Looking back on the role of IT professionals over the last 25 years

Welcome to the year 2025. It’s a far cry from the days of Y2K, where beige Compaq Presarios and chunky ThinkPad laptops dominated desks around the world. More likely than not, you’re reading this on a more modern computing device, be it your tablet at home, your laptop in the office, or your smartphone during your commute. And if you’re reading this, you’re probably a professional in the world of information technology and cybersecurity.

What does 25 years of investing in cloud computing, experimenting with artificial intelligence development, and inventing new ways to transmit, receive, and (securely) store essential information get us as a society?

For better or worse, it has led us to the world we have today, where near-limitless computing power is at our fingertips, allowing us to perform tasks impossible for humans—like noticing anomalies in network traffic or deterring malicious actors—while protecting against threats both inside and out.

All that technological advancement has also led us to a world where one person, with some clever email tactics, can bring down an entire corporation—or ruin a person’s future—before anyone knows what happened.

That threat of danger makes the role of the IT leader, the cybersecurity professional, and the C-suite executive more important than ever. Embracing that immense responsibility inherent in the business means being faster than those who want to make life harder for you and your team.

And it’s what IT Brew is all about: Giving professionals the insight, advice, news, and predictions that can help readers perform at the highest level, while keeping their charges safe and secure.

Welcome to the Quarter Century Project, a year-long journey into the last 25 years and how it shaped the world we’re in today. Since Y2K, the world of IT and cybersecurity have been, in short, a roller-coaster. As for the next 25 years? Well, buckle up, because the ride is only beginning.