What Freelance Tech Writers Can Learn From McKinsey’s Technology Trends Outlook Report

Each year, McKinsey releases their Technology Trends Outlook report, which explores the leading trends in the tech sphere, traces the emergence of new technologies, and comments on how the innovations of the previous year can drive business growth. For tech writers, this report is a treasure trove of information that points to where the industry is going.

But, it’s also 108 pages – which is a heavy time investment for many freelance writers with multiple clients to juggle. To save you the time, I’ve reviewed the McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook for 2025 and have collated the most important statistics into three central takeaways. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Freelance tech writers that understand and can write about AI systems and products are in demand.

2. Generalist writers are quickly losing value compared to specialized freelance tech writers.

3. Freelance tech content writing about documentation, transparency, and the safe use of AI is booming.

Let’s break these down further, reviewing the real-world statistics that bring these ideas to life. 

Artificial Intelligence Dominates the Technology Trends Outlook: Writing About AI Is in Demand

One of the central areas that the McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook for 2025 report focuses on is the surge in both innovation and interest in artificial intelligence technologies. 

The proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies has caused an increase in its presence in practically every field. McKinsey reports a major increase in Google searches for AI, patent registrations related to AI, and equity investment in this sphere.

Source: McKinsey State of Tech Trends Report, main growth areas of AI. 

Here are some top statistics that freelance tech writers should be aware of:

• Equity investment into AI is the highest of all the tech fields, receiving $124.3 billion in funding in 2024.

• Job postings that were directly about AI or required knowledge of AI technologies increased by 35% across 2024-2025.

• 78% of businesses are already using at least one AI product.

• 92% of executives plan on increasing AI usage in the coming years. 

The rising investment, usage, and plans to incorporate AI tools into enterprise workflows clearly point to the fact that AI isn’t going anywhere. As a product of this, businesses are routinely experimenting with AI and receiving funding if they create and distribute new AI SaaS tools.

Freelance tech writers can benefit from this trend by:

• Enhancing Knowledge of AI Systems: Learn the basics of how LLMs work, what ML is, and how generative AI comes into enterprise environments. Understanding how these technologies work and being able to explain them in simple terms is a skill that’s rising in demand.

• Specializing in AI-Related Content: AI writing, AI ethics, and industry-specific AI use cases are all tech content areas that are seeing major investment. Learn more about these areas and offer your services to stay ahead of the curve.

• Immersing Yourself in the AI Space: Thought leadership has always been a central type of B2B writing to offer. Now, more than ever, AI founders are looking for ghostwritten AI thought leadership to impress their audiences and capture customer attention.

According to the State of Freelance Writing Report 2025, tech writing is already the most profitable area of content writing. By honing your skills and continuing to deliver high-quality tech content for AI enterprise clients, you’ll be a step ahead of other freelancers. 

Documentation Writing is Booming: AI Ethics, Transparency, and Compliance

A heavily debated topic in the world of artificial intelligence has been AI ethics and the lag between AI innovation and legal regulation. While many territories, especially Europe’s EU AI Act, have made great strides in AI regulation, this is still a field that’s growing. 

The McKinsey report demonstrates that responsible innovation, tech articles about compliance, and business transparency about their use of AI are all important factors.

Freelance tech writers should be aware of the following trends:

• Responsible tech innovation is a top 5 driver of growth in the field.

• California’s AI Transparency Act is making major shifts to the AI landscape.

• Top user and business concerns in deploying AI tools are: trust, governance, liability.

While businesses must look for internal methods to incorporate AI technology and optimize their processes, they must balance this with external transparency. Enterprises need to document how they’re using AI, align with the growing range of AI compliance frameworks, and be transparent with their customers.

How freelance tech writers can benefit from this trend:

• Offer Compliance and Governance Tech Writing Services: Writing educational content, compliance documents, and other long-form writing that outlines how AI works is in demand from both customers and enterprise clients. 

• Help Companies Share Their Responsibility Innovation Perspective: A central driving factor for AI growth is showing how you’re using AI responsibly. If you’re able to tell this story for companies and show how their usage of AI is both effective and secure, then there is a lot of work on your radar. 

While artificial intelligence was a leading disruptor to the freelance writer market, according to the State of Freelance Writing survey, it’s also presenting a number of opportunities. Tech writers that want to future-proof their careers should think about specializing in this booming field.

Source: Skills availability in the tech sphere 2024. Areas that freelance tech writers should specialize

Demand for Specialized Tech Writing is Growing - Generalists Are Losing Value

McKinsey’s report makes it abundantly clear that rapidly evolving tech is at the center of the industry. The fields that are seeing the most growth and receiving the most investment are those that rapidly evolve: agentic AI, edge computing, quantum computing. Having the knowledge and skills required to effectively write specialized tech content in these fields is becoming essential.

Here’s the trend by the figures:

• Equity investment increased in 10 out of 13 frontier technologies in 2024: Fields like bioengineering, immersive reality, and space tech are all booming, and need tech content writers to help produce and refine their digital content.

• Agentic AI job postings increased 985% between 2023 and 2024: Businesses are increasingly gaining access to highly powerful AI tools that can automate the content writing process for a lot of unspecialized, generalist content. Specialize and continue to build your knowledge.

For freelance tech content writers, it’s never been more important to really get to grips with the more complex facets of your specialties. For general freelance writers, it’s time to move away from low-hanging fruit, as many industries are already automating their content production systems. 

Source: Equity investment increased in ten of 13 tech trends in 2024.

Looking to the Future of Freelance Tech Writing: What the Technology Trends Outlook Tells Us

The tech content writing industry is always at the forefront of change, as, by nature, tech is a field that both shapes and is shaped by innovation. Industry reports like the Technology Trends Outlook allow us to understand what is happening in the sector, what’s likely to happen over the coming months, and where best to invest our time and resources.

Businesses are looking for tech writers now more than ever, making this a fantastic time to consolidate your knowledge, move into new areas of tech, and develop the skill sets that enterprises need. 

With over a decade of experience in tech writing, I’ve helped hundreds of businesses in the tech sphere - ranging from the big four cloud hyperscalers to emerging AI startups - develop precise, actionable, and results-driven digital content. Reach out today to discuss how we can shape your company’s online presence.