92% of IT jobs will be transformed by AI

No doubt artificial intelligence will be a paradigm shift for society. But the extent to which AI will replace human workers in the future remains up for debate.

To get a better idea how AI will change the labor market for technology professionals, the recently formed AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium has published its inaugural report, “The Transformational Opportunity of AI on ICT Jobs,” which reveals that 92% of IT jobs will see a high or moderate transformation due to advances in AI.

The study argues that the biggest changes will be seen in mid-level (40%) and entry-level (37%) technology jobs, as certain skills and capabilities become more or less relevant. AI ethics, responsible AI, rapid engineering, AI literacy, and large language model (LLM) architecture are expected to rise in importance in this new era, while traditional data management, content creation, documentation maintenance, basic programming and languages, and research information will become less relevant.

That’s why, the report says, critical skills are needed in all IT jobs, including AI literacy, data analytics, and rapid engineering. That’s why the consortium is seeking to empower workers to reskill and upskill.

This comprehensive analysis provides insight into the impact of AI on tech jobs, as the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium is comprised of some of the industry’s leading names — Cisco, Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP — with advice from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Chain5, Communications Workers of America (CWA), DigitalEurope, the European Vocational Training Association (EVTA), Khan Academy, and SMEunited.

To produce the report, the consortium examined the impact of AI on 47 ICT roles across seven job groups: business and management, cybersecurity, data science, design and user experience, infrastructure and operations, software development, and testing and quality assurance.

Francine Katsoudas, director of people, policy, and purpose at Cisco, the company leading the consortium, said: “AI represents an unprecedented opportunity for technology to benefit humanity in every way, and we need to be intentional about making sure people are not left behind.”

The consortium’s training commitment

Katsoudas explained that “across all member companies in the consortium, we have taken on the collective responsibility of training and upskilling 95 million people over the next 10 years. By investing in a long-term roadmap for an inclusive workforce, we can help everyone participate and thrive in the AI ​​era.”

In detail, members of the consortium have made the following training commitments:

• Cisco: To train 25 million people in cybersecurity and digital skills by 2032
• IBM: To train 30 million people by 2030 in digital skills, including 2 million in AI by the end of 2026
• Intel: To train more than 30 million people with AI skills for current and future jobs by 2030
• Microsoft: To train and certify 10 million people in digital skills by 2025 (a goal it says it surpassed a year ahead of schedule)
• SAP: To upskill 2 million people worldwide by 2025
• Google: To provide more than $130 million in funding to support AI training and skills for people in the US, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and APAC