The Future of Finance: Key Trends Shaping the Industry in 2025

The financial services sector is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, driven by the adoption of cloud technology, a surge in data, and emerging security challenges. Our latest Future of Finance Report 2025 - based on insights from IT leaders across the industry - highlights the trends, challenges, and priorities shaping the digital future of financial services.

Cloud Adoption: A Strategic Imperative

Cloud technology is no longer a ‘nice to have’ - it’s a core component of financial services infrastructure. According to our survey:

✅ 71% of organisations now use multiple Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).

✅ 80% of high cloud-maturity firms plan further adoption within the next 18 months.

However, cloud adoption isn’t without its hurdles. 54.2% of respondents cited a lack of in-house skills and integration challenges as significant barriers. Organisations need expert support in managing cloud transformation in order to achieve success.

Interestingly we see a link between cloud maturity and the rate of adoption; a signal of the growing gap in cloud confidence. 25% of ‘moderate’ maturity respondents are unsure of their strategy, whereas only 10% in the ‘very high’ category are hesitant.

Security & Compliance: The Top Concerns

Financial organisations continue to grapple with balancing security, compliance, and operational efficiency.

🔒 48.2% of respondents identified regulatory compliance as their biggest concern.

⚠ 43.4% cited data breaches as a major risk, while 30.1% were concerned about unauthorised access.

Despite these concerns, 61% of organisations reported that cloud adoption has actually strengthened their security posture, showing that the right approach to cloud can enhance resilience and improve security.

Data-Driven Decision Making & Digital Transformation

The role of data analytics, AI, and automation in financial services continues to grow:

📊 69.9% of organisations reported that increasing data volumes are significantly impacting IT performance.

🚀 AI and automation rank among the top digital transformation initiatives, alongside modernising legacy systems and enhancing cybersecurity.

With financial firms increasingly reliant on real-time data insights, ensuring scalability, compliance, and security will be key to sustainable growth.

During discussions with customers, we are seeing increasing demand for enhanced data observability and analytics in order to drive business insights to improve operational efficiency.

Hybrid Work & The Future of IT Infrastructure

Remote and hybrid work models are now firmly embedded in financial services business strategies:

🏡 73.2% of organisations have adopted a flexible hybrid model, while just 8.5% remain fully office-based.

This shift is driving continued investment in network security, cloud connectivity, and endpoint management.

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Our Future of Finance Report 2025 explores the state of technology adoption, security challenges, and the strategic priorities shaping the financial services industry.

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