Methodology The 2025 emerging technologies were selected through expert nominations, AI analysis, readiness assessment and strategic evaluation. Technologies were nominated for the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 report through a survey distributed to the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils Network, the Frontiers network of chief editors, comprised of editors from top institutions worldwide, and the Top 10 Emerging Technologies Steering Committee members. The report’s definition of “emerging technologies” encompasses both entirely novel innovations and established technologies being applied in transformative new ways. This inclusive approach recognizes that technological emergence occurs through multiple pathways – whether through groundbreaking new discoveries or through applying existing technologies to solve different problems in ways that could create significant new impact. Survey respondents, representing a global community of trusted academics and researchers, provided information about the technology nominated, including the technology name, description, key breakthroughs, case studies and how it will impact economies, the environment and society, as well as potential risks that accompany the technology. In 2025, more than 250 valid technology nominations were submitted by experts across industry and academia. To screen these submissions, the AI Trend Analyzer – developed by Frontiers – mapped nominations to key concepts and matched these concepts to their frequency in academic articles over a rolling 10-year period. From this analysis, an average “trendiness” score was established, indicating each technology’s growing presence and momentum in research literature. Each technology was also evaluated using the World Economic Forum Resilience Consortium’s Resilience for Sustainable, Inclusive Growth (2022) framework, focusing on their potential to address systemic challenges and contribute to building adaptive capacity for future generations. The ranked technologies were then filtered by removing those featured in previous editions of the report. Business funding data was added to support the analysis for each of the top 20 technologies, providing insight into market confidence and commercialization potential. This refined shortlist of 20 technologies was then assessed by a steering committee of experts, who applied the following selection criteria: –Novelty: Early adoption is emerging, but widespread use is not yet achieved. –Impact: Potential for significant societal and economic benefit. –Depth: Developed across multiple entities, with broad and sustained interest. This rigorous, multi-phase selection process ensures a comprehensive and objective assessment of each technology’s readiness and transformative potential. Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 6