The Year Innovation Became Human: 12 Lessons from 2025
- Alexa Goldner Bicas
- Dec 23, 2025
- 5 min read
From artificial intelligence to regenerative agriculture, from investment funds reinventing themselves to startups surviving turbulent times.
A year of real learning and signals of what’s coming.
2025 was the year innovation stopped being about speed and started being about judgment. AI became infrastructure, cybersecurity stopped being a niche, sustainability shifted from cost to strategy, and resilience stopped being romantic and became design.
Israel, Spain, and LATAM didn’t advance at the same pace, but they did learn the same lesson: innovation became more human, more strategic, and more global.
At Noga, we observed, supported, and spoke with founders, investors, and innovation teams across Israel, Spain, and LATAM.
These are 12 lessons that sum up the year — and perhaps anticipate what comes next.
AI stopped being a promise and became infrastructure
In 2025, AI embedded itself in increasingly critical processes: from predictive irrigation models in agriculture (CropX, Treetoscope), to intelligent digitalization of healthcare (eWave), to biomedical AI platforms (CytoReason). Training demand also increased sharply — as we saw in our work with PROCOMER, where many companies sought to understand how to apply AI practically.
According to McKinsey 2025, 88% of companies already use AI in at least one function, but only 7% have scaled it. Adoption is massive; competitive advantage remains open for those who implement it with intentionality and depth.
The value it brings: You’re facing the decade’s biggest efficiency opportunity. Integrating AI into key processes — or redesigning them — can give you speed, accuracy, and the ability to scale with fewer resources.
Hyperautomation met its human limit
In 2025 it became clear that automating is not the same as improving. Both Deloitte and MIT Sloan agree that AI — including generative AI — does not replace human judgment; it amplifies it.
Deloitte highlights that AI reshapes the tech landscape, but its actual impact depends on how it integrates with people and existing processes. MIT Sloan’s recent study shows AI is far more likely to complement workers than replace them, boosting productivity when combined with human expertise.
The value it brings: Your advantage isn’t in automating more, it’s in integrating technology with human judgment. Teams that combine AI with experience, culture, and strategic thinking achieve stronger, faster, and more relevant results.
Cybersecurity became transversal
Digitalization and advances in AI forced everyone — not just banks — to adopt security by design.
In 2025, ransomware attacks on agriculture and food production doubled (Halcyon), and the sector is now among the most targeted (CybersecurityGuide).
Cases like JBS or the recent Jaguar Land Rover attack, which disrupted its distribution chain, show that no connected operation is safe.
The value it brings: Security by design protects data, operations, and reputation. It enables working with larger clients, meeting regulations, and building trustworthy systems in digital ecosystems.
Capital now seeks purpose, not just returns
Impact investing stopped being niche.
Funds like Seaya and Ship2B in Spain strengthened their focus on sustainability and measurable impact. Impact became a strategic criterion — not a reputational one.
The value it brings:
For startups: A clear impact thesis helps attract more aligned, patient, and strategic investors.
For investors / companies: Integrating impact lets you choose more resilient companies, better prepared for regulation and more competitive in global markets.
Resilience became a strategy, not a virtue
Startups that thrived in 2025 didn’t just endure: they anticipated.
They diversified revenue, designed scenarios, and strengthened adaptability.
The value it brings:
For companies, startups, and investors, resilience stopped being tactical and became a competitive advantage.
Technological convergence changed the rules
AI + biotechnology + data + cyber are no longer separate worlds.
TheIsrael Innovation Authority 2025 High-Tech report shows that Israel became the most important deep-tech hub in the world outside the U.S., with 1,500 active deep-tech companies that have raised$28.6B since 2019,representing 35% of all Israeli high-tech capital.
Leading areas: AI, semiconductors, medical devices, cybersecurity, and AgriFood.
The value it brings: Exploring technologies beyond your industry opens new opportunities: more flexible models, more integrated products, and partnerships that accelerate growth.
Sustainability = efficiency
Sustainability stopped being about reputation and became about efficiency: lower risk, higher performance, and stronger operational resilience.
The value it brings: Integrating sustainability allows you to save costs, optimize resources, and compete in markets that now require it.
Regional collaboration took hold
LATAM, Spain, and Israel stopped operating in silos. More funds co-invested, more corporates shared pilots, and more talent flowed across ecosystems.
In 2025, funds that collaborate with Noga — like AWZ and Il Ventures— expanded their investment bridges.
The value it brings: Connecting ecosystems gives access to talent, knowledge, technology, and capital.
Tech regulation is here to stay
Europe advanced with the AI Act, and LATAM began adapting its own frameworks: Brazil with its Marco Legal da IA, and countries like Chile and México with data governance and responsible AI initiatives.
The value it brings: Anticipating regulation lets you enter markets earlier, gain institutional trust, and avoid future friction.
Angel investment became more strategic
The most relevant angel investors don’t just bring capital — they bring industry expertise, global networks, and international vision.
The value it brings: For companies and investors, these angels accelerate validation, open markets, and bring crucial sector intelligence.
Storytelling saved many startups
In a colder investment year, the organizations that clearly communicated who they are, why they exist, and what impact they create were the ones that stood out.Clarity is strategy.
The value it brings: A clear narrative helps companies, investors, and partners understand your value proposition, impact, and vision. The right story accelerates deals, partnerships, and sales.
Value was created at the intersections — not in silos
The Israel Innovation Authority 2025 High-Tech Report shows that Israel’s strongest value comes from intersections:
AI + semiconductors, AI + health, AI + cyber, climate + biotech.
With39 deep-tech unicorns and centaurs and a combined value exceeding $178B, Israel demonstrates that the future isn’t in one industry — but in combining several.
The value it brings: The most powerful opportunities appear when you connect disciplines, industries, and geographies.
That’s where market-defining innovation is born.
If 2025 was the year we learned to innovate with judgment, 2026 will be the year of intelligent collaboration. The regions that grew the most were not the fastest, but the ones that knew how to connect talent, capital, technology, and purpose.
From Madrid to Mexico City, from Tel Aviv to Costa Rica, the message is the same: the future isn’t built by competing, but by sharing.
At Noga, we believe lasting innovation happens at the intersection of technology + purpose + people. And that story is just beginning.
If you want to bring these trends into your team, your strategy, or your next project, Noga can help you read the context, prioritize, and design what’s next.
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