Trend 5

Businesses aren’t just buying tools, they’re building outcomes

More than budget: How businesses are investing for the future

Businesses aren’t just buying tools, they’re building outcomes. Instead of spending more, they’re spending smarter, prioritizing efficiency and customer experience to stay ahead.

While 96% of businesses claim to have the right tools and technologies to understand their customers, challenges remain. Nearly half (44%) say they still struggle to connect customer data across channels, sources, and platforms, while 30% cite outdated or insufficient technology as a major roadblock to gaining deeper customer insights.

As businesses fine-tune their tech investments to address these gaps, the real challenge is not simply adopting new tools, but ensuring they drive innovation without adding complexity. Striking that balance will be the key to distinguishing the top leaders of 2025.

Businesses on the current size of their tech stack

What’s in today’s tech stacks?

So, what does the modern tech stack look like today? 

Without a doubt, businesses are doubling down on tools that help them understand customers at every turn. Currently, the top five solutions that businesses use are:

  1. Customer relationship management (CRM) (63%)
  2. Customer analytics (58%)
  3. Customer surveys (53%)
  4. Customer data platform (CDP) (52%)
  5. Communication platform as a service (CPaaS) (50%)

Four out of those five solutions have “customer” right in the name — proof that customer insights remain a top business priority.

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We’ve also noticed interesting trends emerge in tech investments over the last year. Solutions with notable year-over-year growth include:

  • Customer analytics.  Adoption surged from 37% in 2024 to 58% this year.
  • Customer surveys.  Usage jumped from 38% to 53% in the same period.
  • Contact center solutions.  Expanded from 33% to 46%.

More businesses are turning to solutions that offer deeper insights into evolving customer preferences and enable more impactful experiences. Increasingly, they’re embracing holistic Customer Experience as a Service (CXaaS) models — unifying CPaaS, CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service), CDP, and AI into a single, flexible solution designed to meet the demands of today’s customer journey. 

This shift signals a broader transformation: CX is evolving from a patchwork of tools into a cohesive, strategic priority. As businesses streamline their tech stacks, the goal is clear — unlock better data, generate smarter insights, and foster deeper, more meaningful customer relationships.

Tech stacks in 2025: Where businesses are betting big

We asked businesses which technology solutions are at the top of their purchasing wishlists this year. Here’s where they’re focusing their investments:

  1. Data management platforms (DMPs) (26%)
  2. Customer engagement platforms (CEPs) (25%)
  3. CDPs (24%)
  4. Marketing automation platforms (MAPs) (23%)
  5. CPaaS (22%)

These tools are designed to strengthen customer relationships through improved data management, automation, and communication.

While some companies are shopping for new solutions, others are building their own. In fact, 96% of organizations plan to develop their next customer experience technology in-house rather than purchase a ready-made platform. This DIY approach offers greater flexibility, enabling brands to create customized solutions — like CXaaS — that align closely with their unique business goals and customer needs, rather than settling for a one-size-fits-all option.

Top solutions businesses are investing in for 2025

96% of businesses plan to build their next CX tool instead of buying one.

Build trust at scale with branded communications and RCS

New platforms aren’t all that businesses are exploring in 2025. 

RCS (Rich Communication Services) offers brands the opportunity to create more personalized, interactive, and trusted communication, with features like rich media content, custom branding, two-way interactivity, and enhanced security — all of which build trust and enhance the customer experience in ways SMS can’t. While Android has supported RCS for years, Apple’s adoption in iOS 18 last year pushed more businesses to recognize its potential as the future of messaging. 

In fact, 75% of business leaders plan to invest in RCS messaging this year. That figure rises to 85% in LATAM. This trend isn’t happening in isolation. Among businesses that already provide real-time engagement, 79% plan to invest in the technology — nearly double the percentage of those who don’t (42%).

Customers are on board, too. When shown a side-by-side comparison of SMS and RCS messages, the results were clear: 81% of consumers prefer RCS over traditional SMS. The preference is even stronger in LATAM and APAC, where 91% and 83% of consumers, respectively, favor the richer messaging experience. As RCS adoption grows, more businesses are expected to embrace its capabilities to deliver more secure, dynamic, and engaging customer communications.

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3 in 4 businesses plan to invest in RCS messaging this year.

81% of consumers prefer RCS over traditional SMS.

Maximizing your tech investments in 2025 and beyond

As businesses expand their tech stacks, success will stem from strategic investments that drive efficiency, engagement, and long-term growth — not simply adding more tools.

Here are our tips for building a successful tech stack in 2025:

  • Balance innovation with operational efficiency

    Tech investments should simplify, not complicate things. If you're among the many businesses considering new tools, ensure they enhance your operations without adding unnecessary complexity.

  • Adopt RCS for better conversations

    Elevate your messaging with RCS. Customers crave richer, more interactive conversations — and brands that embrace RCS will stand out with more engaging communication.

     

  • When in doubt, build your own

    Off-the-shelf tools don’t always fit. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow you to create flexible, scalable solutions tailored to your unique business needs — while also making it easier to integrate future technologies.

The brands that invest wisely — not just widely — will be the ones that win in 2025.

Explore the data

Businesses on the current size of their tech stack

Top tech solutions businesses currently use

Top solutions businesses are investing in for 2025

Percent of business leaders who plan to invest in RCS messaging this year

Data + AI + the right tools = Better customer personalization

If you’re looking to stretch your budget, boost conversions, and minimize wasted spend, here are tips from Twilio’s Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Koehler:
 

A single, unified view of the customer unlocks better context and enables true personalization.

Leverage AI to optimize marketing spend, focusing on what works and scaling back on what doesn’t.

Marketing to bots and fake profiles wastes both money and effort. Use identity verification tools to detect bots and flag abnormal behaviors, ensuring your budget reaches real customers.


By honing in on these areas, marketers can achieve impressive ROI, drastically improve customer experiences, and protect their budgets — especially in times of economic uncertainty.
 

Read the full article
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Conclusion

The future of engagement: Smarter, faster, more human

Customer engagement isn’t just changing — it’s being rebuilt in real time. It’s no longer enough to collect data; brands need to use it with intelligence to craft experiences that feel personal, intuitive, and unmistakably human. Today’s consumers don’t just want brands to respond. They expect them to anticipate.

Remember Alex? He’s the loyal runner whose favorite brand knows his go-to shoes, suggests local routes, and reminds him when it's time for new gear — all thanks to real-time personalization using first-party data. Every interaction feels smart, relevant, and built just for him.

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Woman in a light purple shirt holds her phone and makes a fist as she looks at the screen with a smile.

Now contrast that with Sarah, who just wanted to update her address but got stuck in a loop with an unhelpful AI assistant. For her, AI felt like a barrier, not a bridge. But with thoughtful design, AI can earn trust by knowing when to help and when to step aside.

These experiences show the gap between empowering and frustrating systems. The key to successful engagement? Blending automation with authenticity to create moments that feel personal, not programmed.  

Welcome to the future — where the businesses that will lead are the ones turning customer data into truly meaningful engagement, making it smarter, faster, and more human at every touchpoint by:

  • Personalizing in real time — because delays cost conversions

  • Using AI strategically — not just for the sake of it

  • Building trust through transparency and customer control

  • Simplifying tech stacks to focus on what really matters

If you’re ready to take your customer engagement to the next level, contact our sales team or read why Twilio is positioned in the Leaders category in this 2025 IDC MarketScape for worldwide communications platform as a service.1

1 IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform as a Service 2025 Vendor Assessment, February 2025, IDC #US52039625.

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