Forrester: Enterprise Software Latest Earnings in Q2 2025 Reveal Vendor AI Power Play
Enterprise Software Vendors Have Moved from AI Experimentation to Aggressive Monetisation
Forrester’s latest analysis of Q2 2025 software vendor earnings reveals a coordinated shift: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now central to user experience and platform strategy, driving new revenue streams while tightening vendor control. As costs rise and architectural flexibility erodes, technology leaders must respond with rigorous financial governance and outcome-focused strategies, as per Forrester.
Key Vendor Signals Identified by Forrester
- Microsoft: Microsoft’s USD $42.4 billion cloud revenue was fuelled by AI-driven growth, with Copilot adoption surging across major platforms. But behind the numbers are aggressive upselling tactics, rising costs, and mounting pressure on CIOs to deliver ROI from copilots that require major workflow redesign.
- Oracle: Oracle reported strong double-digit cloud growth and a 41% jump in RPO to USD $138 billion, reflecting deep enterprise commitments. Its tightly integrated AI-infused stack promises simplicity but raises concerns about reduced multi-cloud flexibility and long-term vendor lock-in.
- SAP: SAP’s cloud revenue grew 26%, with 33% growth in S/4HANA Cloud and AI embedded in half of all new orders. Its push toward AI copilots, data platforms, and “Suite-as-a-Service” raises concerns for CIOs around opaque pricing, vendor lock-in, and loss of architectural control.
- Salesforce: Salesforce‘s growth slowed to 8%, but it is doubling down on AI with over 4,000 paid Agentforce deals and a tightly integrated Einstein 1 Platform. As the Data Cloud becomes the gateway to AI value, enterprises face increased dependency on Salesforce’s ecosystem and pricing model.
“APAC firms are rapidly operationalising AI, often leapfrogging legacy constraints as seen in Western markets,” said Charlie Dai, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester. “But their early adoption also means they’re among the first to feel the pressure of vendor monetisation, especially as agentic AI systems demand deep integration and workflow redesign.”
“To balance innovation with cost and agility, CIOs in APAC must embrace integrated AI platforms while architecting open, modular systems,” Dai added. “Avoiding over-reliance on single vendors, negotiating transparent pricing, and accelerating localisation strategies will be key to retaining long-term control over AI investments.”
