Dive Brief:
- Artificial intelligence skills grew 190% between 2015 to 2017, and industries with the most AI skills proved the fastest-growing and changing in that time period, according to a LinkedIn report. By extension, the more AI skills an industry has, the more innovative it is.
- While immediate AI applications are having rippling impacts on industry, the web of complementary products and services has an even larger effect. Enhanced AI capabilities were largely the result of an increase in skills in the areas of data and programming associated with AI, data-powered products and services and interpersonal skills.
- IT services and software continues to lead other industries in AI skills, but education, hardware and networking, finance and manufacturing all made considerable strides in 2017.
Dive Insight:
IT continues to outpace other job categories in terms of growth, and while the IT talent pipeline needs filling out, the youngest generation is demonstrating greater affinity for technology careers. Nearly half of the top 15 jobs ranked by Generation Z are in the tech industry, with iOS developer, computer vision engineer and machine learning engineer leading the way.
Though intangible, software and data are increasingly the foundation of digital businesses, and IT talent has a lot of agency unlocking their potential. AI skills are essential for revamping underused data assets and turning them into a bottom line driver.
While change and growth do not necessarily equate to innovation, with plenty of businesses tacking on AI capabilities without finding the winning use case, for the most part AI is automating rote labor and reshaping how businesses handle data and interact with customers.
The practical, albeit not always glamorous, applications often have the greatest impact because they play off of the data a company has and what its needs really are.
