Leaders look at AI: Data on skills gaps, AI tools, and new AI roles

86% of organizations have plans to adopt AI tools, or have already adopted them. But skills gaps still pose a problem for implementation: 84% of leaders say a lack of AI skills among employees is the biggest blocker for AI adoption.

To find out how leaders are addressing this gap in their organizations and which AI skills are critical to develop, we surveyed 1,200 executives and IT professionals across the U.S. and the U.K. Here’s what we learned.

Get the 2025 AI Skills Report for all of the insights.

65% of leaders say most of their employees have well-developed AI skills. But 89% of technologists have pretended to know more about AI than they actually do. And leaders are no exception—97% have exaggerated their AI knowledge at least once. 

With the vast majority of people misrepresenting their AI knowledge, skills gaps are likely larger than leaders think. And this gap between real and assumed AI skills is stalling adoption. Two-thirds of leaders say their organization has had to abandon AI projects due to a lack of skilled staff.

On the other hand, people may be hesitant to reveal the extent of their AI knowledge. 63% of leaders and 59% of learners say people who use AI are seen as lazy in their organization. This fear can prevent employees from becoming AI advocates and bringing others on board.

Tip: Get a true baseline of AI skills in your organization with skill assessments. 

When it comes to filling the AI skills gap, organizations are taking a few approaches. It comes down to two options: outsource vs. upskill.

64% of leaders and 75% of learners say their job is at least somewhat at risk of being replaced by AI. Their fears aren’t entirely unfounded: 18% of organizations have removed roles due to AI growth.

But nearly half of organizations surveyed have actually added AI-related jobs, and AI skills have become even more important in the hiring process. Seven out of ten organizations now consider AI skills as necessary or strongly desired, with only 5% considering it “not a factor” when hiring. 50% also give strong preference to job candidates with AI skills.

When hiring isn’t an option, and organizations need to fill skills gaps quickly, outsourcing is another option. 98% of leaders are likely to replace or outsource talent to successfully deploy AI initiatives.

Hiring or outsourcing AI talent is often a stopgap solution that won’t make it easier for you to close new skills gaps as they arise.

Skill development provides a long-term solution to ensuring your teams have critical tech skills. More than half of organizations (59%) are training their existing employees to ensure successful AI adoption, rather than firing and replacing their workforce.

They’re increasing benefits to assuage employee fears and encourage upskilling, too. Over half of organizations (54%) are increasing salaries or benefits in response to organizational AI adoption.

So where should organizations focus their upskilling efforts? It depends on what you want to achieve with AI, but there are a few places to start.

Right now, organizations are mainly using AI for cybersecurity and threat detection, data synthesis, and digital customer service. The most used AI skills currently are in AI cloud-services management, data modeling and analysis, ethical AI and bias mitigation, and writing AI prompts.

Consider how your organization is currently using AI. What do you need right now, and what skills gaps are preventing you from using AI to achieve those goals? Keep an eye out for new AI use cases to proactively plug future skills gaps.

According to leaders, the most used AI tools in their organizations are ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Gemini. If you provide enterprise access to any AI solution, make sure your teams know how to use them responsibly.

Even if you don’t provide organization-wide access to AI, your employees are probably still using AI tools on their own. In fact, more than one-third of leaders say there’s probably unethical AI use among employees in their organization. To mitigate this risk, give all employees a crash course in AI ethics and responsible use.

Check out these courses to get teams started:

• Using ChatGPT to Code a Full-stack Web Application
• OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise learning path
• Microsoft Copilot learning path
• Google Gemini learning path
• Generative AI Foundations: Ethics, Issues, and Limitations of Generative AI

100% of leaders say at least one department is at risk of reductions due to AI. The departments they think will see the biggest reduction in staffing due to AI implementation? Analytics, content creation, and billing. 

But 100% of leaders also say departments will grow due to AI. Over the next five years, they predict marketing, content creation, and analytics will see the most opportunity for growth in staffing due to AI implementation.

When it comes to upskilling, look at these departments first. Train staff for new AI-augmented roles rather than letting them go. They likely already have specialized expertise for their role—they just need to know how to integrate and enhance their work with AI.

In the next 12 months, 55% of leaders say it’s most important to experiment with AI tools and applications to find the best use cases. The remaining 45% say to prioritize getting a return on AI investments. 

Your organization’s priority will depend on where you are in your AI journey. Not sure where you are? Use the AI Readiness Index to find out. You’ll uncover your organization’s AI readiness level, how you compare to peers in your industry, and tips to boost your score.

Want to learn more about the state of AI skills? Download the 2025 AI Skills Report.