2024 was packed with announcements. Few entered our projects. Here are the five things we actually used and won't drop in 2025.
1. AI in daily flow
Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code: no longer gadgets. For our developers, coding without assistance now feels like writing without autocomplete. An average day saves 60-90 minutes on repetitive tasks.
2. Model Context Protocol
Announced in November 2024, it is the base we will build AI tooling on in 2025. For the first time there is a standard way to connect an AI assistant to real data and systems.
3. Tailwind CSS v4 (beta)
Tried in beta on a sandbox project. 3.5x faster builds, CSS-first config. Default for new projects from 2025.
4. NIS2 in the real world
For most companies NIS2 was not "time to take security seriously". For the serious ones, it was. We walked 4 clients through their first adjustments, with results worth the work.
5. Hetzner Cloud as default
While Vercel raised prices, Hetzner became the floor for production apps with stable traffic. On 8 projects we started with or migrated to Hetzner. Predictable bill, strong performance, zero surprises.
What did NOT enter
No "Web3", no production WASM, no extreme edge functions. The reality of Italian SMEs needs tools that last 5 years, not hype that lasts six months.