The technologies that get the most attention are rarely the most important ones. These five are.
Every year, two or three technologies dominate the headlines. In 2023, it was ChatGPT. In 2024, generative AI. In 2025, robotaxis and Bitcoin. But the technologies that will shape your industry by 2030 really are often not the ones everyone is talking about right now.
We have analyzed our ten-year dataset and looked for a specific pattern: technologies with a rise in sales documents amid moderate public interest. These are the ones that will stay. The result: five technologies, one from each field on our Innovation Radar.
But first, a word of warning: our portfolio summary report makes it clear that although the volume of AI-related news is high, much of it remains narrative-driven. Without stronger corroboration, portfolio decisions can veer too far towards noise. That is why, for every technology, we make a clear distinction between the strength of the evidence and the directional signal.
The bar length indicates the absolute volume of mentions. However, volume alone is not an indicator of quality – in the case of stablecoins, Bitcoin’s volatility drives the figure, whilst for SMR, the directional signal is stronger than the data set itself. So please read on.
1. Agentic AI – AI that doesn’t just respond, but takes actionField: AI & Intelligent Systems
The first wave of the AI revolution was reactive: you ask a question, and the AI replies. The next wave is proactive. AI agents that carry out tasks independently – writing code, carrying out research, preparing decisions, orchestrating workflows.
Our radar tracks these changes in real time. The AI cluster has recorded 328 mentions in total. The dominant keywords have shifted since 2023: from "neural network" and "deep learning" to "LLM", "GPT", "coding agent" and "agentic AI". Mentions of AI increased by Factor 14 – from 6 in 2017 to 86 in 2025. By 2026, there were already 59 mentions in a single report.
But the next leap forward will not be measured in terms of mentions, but in terms of implementation. Our hypothesis (CLM-AI-003): Companies with governance controls embedded at an early stage can achieve a pilot-to-production conversion rate of over 40% within 12 months (CLM-AI-003). The "Constrained Acceleration" scenario (CLM-AI-007) describes precisely this path: not unbridled growth, but controlled acceleration with embedded governance.
Agentic AI will not replace individual tools, but rather how teams work fundamentally change. Early adopters in knowledge-intensive industries – consulting, law, finance, engineering – are building productivity advantages that latecomers will not be able to catch up with. This is not a trend. This is a power shift.
2. Autonomous Mobility – robotaxis today, autonomous logistics tomorrowField: Robotics & Manufacturing
Autonomous vehicles first appeared on our radar in 2020. Since then: 169 mentions with a clear growth curve – 7, 30, 29, then the leap to 57 in 2025, followed by 36 in the first half of 2026. The turning point in 2023 was real: Waymo and Cruise launched commercial robotaxi operations.
For most businesses, it's not the robotaxi itself that's relevant, but the underlying technology, applied to autonomous logistics:Last-mile delivery, on-site campus transport, intralogistics orchestration. The economic leverage can already be seen: Cobots have in several manufacturing segments cost parity with manual labour reached.
Two drivers are maintaining momentum. Firstly: the shortage of labour in manufacturing and logistics will continue to intensify – the demand for automation remains high (CLM-ROB-001, Horizon 12-18.
Autonomous mobility is transitioning from a "nice-to-have" to a commercial imperative – not because companies want it, but because the labour market and cost curves leave them no choice. The labour.
3. Stablecoins – The boring side of blockchain that actually worksField: Digital Assets & Financial Innovation
While Bitcoin shows the most volatile pattern of attention in our entire dataset – zero mentions in 2018-2019, then explosively on 51 in 2025 – does real innovation happen in stablecoins and regulated payment rails.
The numbers speak for themselves: a stablecoin treasury rail pilot shortens cross-border payments from next day on same-day simultaneously reduction in transfer costs by 25%. This isn't theory – these are measured results from pilot projects.
