI-literate teams.
Thought prompt: If you gave an AI agent access to your data, what decisions could it safely make today?
4. Metamaterials & Adaptive Infrastructure
Engineered materials with programmable properties are leaving the lab and entering our built world. From self-cooling buildings to noise-cancelling walls, the physical world is getting a digital upgrade.
We often think of software as adapting to user needs—but what if the physical environment adapted too? With metamaterials, your supply chain systems could one day interface directly with packaging that responds to temperature or vibration. Or your construction tools could interact with dynamic materials that reshape during use.
For our clients: Particularly for those in manufacturing, logistics, or energy—this is a game-changer. These materials require new software models to simulate, design, and deploy. There’s opportunity in bridging the physical and digital.
Thought prompt: What if your product or facility could respond to its environment without additional energy use? What software would enable that?
5. Climate Innovation as a Core Business Strategy
No longer just a corporate responsibility checkbox, climate resilience is now table stakes. From AI-powered climate forecasting to adaptive supply chains, companies are using tech to survive and thrive in a volatile climate.
The climate crisis isn’t a future threat — it’s a present reality with increasing operational impact. The good news: many of your existing systems and datasets may already be climate-relevant. You just haven’t viewed them through that lens. From fleet routing that avoids flood-prone areas to systems that dynamically respond to energy grid volatility, climate-smart software is becoming a competitive differentiator. Atomic can help reframe existing tech investments around resilience and identify where climate-forward innovation can begin today.
For our clients: Look for opportunities to develop or integrate tools that support climate adaptation—especially in agriculture, logistics, and insurance. Software can be a force multiplier for monitoring, modeling, and mitigating climate risk.
Thought prompt: How might your existing data, operations, or product be adapted to serve in a climate-volatile future?
Wrapping Up: Strategy, Not Speed, Wins the Future
The next wave of innovation isn’t years away—it’s already in motion. Organizations that stay curious, build strategically, and adapt with intention will find themselves leading instead of catching up. You don’t have to chase every trend to stay competitive—but ignoring them isn’t an option either. The key is knowing which shifts are relevant to your business and how to respond with clarity and confidence. If one of these tech trends sparked something for you, I’d love to help explore where it could take you next!