The AI skills employers want, according to the data

Employers want people who can use AI tools on their everyday work, judge the output, and handle data with care. Most of that demand sits outside technical jobs. The large surveys and job-posting studies agree on this, even though each one measures it in a different way. This guide sets out what four major sources found, then turns their findings into skills a candidate can practice and show.

What employer surveys say

The World Economic Forum surveyed more than 1,000 employers for its Future of Jobs Report 2025. Together they employ more than 14 million workers in 55 economies. Employers ranked "AI and big data" as the fastest-growing skill for 2025 to 2030. Networks and cybersecurity came second, and technological literacy came third.

The same report found that two-thirds of employers plan to hire people with specific AI skills. Employers also expect 39% of workers' current skills to change or become outdated by 2030 (WEF). Analytical thinking stayed the skill most employers called core, at 69%. Creative thinking, resilience, and curiosity and lifelong learning also rose in the rankings.

Microsoft and LinkedIn surveyed 31,000 knowledge workers in 31 markets in early 2024. In that survey, 66% of leaders said they would not hire someone without AI skills (Microsoft). Another 71% said they would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced one without them. Only 39% of AI users said their employer had trained them.

The 2025 edition looked further ahead. Leaders said they expect their teams to train AI agents (41%) and manage them (36%) within five years (Microsoft). Upskilling existing staff was a top workforce plan for 47% of leaders.

What profile and posting data show

LinkedIn ranked AI literacy first on its 2025 list of fastest-growing skills in the United States (LinkedIn). LinkedIn described it as the ability to understand and use AI tools for business purposes. It renamed the skill because many members use tools like ChatGPT without technical AI training.

The 2026 list grouped skills by theme (LinkedIn). One group held technical skills such as prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation. Another held AI for Business, Data Governance and Responsible AI. Workflow Automation and Process Optimization appeared in an operations group.

Lightcast analyzed more than 1.3 billion job postings. It found that 51% of postings asking for AI skills in 2024 were outside IT and computer science (Lightcast). Postings asking for AI skills grew 66% in human resources, 50% in marketing and 40% in finance.

Indeed Hiring Lab counted job titles that name AI. In the US, 8.3% of titles did so in the first quarter of 2026, up from 2.6% in early 2022 (Indeed Hiring Lab). Of those titles, 63% were outside tech, in roles such as sales, HR, legal and teaching.

Six skills the data points to

None of these sources lists tasks. Survey labels like "AI literacy" or "AI for business" are broad. The list below turns them into things a person does at work. Each item names the source that supports it.

1. Ask for what you need. Write a clear request with the goal, the audience and the format. LinkedIn defines AI literacy as using AI tools for business purposes, and this is where that starts.
2. Give the tool the right context. Supply the facts, examples and limits the task needs. A request without context produces generic work.
3. Check the output. Verify facts, figures and sources before anyone relies on them. WEF employers still rank analytical thinking as the top core skill.
4. Turn one-off prompts into a repeatable workflow. LinkedIn lists Workflow Automation and Process Optimization among fast-growing skills. Microsoft leaders expect teams to train and manage AI agents.
5. Finish the work. Deliver a document, analysis or reply a colleague can use without rework. A first draft is not the finished product.
6. Keep data safe. Know what you may paste into which tool, and follow your employer's policy. LinkedIn lists Data Governance and Responsible AI as rising skills.

These six map to the competencies in the Emeri Standard. Each one has a free study guide, starting with asking well and checking the work.

Human skills still rank high

The data does not say AI skills replace other skills. In the WEF survey, creative thinking and resilience rank next after the three technology skills on the list of rising skills (WEF). LinkedIn's 2026 list includes team management, stakeholder communication and mentorship (LinkedIn).

In practice the two sets of skills work together. Checking AI output takes judgment about the subject. Deciding what to hand to a tool takes knowledge of the job. Your domain expertise is what lets you see when an answer is wrong.

What the data cannot tell you

• Surveys report what leaders say they plan to do. They do not show who those leaders hired.
• Profile data counts what members add to their profiles. A listed skill is a claim, not a test result.
• Title counts miss the many postings that ask for AI skills only in the description.
• Most figures are global or US averages. Demand in your country, sector and role may differ.

For your own search, read the postings for the roles you want. The guide on AI skills in job postings shows how to read one line by line. The role guides list the AI tasks common in eight functions.

How to show these skills

Employers cannot see a skill. They can see evidence of it. Three kinds of evidence carry the most weight.

• Work samples. Show a task, the prompt you used, what you checked and the result. See how to build an AI work portfolio.
• Specific stories. In an interview, describe one task, one error you caught and one decision you made about data.
• An independent assessment. A test that scores real tasks gives an employer a second view beyond your own account.

Emeri offers a free 15-minute AI skills check that scores six competencies. Emeri certification is assessed on real work tasks and reported as a band from E1 to E4 (bands).