Artificial intelligence is changing 92 percent of IT jobs

Fundamental AI skills and AI ethics will become more important in all IT jobs in the future. Jobs such as AI/ML engineer, data scientist, project manager, software engineer or UX designer will change the most. This is shown by the study "The Transformational Opportunity of AI on ICT Jobs". It was conducted under the leadership of Cisco with members of the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium - Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft and SAP. The international study provides the first insight into the impact of artificial intelligence on the 47 most important jobs in information technology (IT). The definition of the most important IT jobs is based on analyses by the job board Indeed, which is part of the consortium. The roles were selected based on the most IT job postings from February 2023 to February 2024 in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the USA.

"AI tools such as ChatGPT are profoundly changing the world of work and this particularly affects IT jobs," says Christopher Tighe, Managing Director of Cisco Switzerland. "We need to help IT professionals around the world and in Switzerland to benefit from the new opportunities offered by artificial intelligence. There is a lot to be done in the areas of general AI skills, AI ethics and prompt engineering in particular, as these skills are becoming more important in most IT professions."

Almost every IT job is influenced by AI

The study provides an overview of the impact of artificial intelligence on IT workplaces. Here are the key findings:

• 92 percent of the IT workplaces surveyed will change significantly or moderately as a result of artificial intelligence.
• 40 percent of mid-level jobs and 37 percent of entry-level jobs will change significantly.
• Certain skills are becoming increasingly important, for example in the areas of AI ethics and responsible AI, AI knowledge, prompt engineering, large language models, agile methods and data analysis.
• Other skills are becoming less important, such as basic programming and language skills, traditional data management, content creation, documentation maintenance, SQL and information research.

Knowledge of AI ethics and general AI knowledge will become more important in all IT jobs in the future

Some AI skills will become particularly important for IT jobs in the future. Above all, general AI skills as well as AI ethics and responsible AI will become more important in every job. Prompt engineering will become more important in two thirds of jobs. By contrast, basic programming skills (for 31% of occupations), content creation and data management (18% each), information research (16%) and documentation maintenance and SQL (13% each) will become less relevant.

According to the study, three occupational groups are most affected by AI: "Testing and quality assurance", "Design and user experience" and "Business and management". Two thirds of professions in testing and quality assurance and two thirds in design and user experience are undergoing major changes. At 62.5 percent, the proportion for business and management is almost as high. Here, artificial intelligence has a particularly strong influence on roles such as business analyst, customer service, digital marketing or project manager. Cybersecurity and data science are well behind, each accounting for a quarter of the rapidly changing IT jobs. The least change due to AI is expected in the area of "IT infrastructure and operations".

In concrete terms, this means, for example: In the field of cybersecurity, the occupational field of Information Security Specialist is heavily affected by AI. In German, the role is often referred to as an IT security expert. The main task is to identify signs of security risks, vulnerabilities and attacks. Until now, manual and automatic analyses have been used to check components such as software, networks, firewalls and access points. AI will increasingly take over these checks and also automatically ward off attacks or close security gaps. In future, information security specialists must be able to decide exactly which processes to automate or release manually.

Other IT professions that are changing the most as a result of AI include AI/ML Engineer, Business Analyst, Cloud Engineer, Data Scientist, Network and IT Automation Engineer, Product Design Engineer, Project Manager, Software Engineer and Tester as well as UX Designer. The job roles of Cybersecurity Analyst, Ethical Hacker and Soc Analyst Level 1 are moderately affected by AI.

The consortium is committed to training and offers over 100 free AI courses for IT jobs

The members of the consortium see how urgent and important their joint activities are in view of the increase in AI in all areas of the economy. To this end, they want to develop career paths, particularly in areas that are increasingly using AI technologies. There are dedicated AI training courses for all the IT jobs described, most of which are available free of charge. Training courses such as "Ethical Hacker", "AI Security Nuggets", "Cybersecurity Essentials", "Prompt Engineering Skills" and "Cyber Threat Intelligence" can be booked on the consortium's website.

The members of the consortium have also set themselves ambitious goals for training programs that will help over 95 million people worldwide over the next 10 years. These include, among others:

• Cisco wants to train 25 million people in cyber security and digital skills by 2032.
• IBM wants to equip 30 million people with digital skills by 2030, including 2 million in the field of AI by the end of 2026.
• Intel wants to train more than 30 million people in the field of AI by 2030.
• Microsoft aims to train and certify 10 million people in digital skills by 2025 - and has exceeded this target one year earlier than planned with 12.6 million people trained and certified.
• SAP wants to train 2 million people worldwide by 2025.
• Google wants to provide over 130 million dollars for the global promotion of AI training and skills.

Lydia Logan, Vice President of Global Education and Workforce Development at IBM, emphasizes that the report's findings highlight the urgent need for training and development. She says: "Now everyone in the IT sector - from students to employees to companies - has the data on what jobs will change, how they will change and what individuals and employers can do to prepare for this change and remain competitive in the evolving global labor market."

Nicole Helmer, Vice President & Global Head of Development Learning at SAP, agrees and also emphasizes the relevance of overarching skills. She says: "The study shows: In addition to the undeniable need for responsible AI development and broad AI skills across all IT professions, all employees need to improve their higher-level skills such as critical thinking, creativity and complex problem solving. After the initial adoption of AI, we believe that assessing the secondary impact of these skills shifts will clarify which skills will be common in the future and which will be needed to differentiate."

Christy Pambianchi, Executive Vice President and CPO of Intel Corporation, sees AI as a major game changer with far-reaching potential. She adds: "We believe that AI represents a paradigm shift with great potential to create new opportunities and tools. Our goal is to drive AI forward responsibly so that it contributes to solving the world's biggest challenges. Training, upskilling and reskilling employees in the use of AI and critical thinking is essential for our workforce and the next generation of innovation."

Naria Santa Lucia, General Manager at Microsoft, agrees and emphasizes the importance of equipping the workforce with the necessary AI skills. She explains: "AI can be a tool that supports workers around the world, but they also need to have the skills to use it. That's why Microsoft is committed to helping people and communities around the world acquire new and necessary AI skills. This new report makes important recommendations to lead the global workforce into the future."

Source: www.cisco.ch