How wrong were our CEO’s predictions for 2025?

At the start of 2025, Kristoff predicted AI would take on a “control tower function” in daily life. While we’re not quite there yet, AI has become an indispensable colleague across every department. From coding and marketing to support tickets, AI is helping teams make complex technical data understandable and actionable. The real breakthrough? Making IoT accessible to non-technical users. Just as ChatGPT opened AI to 800 million weekly users, Sensolus envisions AI agents democratizing access to IoT data, allowing anyone to ask simple questions and get meaningful insights from complex supply chain information.

In Belgium, there’s a saying: if you can’t explain your business plan on a beer coaster, it’s probably not a good plan. Kristoff’s prediction about doing “more with less” in challenging macroeconomic times proved spot-on. Customers are still losing 3-20% of their assets, underutilizing returnable packaging by 8-20%, and spending 20% of logistics budgets replacing assets that already exist. But 2025 revealed a fourth critical factor: workforce scarcity. With trained personnel increasingly hard to find, digitalization isn’t just about efficiency anymore—it’s about survival. The beer coaster test still works: three clear ROI bullets that make any investment decision straightforward.

Kristoff’s vision of circular economy and returnable packaging faced mixed results in 2025. The good news? Technology leaped forward. Energy harvesting improved, battery components became more efficient, and Bluetooth tags with fully wireless anchors made adoption faster and easier than ever. Customers can now step into circular economy solutions with minimal barriers. The sobering news? Geopolitical focus on sustainability has weakened. While AI disrupts industries by reducing labor costs, the long-term strategic thinking around returnable packaging and environmental impact has taken a back seat—except for forward-thinking companies that continue investing in the future.

As adoption of IoT technology accelerates and AI makes it accessible to everyone, a new challenge emerges: security. When supply chains become completely digitized, dependency follows—customers love the technology, but losing it would be catastrophic. From the deepest hardware nodes to application integration, every touchpoint becomes a potential vulnerability. Just as no one wants their self-driving car hacked, supply chains need end-to-end security. This isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s the foundation for trust in an increasingly digital world.

Looking back at 2025, the predictions weren’t all perfect, but they revealed something more important: the technology is mature, standardized, and ready for mass adoption.

As we enter 2026, the convergence of AI accessibility, proven ROI, and advancing hardware capabilities positions IoT for its biggest growth year yet. The question isn’t whether digitalization will happen—it’s whether organizations will secure and sustain it responsibly while keeping long-term sustainability goals in sight.