WEF: What are the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025?

Breakthroughs in tech, according to The World Economic Forum (WEF), rarely happen in isolation.

The WEF, along with Frontiers and the Dubai Future Foundation, has outlined 10 breakthrough technologies that are making an impact this year in its Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 report.

“What makes this report valuable is that we look beyond what these technologies are to envision what they could create,” says Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the WEF.

“Each entry includes a strategic outlook that illustrates possible futures if these innovations reach their full potential.

"Developed in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation, these forward-looking scenarios help readers see transformative possibilities and inspire the commitment needed to move these technologies from promising concepts to widespread implementation.

“The technologies in this edition reveal exciting patterns: combining energy systems with advanced materials, using biological approaches to improve human health, reimagining industrial processes for sustainability and creating new foundations for trust in connected systems. 

“Each represents not just a technical advance, but a path towards more resilient and sustainable societies.”

What are WEF’s emerging technologies of 2025?

The 10 emerging technologies outlined in the WEF’s report are:

• Structural battery composites: Materials that integrate energy storage with load-bearing structures, enabling lighter and more efficient transport and infrastructure
• Osmotic power systems: Renewable energy generated from salinity differences in water, offering steady and low-impact electricity
• Advanced nuclear technologies: Including small modular reactors (SMRs) and alternative cooling systems, positioned as safer, scalable sources of zero-carbon energy
• Engineered living therapeutics: Genetically modified microbes designed to produce drugs, enzymes or hormones directly inside the human body
• GLP-1s for neurodegenerative disease: Repurposing diabetes and weight-loss drugs (GLP-1 receptor agonists) for conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
• Autonomous biochemical sensing: Self-powered, continuous biosensors that monitor health, food safety and environmental conditions in real time
• Green nitrogen fixation: Low-carbon methods to produce ammonia for fertiliser and fuels, reducing the footprint of a process vital to food production
• Nanozymes: Synthetic nanomaterials with enzyme-like properties that are cheaper, more stable and scalable, promising breakthroughs in medicine and industry
• Collaborative sensing: Networks of interconnected sensors paired with AI and 5G to enhance decision-making for mobility, logistics and urban environments
• Generative watermarking: Invisible markers embedded in AI-generated text, images, video and audio to verify authenticity and combat misinformation

“In exploring these technologies, we invite readers to look beyond technical specifications,” says H.E. Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation.

“Each innovation represents more than an isolated advancement – it is a signal of broader transformations taking shape across our global systems. 

“These are not just technologies, but potential catalysts for reimagining how we address complex global challenges.”

A strategic decade ahead

Underpinned by ecosystem readiness maps and foresight frameworks, the WEF argues that the next decade will demand unprecedented collaboration to scale these technologies responsibly and effectively.

For the experts at the WEF, success will depend on combining innovation with new regulation, resilient supply chains and public trust.

Past reports shone a spotlight on CRISPR and mRNA vaccines before their global impact, meaning this year’s 10 technologies have the ability to similarly act as catalysts for systemic change. 

Whether in enabling net zero agriculture, redefining mobility through energy-storing materials or securing the authenticity of digital content, these innovations collectively point towards a future where science and strategy converge in pursuit of resilient, sustainable societies.

Trust, intelligence and digital futures

With misinformation cited among the top global risks in 2025, governance technologies rank as critical. 

The WEF has highlighted generative watermarking – embedding invisible identifiers into AI-generated text, images, audio and video – which it says is positioned as a foundation for digital trust. 

Efforts by Google, Meta and regulatory bodies in China and the EU signal growing momentum toward universal content provenance standards.

At the same time, collaborative sensing is set to transform urban and industrial environments. 

By linking distributed sensors with AI and 5G networks, systems can dynamically manage traffic, optimise logistics and strengthen emergency response. These advances illustrate how connected systems can shift from isolated data points towards intelligent, adaptive infrastructures.

How tech is reinventing energy systems

From structural battery composites (SBCs) to next-generation nuclear deployment, energy systems are a dominant presence on the WEF’s 2025 list. 

SBCs merge energy storage and load-bearing structures, reducing weight in electric vehicles and aircraft while extending range and efficiency. 

Osmotic power systems, long hindered by membrane performance, are now advancing with materials capable of generating renewable energy from the salinity differences in water.

Advanced nuclear approaches – especially small modular reactors (SMRs) – are being fast-tracked globally, with China, the US and the UK already investing to complement renewables and strengthen grid resilience.

Meanwhile, green nitrogen fixation technologies seek to replace the carbon-intensive Haber-Bosch process, unlocking net-zero ammonia for agriculture and shipping.

Collectively, these technologies signal a fundamental reconfiguration of energy networks – more distributed, adaptive and sustainable than ever before.

“The integration of energy systems and materials… provides dramatic improvements in functionality and efficiency as seen in this year’s list,” Mariette DiChristina, Dean and Professor of Journalism at Boston University College of Communication and Bernard S. Meyerson, Chief Innovation Officer Emeritus at IBM, Co-Chairs of the Top 10 Emerging Technologies Steering Group, say in the introduction of the report.

“In structural battery composites, transport gets an upgrade with ‘massless’ energy systems that blend into the load-bearing elements. 

“Turning to other sources of energy, advances in materials for semipermeable membranes enable ‘salt power’ in osmotic power systems. 

“Finally, in the search for non-carbon energy sources, new designs for next-generation nuclear power plants are coming online.”