And the regulatory framework is in place for the first time: the European MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation has been December 2024 fully applicable to crypto service providers. This fundamentally changes the equation. Compliance is no longer an obstacle, but a ticket to entry. The scenario "Controlled Utility Expansion" (CLM-DIG-007) describes precisely this path: regulatory clarity as an enabler, not a brake.
Stablecoins will not replace cryptocurrencies – they will traditional bank transfers supplement and, in many cases, replace cross-border B2B payments. Those who pilot now will save later.
4. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) – The unexpected comebackField: Spaceflight, Energy & Aerospace
We need to be transparent here: The thinnest database, but one of the strongest directional signals. Nuclear and Fusion first appear in our aggregated data in 2020, then disappear for four years, and return in 2025 with 8 mentions as an ascending cluster. The Space Flight domain overall shows 85 mentions with a surge since 2024 and 140 mentions across all four technologies in the field. For SMR.
However, the directional signal is remarkable. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are investing in SMR projects for their data centres. The logic is compelling: AI needs processing power, processing power needs electricity, and that electricity must be reliable and low-carbon around the clock. When the world's largest technology groups are betting on nuclear energy, that's a signal that shouldn't be ignored – even if our own data set doesn't yet offer broad confirmation of this.
The HOLD status reflects the thinness of the evidence base within our own dataset. SMR data is an emerging signal with a low level of evidence – we report the direction but intentionally do not overstate the certainty.
If Microsoft, Google and Amazon are investing in nuclear energy, it's not an experiment. Those who inform themselves now can get involved in scenario planning early on, instead of reacting later under time pressure.
5. Genomics & Precision Medicine – The silent revolution in healthcareField: Healthcare & Biotech
44 combined mentions in the healthcare cluster, of which 36 were solely for genomics over five years. The peak of 13 mentions in 2025 confirms a pattern we've been observing since 2022: steady growth. This isn't a hype spike – it's continuous maturation.
In reality, momentous changes are taking place: CRISPR gene therapies have been approved, the cost of DNA sequencing continues to fall, and AI is speeding up variant analysis from weeks to hours. For pharmaceutical and life sciences clients, genomics is no longer a vision of the future. It is an operational reality: oncology trial matching, genomic variant prioritisation, AI-supported diagnostics.
The limited data available in our radar says more about the composition of our trend corpus than about the significance of the technology. Our recommendation is clear: for pharmaceutical clients, genomics is a TRIAL topic with a concrete implementation timeline.
The combination of falling sequencing costs, regulatory milestones and the acceleration of AI will transform precision medicine from a niche field into the clinical standard. For the wider economy, this serves as a model: When your industry is affected by regulatory changes and falling technology costs at the same time, everything changes – fast.
What these five technologies have in common
None of these technologies currently dominates LinkedIn feeds. None of them triggers alarmist headlines. But all five show the same pattern on our radar: Rising implementation evidence with moderate public attention. This is the profile of technologies that are here to stay.
The hype always comes later – when the early adopters have long since reaped the benefits and the latecomers have to catch up under time pressure and at a higher cost. It is precisely this window – between early maturity and late mainstream adoption – that represents the most strategically valuable time to act.
At the same time, the warning from our portfolio review applies: Separate immediate control decisions from later scaling bets. Not everything that gains traction immediately warrants a budget. But everything that gains traction deserves attention and a place in your scenario planning.
In three years’ time, the companies currently running pilot schemes will have realised cost savings of 15–30% in automation, treasury settlement and diagnostics. And the laggards? They will have to catch up under time pressure and at greater cost – if it is even still possible by then.
Our recommendation
Not all of these technologies are equally relevant to every sector. A logistics company views autonomous mobility differently from the way a bank views stablecoins. An energy supplier has different priorities to a pharmaceutical company. But the methodology is universal: Observe systematically. Prioritize evidence-based. Act at the right time.
If the answer to the question above worries you, it’s time to take action. If not, you can safely put it to one side. It is precisely this clarity that is the purpose of our Innovation Radar.