Hello

From Ben Ellis

But do you need every new solution
on the market?
Probably not.

Ben Ellis

Introduction: More tech, more decisions

Ben Ellis

Tools and Tech Expert
The SI Lab

When we released the first SITech Market Landscape last year, we promised to update it annually to make sure it kept up with changes in the sector. Because technology in this space evolves quickly. Whether that’s new features to existing technology, emerging players in existing categories, or new categories altogether. This year’s map features a whopping 624 technology providers! And, over the last 12 months, we’ve seen the continuation of AI integration to existing technologies, specifically GenAI features. Probably the most significant innovation to have emerged is the rise of truly autonomous AI agents, capable of independent decision-making and action. This is definitely a space to watch.We’ve also seen platform unification, with a number of mergers and acquisitions taking place in 2024/ 25. The players that remain are focused on developing the most enhanced features in the areas they specialise in. We’re also seeing more enhanced collaboration features in tools, to help analysts democratise social data and insights across their organisations more easily. All of these changes have once again shown the challenge of being a social intelligence practitioner in 2025. Just when you think you’ve got your tech stack sorted, a new tool or feature comes along. But do you need every new solution on the market? Probably not. In fact, too much tech can detract from the actual work. This year’s State of Social Listening survey showed, once again, that investment in SITech has increased, and will likely continue increasing over the short term. But how sustainable is this trend? Leadership will only continue to invest if they see real business impact. And expanding your tech stack is more likely to result in bloated, over-complex processes than better insights. Instead, technology should be an enabler. It should enhance the work of humans, not replace them. So, when building your SITech stack, the focus shouldn’t be on how many tools to incorporate. Rather which tools are right for the projects you’re working on and the objectives you’re looking to achieve. That might mean you need ten tools. You might just need one. Knowing what’s the best tech for the job is key. That’s why this SITech Market Landscape exists. We’ve broken down the complex world of SITech into categories and subcategories that align with the projects you’re most likely to be working on. This should help you narrow down the tool (or tools) to research, making the final decision easier. This year’s landscape has been a culmination of months of research so, at the time of publishing, it’s as up to date as it can be. Given how fast things change, however, it’s unlikely to stay that way. We’ll continue to research, and update this annually. In the meantime, if you see we’ve missed any tools or features, let us know. We’ll add it to the next one!