SXSW 2025: From AI to Quantum Computing – The Tech Trends Shaping Tomorrow’s World

This past week, I’ve had the privilege of attending the SXSW (South by Southwest) tech festival in Austin, while working remotely in Texas.  

SXSW is unlike any other conference. You can feel the energy of the festival pulsing through the entire city. The route to the Austin Convention Center is filled with live music, brand activations like Rivian’s Electric Joyride and colourful pop-up “houses” offering spray-painted hats, techno raves and amazing Brazilian coffee.  

After spending so much time engaging with industry trends from afar, stepping into a room full of experts, enthusiasts, and innovators brought my news feed to life. 

I’ve been actively sharing my learnings with my teams, enabling them to quickly apply these insights for our clients. 

Here are my five key takeaways from SXSW – insights that I’m still reflecting on even after returning to the North by Northeast of England. 

1) Future Today Institute: The 2025 tech landscape is defined by intelligence, energy and expansion. 

The FTSG 2025 Tech Trends Report envisions a future where AI, automation and advanced materials push the boundaries of what’s possible.  

What to expect?  

• AI is evolving beyond language models into action-driven intelligence, enabling autonomous decision-making and adaptable robotics. 

• Metamaterials are redefining engineering possibilities, while rising energy demands push tech giants toward nuclear power and unexpected alliances. 

• The climate crisis is accelerating technological innovation, and quantum computing is approaching a breakthrough moment. 

• Meanwhile, private enterprises are expanding into cislunar space, laying the foundation for a new off-world economy. 

2) Adobe and IBM: AI has a taxonomy gap. 

We’re not calling AI what it is – a digital worker that is an extension of your existing employees. 

AI can be built to do almost anything, but its effectiveness depends on how it is designed and implemented. By tailoring permissions to specific job roles and company culture, AI agents can enhance workflows without overstepping critical decision-making boundaries.  

At a time where 50% of managers never log into HR systems, having an orchestration layer provides a single point of contact, simplifying legacy systems and freeing up time for more meaningful work. 

As AI handles routine tasks and learns foundational knowledge, the most valued skills will shift toward higher-order problem-solving, judgment, communication, and creative collaboration – areas where human ingenuity remains irreplaceable. 

3) IonQ and IBM: Quantum advantage is coming in 1-3 years. The time for investing is now. 

Quantum computing is not coming to save you. It excels in specific applications, much like different types of aircraft serve distinct purposes.  

• Qubits, likened to jet planes for their agility, enable breakthroughs in fields like drug discovery. However, not all problems require quantum acceleration. 

• Many challenges remain bound by classical computing, and some quantum systems still face constraints – such as the energy demands of refrigeration. 

IBM’s strategy embraces a hybrid approach, integrating quantum with high-performance computing (HPC) and GPUs to unlock new possibilities. Rather than replacing classical computing, quantum-centric supercomputers will enhance existing capabilities, rapidly processing results and feeding them back into quantum machines. 

If HPC and quantum communities successfully integrate by 2026, quantum advantage could become a reality. Open-access tools like like QuEra’s Premium Cloud Access are accelerating progress, making quantum computing more accessible to researchers and developers. 

4)Prof G: Podcasts are the next wave. 

The media landscape is shifting, with podcasts emerging as a dominant platform.  

• The industry follows a winner-takes-all model, where the top 10 podcasts (out of 3.2 million) capture a third of all listeners, despite thousands producing content weekly.  

• Monetisation remains elusive for most, with only 0.1% of podcasts generating revenue.  

Notably, political figures like Trump have recognised this shift.  

By prioritising podcasts over traditional news during his campaign, he reached younger, more engaged audiences – the average podcast listener is 34, compared to cable news’s 70-year-old demographic.  

This allowed him to directly connect with a different audience – one directly affected by the economy and on the fence about their future. 

5) Michelle Obama’s IMO podcast: It’s time to hope. 

While adversity is a shared human experience, our perception of it has changed.  

Younger generations, despite having more than previous ones, are increasingly anxious and dissatisfied. The pressure of social media, endless information, and global instability has contributed to a growing sense of hopelessness – a contagious force that fuels negativity online and erodes trust. 

More than ever, we need hope – not as blind optimism, but as a belief in the possibility of change. Here’s your Rx for hope: 

• To counterbalance despair and build resilience: Take small actions – help others, express gratitude, and find moments of delight.
• To restore perspective: Prioritise mental and physical well-being, step back from the constant news cycle, and cultivate meaningful social connections.
• To focus on what truly matters: Happiness isn’t about accumulating more – it’s about purpose, kindness, and how we treat each other. By realigning our expectations, we can create a more hopeful, connected world. 

 Any good news? How not to lose faith in humanity? 

This was the last question in Prof G’s predictions session.  

I walked into SXSW carrying the weight of the world – how can you not, given the current state of things? Change is everywhere, often overwhelming, and it doesn’t always feel like we’re headed in the right direction. 

But here are two reminders that things can, in fact, go right: 

• Colossal’s woolly mice – adorable creatures with seven genes shared with woolly mammoths – are a fascinating example of how looking to the past can help us shape the future. 

• NASA’s perspective on human connection – When presenting images from the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn reminded us that the iron in our blood, the calcium in our bones – all of it comes from the universe itself, connecting us to one another on a cosmic level. 

And finally, I’ll leave you with Prof G’s response – one I’ve been repeating to myself since I left Bat City:  “I force myself to say what could go right? There is a wonderful stat: as of right now, there are more people globally spending time trying to improve the lives of people they will never meet. It’s at an all-time high. More people globally are planting trees, the shade of which they will never sit under.”