Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025: World Economic Forum Highlights Breakthrough Innovations
June 24, 2025 – The World Economic Forum has revealed its latest Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025, spotlighting innovations poised to propel significant change over the coming three to five years. Unveiled at the Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions—often referred to as Summer Davos—the report identifies technologies at a critical tipping point where scientific breakthrough meets tangible real-world application.
A Glimpse Into the Future of Innovation
The report underscores the powerful role emerging technologies will play in shaping industries, economies, and societal norms. From artificial intelligence and biotechnology to sustainable energy solutions and advanced materials, the new cohort reflects a trend toward technological convergence — combining fields like AI with biology or new materials with clean energy — to address pressing global challenges such as climate change, health crises, and misinformation.
Jeremy Jurgens and Frederick Fenter, in the foreword, emphasize the value of identifying these technologies precisely at their "turning point.” This intelligence is designed to guide leaders across government, business, and science to make informed decisions amid fast-evolving developments.
Four Key Trends Defining 2025’s Breakthroughs
The report identifies four overarching themes cutting across the selected technologies:
- Trust and Safety in a Connected World: Ensuring secure and ethical use of technology in an increasingly interconnected society.
- Next-Generation Biotechnologies for Health: Advanced biomedical innovations poised to transform diagnostics, treatment, and long-term care.
- Redesigning Industrial Sustainability: Innovations geared towards minimizing environmental impact and enhancing resource efficiency in manufacturing and industry.
- Integrating Energy and Materials: New approaches to energy generation and material sciences that promote cleaner, more efficient systems.
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025
1. Structural Battery Composites (SBCs)
These are materials that double as both structural components and energy storage units, potentially revolutionizing electric vehicles and aircraft by reducing weight and improving energy efficiency. Although their wide adoption awaits regulatory and safety frameworks, SBCs hold promise for significant environmental and economic benefits.
2. Osmotic Power Systems
Harnessing energy from the natural movement of water between saltwater and freshwater, osmotic power systems promise clean, renewable electricity. Advances in membranes and materials have brought this decades-old concept closer to reality, with two primary approaches: Pressure Retarded Osmosis and Reverse Electrodialysis.
3. Advanced Nuclear Technologies
A resurgence in nuclear innovation is visible through developments like Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and alternative cooling methods aimed at lowering costs and increasing efficiency. The long-term vision remains nuclear fusion—potentially delivering vast, clean energy, as symbolized by the international ITER project in France.
4. Engineered Living Therapeutics
Transforming beneficial microbes into miniature drug factories inside the human body holds promise for cheaper, more effective treatments. By programming probiotics to produce therapeutics on demand, this technology could reduce production costs by 70% and provide continuous dosing for chronic conditions such as diabetes.
5. GLP-1s for Neurodegenerative Disease
Originally developed for diabetes and obesity, Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are showing potential in treating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by reducing brain inflammation and clearing toxic proteins—a breakthrough that could improve the quality of life for millions living with dementia worldwide.
6. Autonomous Biochemical Sensing
Self-powered, wireless biochemical sensors enable continuous, real-time monitoring of health markers, environmental pollutants, and food safety. Following successes like wearable glucose monitors, this technology is expanding its scope to areas such as menopause care and water quality detection.
7. Green Nitrogen Fixation
Conventional nitrogen fixation processes—vital for fertilizer production supporting half of global food supply—are energy-intensive and environmentally damaging. Emerging green nitrogen fixation methods aim to dramatically reduce this impact, facilitating more sustainable agricultural practices.
The report also details additional emerging technologies, each with the potential to contribute towards addressing global risks including environmental pollution, climate stress, and public health challenges.
Advancing Towards a Sustainable Global Energy Future
The Forum’s report aligns with broader efforts to accelerate the ongoing energy transition—critical for combating climate change. Despite progress, fossil fuels still dominate the global energy profile, with energy intensity improvements slowing down significantly. To tackle this, the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Energy & Materials and initiatives like the Mission Possible Partnership are fostering collaboration and innovation in clean power, electrification, and industry transitions to chart a course toward net-zero emissions.
Leaders and organizations worldwide are encouraged to engage with the Forum’s initiatives to shape a more inclusive, affordable, and sustainable global energy system.
Learn More and Engage
For businesses and institutions interested in partnering with the World Economic Forum on these transformative technologies and energy initiatives, detailed information and opportunities for collaboration are available through the Forum’s official channels.
As these emerging technologies approach mainstream impact, they herald an era where breakthrough science translates into meaningful societal progress, helping humanity navigate the complex challenges of the 21st century.
