Five Tech Trends Driving the Next Phase of Enterprise Growth

The next phase of enterprise growth will be driven by companies that can operationalise AI across the full stack – including software and data infrastructure, hardware, automation and national security – and translate innovation into real-world impact. 

DC Advisory has identified five key themes where shaping capital, innovation and deal activity are converging in technology and software in its The Future of Tech report. These include software as a service (SaaS), the convergence of software and the physical world, the use of AI in the public sector, AI’s impact on authenticity and cybersecurity and Japan’s role in tech. 

Transforming SaaS business

AI is “doubling” the SaaS market, according to the report, and software companies that embrace AI-first strategies succeed faster financially with faster revenue growth, improved unit economics and favourable cost structures.

“Long term we believe that AI adoption will significantly expand the market for software, essentially doubling the total addressable market,” says Oliver Parker, Managing Director of DC Advisory. 

“Software companies that fully commit to AI will also see stronger revenue growth, better unit economics and more scalable cost structures. Whilst it requires some brave decision making, the strongest growth will likely come from businesses that fully rebuild around AI, rather than just adding it incrementally.”

When software meets the physical world

Physical AI deployment is entering a scale-up phase across the global industry, according to the analyst.

The sectors seeing the strongest early pull are the ones where the combination of labour shortage, repetitive task structure and economic urgency are most acute. These include manufacturing, logistics and industrial services.

AI’s role in the public sector

The report highlights how public sector organisations are developing software and AI solutions “specifically designed to help people uphold the law, rather than circumvent it.”

Oliver says: “AI is improving efficiency and responsiveness, particularly in public safety. Tech ranging from licence plate reading cameras to drones are being deployed to help police departments identify criminals, speed up arrests and resolve cases more efficiently.”

It also notes the rise in AI-enabled medical device authorisations by the US Food and Drug Administration in the last 10 years. The industry has moved from just six in 2015 to 1,394 in 2025.

Considering security

DC Advisory’s report reflects on how AI is impacting authenticity and cybersecurity.

It sites that 43% of security professionals experience a deep fake incident every year and points to organisations lacking the detection infrastructure to identify these incidents. 

“The incidents that have been reported span a wide range of attack vectors, identity verification bypass, contact centre fraud, executive impersonation leading and hiring fraud,” writes the DC Advisory team. 

Japan’s hardware and AI investment focus

The combination of Japan’s hardware expertise and the US’s leadership in software and AI is creating fresh opportunities for founders and investors. 

DC Advisory surveyed 100 Japanese organisations on their investment intentions of the next three years and found that 60% expect to undertake more overseas mergers and acquisitions and investment activity by targeting US and European firms. 

The report reads: “Japan retains extraordinary engineering depth in the physical technology domains that are now at the centre of the AI investment thesis: semiconductors, sensors, precision manufacturing, industrial automation, robotics components.

“The technology inside Tesla’s vehicles, programmable logic boards, battery systems, semiconductor components, is substantially Japanese.”

“We expect Japanese investors to play a larger role in global tech investment, particularly where AI, robotics and hardware meet,” Oliver adds.