The phrase “AI agents” emerges as 2025’s fastest-growing buzzword, showing the rapid rise in usage compared to its initial position at the start of the year.
A recent study by Heepsy analyzed the most commonly used buzzwords in business, technology, and workplace trends. The research, reviewed by Digital Journal, examined Google searches, published articles, and LinkedIn job postings, assessing over 50 buzzwords, including those related to artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation.
Each buzzword was ranked based on article mentions, search volume, and job listing appearances, with the final ranking determined by their combined visibility across all three metrics.
The ever-growing term “AI agents“ has become the most overhyped business buzzword of 2025. It has experienced an unprecedented rise in usage compared to its position at the start of the year, reaching a total of 2.2 million mentions. Its search volume of 785.3K outpaces several higher-ranked terms, indicating growing public enthusiasm and interest.
“Fast follow,“ a strategy of quickly copying successful competitors’ innovations, ranks 1st with 423.3 million mentions as the most overhyped business buzzword. Its online presence is primarily driven by news articles.
The term “big data,” referring to extremely large datasets analyzed for insights and patterns, claims 2nd place with 232.1 million mentions. It leads all terms with 2,355 LinkedIn job postings, indicating its continued practical relevance.
The technical descriptor “AI-powered,” describing technology enhanced or automated by artificial intelligence, ranks as 3rd most overhyped business buzzword this year. The term is mentioned a total of about 88.3 million times.
“Internet of things,” defining networks of connected everyday devices, claims 4th place with 30.5 million appearances across platforms. Its standout metric of 3.5 million Google searches suggests strong public interest.
Among the top five, “cloud-first” represents the prioritization of cloud-based solutions over traditional infrastructure and distinguishes itself with 18.6 million total mentions. As another overhyped business buzzword in 2025, the term’s visibility comes almost entirely from media coverage.
“Future-proofing,” the concept of designing systems to remain useful as technology changes, holds sixth place with 11.8 million total mentions. It generates more public interest with 28.2K searches. It’s the highest-ranking term with zero job listings.
“Go-to-market strategy,” describing plans for delivering products to customers, is the seventh most overhyped business buzzword this year, with 6.4 million total appearances. It draws 395.4K searches and maintains a presence in job markets with 33 listings.
The technical expression “edge AI” referring to artificial intelligence processing done on local devices rather than the cloud, ranks eighth with 5.7 million mentions. It attracts significant searches at 171.6K.
“Cloud computing,” the delivery of computing services over the internet, secures 9th place with 5.6 million total appearances. Unlike previous terms, it shows reversed metrics, with 5.5 million searches dominating its presence. Its 788 job listings rank third highest overall, suggesting practical value.
“Not contemplated,” meaning something not considered or planned for, rounds out the top 10 most overhyped business buzzwords this year, with 3.4 million total instances. It stands unique among top performers, with a nearly balanced distribution between articles (1.5 million) and searches (1.9 million).
“Mental model,” a framework for understanding how something works, takes 11th place with 3.2 million total mentions. Its article mentions (3.25 million) heavily outweighs its search interest.
The technical phrase “blockchain,” the decentralized digital ledger technology, sits at 12th with 3.2 million online appearances. Despite lower overall numbers, it maintains a robust job market presence with 1,393 listings.
“Quiet quitting,” the practice of doing minimum required work without going above and beyond, ranks 13th with 1.8 million total mentions. Similar to “Not Contemplated,” it shows relatively balanced metrics between articles and searches, though at lower volumes.
The industry phrase “thought leadership” stands at fifteenth with 775K mentions. It maintains a modest job market presence with 50 listings.
“Digital transformation,” the process of adopting digital technology to improve operations, takes 15th position with 616.9K total instances. Despite its lower ranking, it has 1,217 job listings – the fourth highest overall, suggesting practical relevance beyond its media presence.
The workplace term “hybrid work culture” claims 16th with 471.2K total mentions. The term is included in 468K articles.
“Data-driven,” referring to making decisions based on data analysis, holds 17th place with 398.6K total appearances. As another overhyped buzzword, it maintains a presence across all metrics, with 455 job listings demonstrating practical application.
The emerging phrase “workcation,” which means the practice of working while on vacation, ranks 18th with 397.5K mentions. Its footprint comes solely from articles and searches.
“AI-driven,” meaning guided or determined by artificial intelligence, completes the list as the 19th most overhyped business buzzword this year, with 346.2K total mentions. Despite its bottom ranking, its 123 job listings surpass many higher-ranked terms, indicating practical value in the job market.
How many of these buzz phrases will last the course until 2026 and which new phrases will arise? Watch this space.
