Businesses can invest in the latest technology. Finding the people who know how to turn it into business value is another matter.
AI adoption, growing volumes of data, increasing cyber risks and the continued shift towards digital infrastructure are changing the capabilities businesses need across their workforces. As organisations look to improve productivity and get more value from technology, demand is growing for people who can bridge technical expertise with practical business outcomes.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy among the fastest-growing skill areas through 2030. Yet the challenge for organisations is not simply that these skills are in demand. It is that the capabilities businesses need are evolving alongside the technology itself.
This creates a more complex talent question: which skills will become increasingly critical, where will organisations find them, and how should they build access to the capabilities they need as their priorities change?
AI and Machine Learning
AI is no longer an emerging technology. It is already shaping how businesses operate, make decisions and deliver work.
The World Economic Forum identifies AI and big data as the fastest-growing skill area through 2030, reflecting the expanding role of AI across industries and functions. Demand is therefore extending beyond organisations developing AI products themselves. Businesses adopting AI will also need people who can implement, manage and apply these technologies effectively within their existing operations.
This can include expertise across machine learning, AI model development, generative AI, engineering and the integration of AI into existing systems and workflows.
The challenge for employers is that this capability is evolving quickly. Tools, platforms and models continue to change, meaning the expertise that matters today may look different as adoption matures.
The challenge is not simply finding people with AI skills. Organisations need people who can understand where AI can add value, turn that potential into practical applications and adapt as the technology develops.
Data Analysis and Data Science
As organisations generate more data, the ability to understand and use it effectively becomes increasingly important.
Data analysis and data science encompass practical skills such as data preparation, statistical analysis, data visualisation, predictive modelling and the use of analytical tools to identify patterns and support better decisions.
The importance of these skills is also closely linked to the growth of AI. AI systems rely on data, but the value of that data depends on its quality, context and interpretation. Organisations need people who can understand what the data is telling them, recognise its limitations and apply those insights to real business questions.
This means demand is not limited to specialist data roles. Businesses also need people who can connect data with commercial, operational and customer challenges, and turn analysis into decisions that have a practical impact.
The value lies not in having more data, but in having the expertise to make better use of it.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is becoming a core capability for organisations operating in increasingly digital environments.
Networks and cybersecurity are among the fastest-growing skill areas identified by the World Economic Forum for 2025–2030. This reflects the growing complexity of digital systems and the need for people who can protect infrastructure, information and operations from increasingly sophisticated threats.
Cybersecurity covers a wide range of expertise, including threat detection, security operations, cloud security, identity and access management, risk assessment and incident response.
The demand extends well beyond technology companies. Financial services, healthcare, professional services, retail and other industries all rely on digital infrastructure and data, making cybersecurity expertise relevant across sectors.
The role of cybersecurity is also expanding. Security expertise increasingly needs to inform technology decisions, risk management and wider business planning, making these skills relevant beyond dedicated security teams.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing now underpins much of the technology businesses rely on, from data storage and software delivery to AI applications and distributed work environments.
As organisations operate across increasingly complex cloud environments, demand is growing for professionals who can design, manage, secure and optimise them. Relevant expertise includes cloud architecture, cloud engineering, infrastructure management, platform administration and cloud security, with skills across major environments such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
Cloud capability also increasingly overlaps with the other skills shaping technology teams. AI applications need the right infrastructure to run effectively. Data teams depend on scalable environments to store and process information. Cybersecurity teams need to secure systems that are increasingly hosted and managed in the cloud.
That makes cloud expertise relevant far beyond traditional infrastructure roles. Organisations need people who understand how cloud environments support the technologies, data and systems the wider business depends on.
Automation and Digital Process Skills
Automation is changing how organisations approach repetitive processes, workflows and operational efficiency.
The skills involved go beyond knowing how to use an automation platform. They include understanding how processes work, identifying opportunities for automation, designing workflows, integrating systems and assessing whether automated processes are delivering the intended results.
The growing use of AI is also bringing automation and intelligent systems closer together. Organisations can increasingly combine workflow automation with AI-enabled tools to handle tasks that previously required manual intervention.
This is creating demand for people who understand both the technology and the process it is being used to improve. The strongest capability will come from people who can connect the two — understanding not just what can be automated, but how that change will affect the way work is done.
Finding the Right Skills Is Only Part of the Picture
Knowing which skills are growing in importance doesn’t, on its own, solve the problem.
Technical skills can become difficult to hire for when demand grows faster than the available talent pool. They can also change quickly, meaning that hiring for what is needed today may not be enough to prepare for what comes next.
The scale of this shift is reflected in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025. It estimates that 59% of the workforce will require reskilling or upskilling by 2030. For organisations, reskilling is already becoming part of the response: 77% surveyed said they plan to do so as AI changes the way work is carried out.
Hiring is only one way to build capability. Organisations can develop skills internally through training and reskilling, bring in specialist expertise where it is needed, or add capacity around specific transformation programmes.
The best approach will depend on the capability required, how quickly it is needed and how closely it needs to sit within the organisation. In many cases, building the right workforce will mean combining different approaches rather than relying on one route alone.
Building Access to Future Skills
The competition for these skills will not necessarily be solved by hiring more people.
For some organisations, the priority may be developing existing employees. For others, it may mean recruiting specialist technical talent or bringing in expertise for a particular project or transformation phase.
What matters is understanding which capabilities the business needs, when they are needed and the best way to bring them into the organisation.
That might mean building permanent technical capability where the need is ongoing, bringing in specialist expertise for a defined requirement, or combining internal development with external talent to close immediate gaps.
Organisations that respond well to changing skill needs will be those that connect their approach to talent with the direction of the business, rather than treating emerging skills as a standalone recruitment issue.
Preparing for What Comes Next
The technology skills businesses need will continue to change over the next five years. AI and machine learning, data, cybersecurity, cloud computing and automation are already reshaping how organisations operate, and demand for people who can apply these technologies effectively is likely to remain strong.
But no organisation can build its workforce around a fixed list of skills. As technology changes, so will the capabilities businesses need and the way they use them.
That makes adaptability an important part of workforce strategy. Organisations need to be able to develop capability internally, bring in specialist expertise when required and adjust their workforce as new priorities emerge.
The organisations best placed to navigate what comes next will not necessarily be those that can predict every skill they will need. They will be the ones with the ability to respond when new capabilities become important.
Explore JMR’s Talent Solutions to see how we can help you build the capability you need.
The strongest capability will come from people who can connect the two — understanding not just what can be automated, but how that change will affect the way work is done.