What Skills Do We Need in an AI-Driven World?

As we attempt to adapt to the AI-driven technologies hitting the workplace, it can be hard to know which skills are going to remain valuable and which will be automated away.

Tech skills have an obvious appeal in an age in which technology appears to be disrupting everything, but are they the only game in town? A recent report from training provider Udemy examined what skills are in demand as the industry aims to get to grips with a skills shortage of up to 85 million workers by 2030.

“Leaders today are looking to drive business results in a fast-changing world by taking a skills-first approach,” Udemy said. “Our data shows that organizations are making significant investments to upskill their employees on generative AI capabilities to help boost their productivity, enhance their technical skills and develop stronger leaders, as they continue to navigate the transformational shift toward a skills-based organization that embraces the power of artificial intelligence.”

Growth Skills

This year's report shows a big boost in certain skills. Some of these skills were hardly used last year (like ChatGPT) while others have always been important (like advertising strategy). But all of them have grown a lot in the past year. These skills cover various areas, and they're some of the hottest skills to have in 2024. With change happening faster than ever, professionals are keen to learn these top 10 skills:

ChatGPT from OpenAI: An incredible 4,419% increase.
Knowledge about environmental, social, and governance: A huge 3,128% rise.
Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification: A significant 1,454% jump.
Behavioral economics: A substantial 1,326% growth.
Advertising strategy: A noteworthy 1,118% increase.
Certification and preparation for software tests: A solid 1,044% rise.
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics: A notable 799% increase.
Autodesk 3ds Max: A good 780% rise.
DevSecOps: A strong 730% growth.
Software design: A respectable 624% increase.

As you can see, many of these skills remain very much tech-focused, but there are also notable inclusions in areas such as ESG, behavioral economics and advertising strategy, which highlights some of the other key growth areas.

Areas for Investment

Achieving this level of reskilling is far from straightforward, especially since corporate investments in this area are often hit and miss. To address this challenge and create a more agile workforce, Udemy has identified three key areas of investment as companies plan for the year ahead.

Embrace a skills-based approach: The skills needed for various jobs are evolving at a rate of 10% per year, rendering many competencies considered crucial just three years ago obsolete. In response, business leaders are shifting towards a more practical, skills-focused approach that emphasizes skill development and validation over traditional degrees and prior work experience. This shift has led to substantial investments in learning and development, with Udemy welcoming 10 million new learners to its platform and recording over 134 million course enrollments in the past year.

Adapt to advances in generative AI: Experts predict that generative AI could automate up to 30% of current work hours by 2030, contributing an estimated $15 trillion to the global economy. However, the widespread adoption of this technology may displace and reshape many jobs within the 97 million net-new roles expected by 2025. Consequently, organizations are keen to train their existing workforce in generative AI and integrate this technology into their daily workflow. Udemy has seen a 60% increase in AI-related training on its platform over the past year, with a remarkable 4,419% spike in course enrollments for ChatGPT in Q1 2023.

Foster strong leadership: Today's workforce is facing constant change, from the rise of hybrid work to generative AI and widening skills gaps, leaving over half of employees feeling burnt out. With disengaged workers costing organizations more than $8.8 trillion in 2022, investing in leadership development, especially for frontline managers, is crucial to safeguard an organization's digital transformation. Udemy has witnessed increased investment in leadership development topics, including communication, management fundamentals, emotional intelligence and digital transformation. Coaching, in particular, has seen a 177% year-over-year increase among managers and leadership teams.

“As organizations continue to embrace the promise of generative AI and other fast-evolving innovations, there is also intense disruption — disruption in employee roles, in how work gets done and in the nature of the work itself,” Udemy concluded. “Change leadership is essential. Developing skills like resilience and leading through change are even more important to reinforce as we navigate and embrace these disruptions.”

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