The 2025 edition of the AI 50 list shows how companies use agents and reasoning models to start replacing the work carried out previously by large -scale people.
Artificial intelligence is entering a new phase in 2025. After years of AI tools, mainly answering questions or generating content on order, this year’s innovations concern AI actually done work. The 2025 Forbes AI 50 list illustrates this pivot change, because computer startups report a move from AI which simply responds to prompts to that which solves problems and ends whole workflows. For all the buzz around large manufacturers of AI models like Openai, Anthropic or Xai, the biggest changes to history in 2025 are in these application layer tools that use AI to produce real commercial results.
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Chatbots to make workflows
Historically, AI assistants could discuss or provide information, but humans still had to act on production. In 2025, it changed. For example, the Startup of legal Harvey shows that its software can make more than simply answer legal questions – it can manage whole legal work flows, from the examination of documents to the predictive analysis of cases. Its platform can write documents, suggest revisions and even help automate negotiations, cases management and customer contacts – tasks courses that normally require a team of subordinate lawyers. This realization has earned Harvey a place on the Forbes AI 50 list, and it illustrates the AI evolving from a tool useful for a solver of practical problems.
Business tools opening the way
Many remarkable IA 50 companies are business tools that work during the job. Sierra and Cursor, the only product of the startup Anysphere, are emblematic of this new generation of commercial AI. Sierra automates customer service while considerably improving the experience, paving the way for businesses to provide help to their customers at every hour. Cursor, on the other hand, stormed the community of software developers. Its technology allows anyone not only to obtain assorted lines of code (at the GitHub co -pilot), but also to generate whole functionalities and applications by asking for it in simple English.
Robotics increasing
Although we are not yet at a point where companies are deploying mass robots, robotics -ordered startups have made significant progress in the past year because they incorporate models built using transformers (the “T” in the chatgpt) with equipment. Robotics presented itself in good place in Nvidia’s speech at its recent developer conference, with Jensen Huang saying: “Physical AI for industry and robotics is an opportunity of $ 50 billions. “Figure AI recently announced that its high volume manufacturing plant can produce 12,000 of its humanoid robots per year as well as its new generalist-action-action (VLA) model, focusing on the development of another universal robotics company, which can also be integrated into planning planning for robot planning, rather than skild industry. Skild Brain.
Consumers at the dawn of AI productivity
Until now, everyday consumers have mainly encountered an advanced AI via chatbots such as the Openai Chatppt or the Anthropic Claude (and newcomers like Grok). Hundreds of millions have tried to speak to these AI tools, but we have not yet seen a really common application where AI performs daily tasks for people. This is likely to change in 2026. With technology technology – and people realizing how AI can save them time and money at work – expect a wave of AI products for consumers who manage whole tasks in the name of their users. For example, Anthropic recently launched Claude Code, which makes the writing accessible to consumers. These new capacities raise the prospect that AIS able to manage your schedule, book travel or organize your end -to -end files are on the horizon.
2025 as a turning point, 2026 for a wider adoption
This year is a turning point: AI graduated from a response engine to a action engine on the workplace. The AI 50 companies of 2025 have proven that AI could trust the significant workloads and provide real results, preparing the way for wider adoption. As we head around 2026, expect corporate earnings to start spreading in everyday life. Challenges such as precision and security remain, but the momentum is undeniable. In 2025, AI obtained real work.
