The 10 Most In-Demand AI Skills In 2025
While AI is an emerging, rapidly evolving technology, some of the skills to support it are surprisingly, quite legacy ones.
A new study conducted by software development experts at Vention, a software engineering firm, reveals the current most in-demand AI skills.
Vention said it analyzed 42,392 job postings on Glassdoor that requested AI-related skills. Out of 435 skills, here were the 10 top its analysis found.
10 Most In-Demand AI Skills in 2025
No. 1 - Machine Learning
ML “is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) focused on enabling computers and machines to imitate the way that humans learn, to perform tasks autonomously, and to improve their performance and accuracy through experience and exposure to more data,” according to IBM.
The report found that ML was the most in-demand AI-related skill, requested in 37.14 percent of jobs analyzed (that’s 16,130 jobs out of the 42,392 postings).
No. 2 - Python Coding
Python was the second most AI-related job skill, sought in 25.98 percent of jobs analyzed (11,275 jobs across the U.S.). “Python’s dominance in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is undeniable,” states the California Learning Resource Network on its website. “While other languages contribute, Python remains the lingua franca for a vast array of AI sub-disciplines, including machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision (CV),” CLRN added.
No. 3 - Data Science
Data science was the third most in-demand AI skill, requested in 19.71 percent of AI job listings on Glassdoor (8,551 jobs).
While some may argue that advanced tools using gen AI are capable of handling data science on their own, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Devavrat Shah argued that data science is still an important skill for humans to learn because “despite AI's advancements, it has inherent limitations that can lead to significant oversights if users don't grasp the fundamental concepts behind it,” in a post on MIT’s website.
No. 4 - C++ Coding
C++ skills were the fourth most requested AI-related skill, requested in 19.02 percent of the job listings (8,254 listings).
A LinkedIn post by the SKM Computer Academy breaks down reasons why C++ is important in AI:
- As a low-level programming language, C++ interacts directly with hardware. This means the language is “extremely fast and efficient in executing complex AI and ML algorithms,” SKM said in its post.
- C++ allows for manual memory management and can therefore handle the often-vast datasets behind AI and ML models.
- Many of the libraries and frameworks used for AI and ML are originally written in C++.
- Systems that demand speed and performance, like ones used in autonomous vehicles, health care applications, and for robotics, are best created using C++ code, according to SKM.
No. 5 - Microsoft Excel
Surprisingly, skills in Microsoft Excel, which has been around since 1985 under a different branding, is the fifth most highly sought-after AI-related job skill with 17.61 percent of AI job listings requesting it (7, 642 jobs).
“Microsoft Excel is a valuable tool in AI roles for organizing and managing datasets and cleaning data by using charts and pivot tables. It enables basic statistical analysis, simulates simple models, and creates visual representations of data for insights,” according to the report.
No. 6 - SQL
SQL is the sixth most in-demand, AI-related skill set, requested in 15.72 percent of AI-related job listings (6,820 job postings).
Kelly Adams, an analytics engineer, created an insightful post on LinkedIn as to why those who want to work in AI occupations should get to know SQL.
“Why learn SQL if ChatGPT can write it?,” Adams writes in her post and then gives her reasons why.
“An understanding of the nuances of SQL is necessary to ask the Large Language Model (“LLM”) the right questions to get a good response,” she wrote. “You have to double check the LLMs response. Sometimes I get answers that uses features that have been deprecated (probably because the LLM was trained on older data). It still makes mistakes and overcomplicates problems,” she also posted.
No. 7 - Java Coding
Knowing Java is the seventh most-requested AI skill with 10.77 percent of listings requiring it (4,675 jobs).
“If you’re a Java programmer and you want to learn how to write apps powered by AI, you can do so without having to switch to a language like Python. Although most of the AI world has embraced Python as their language of choice, many AI libraries have been built to support Java,” career site Dice.com advised in a blog post.
No. 8 - Data Analytics
Data analytics skills are the eighth most requested for AI-related jobs with 9.84 percent of positions seeking this skill set (4,271 jobs).
“As AI models become more powerful and sophisticated, they’ll be able to generate more accurate predictions. In these future scenarios, data analysts will play a pivotal role in verifying such predictions, fathoming their implications, and converting them into successful, actionable strategies,” the California Institute of Technology stated in a blog post on its website.
No. 9 - DevOps (Development Operations)
DevOps skills rank as the ninth most-requested AI-related job skills by 8.84 percent of jobs analyzed in the report (and accounts for 3,838 AI-related job postings).
While there are concerns in various corners of the internet (like Reddit and Quora) about AI making DevOps professionals obsolete, there are those who say AI will help enhance DevOps.
“DevOps in AI roles combines development (Dev) and operations (Ops) practices aimed at enhancing collaboration, efficiency, and automation in the deployment and management of AI applications,” according to Vention’s report.
No. 10 - Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (or Continuous Delivery) - CI/CD
The 10th most requested AI-related skill set is for knowledge and experience in CI/CD with (7.13 percent of jobs requesting this skill – 3,094 job listings).
“A CI/CD pipeline helps ML teams achieve rapid and reliable updates of models in production, enabling the building of robust, bug-free AI/ML applications more quickly and efficiently,” according to a post by JFrog, which offers a software supply chain platform.
“AI skills are in high demand due to the rapid growth of AI technologies and the increasing automation of business processes, which require skilled professionals to enhance efficiency and reduce costs,” Hanna Volchek, VP of talent at Vention, said in a news release.
“As AI continues to evolve, companies must analyze vast amounts of data to maintain a competitive edge in their respective markets. This highlights the importance of having employees with the necessary skills to help develop and adapt to the rapidly changing business landscape,” Volchek added.