Adapt or Die - What AI-related Skills are Needed to Navigate the Next 5 Years?

Abstract Many call it The AI Effect. A recent CNBC headline stated, “Shopify CEO says staffers need to prove jobs can’t be done by AI before asking for more headcount” (Palmer, 2025). Is the AI boom just hype, or is the knowledge economy on the way out and the AI economy on the way in? Many are touting AI as the next silver bullet (reference to Brooks, 1987 intended), but is it? According to the popular press, AI can automate routine tasks, increase efficiency, and provide faster data insights, which will free up humans to take on more fulfilling tasks (i.e., job enrichment). Currently, we can think of AI as a complementary, augmenting human endeavors, because if it’s easy for humans, it’s hard for computers – and vice versa. But as AI advances, what are the implications for IT professionals? What AI-related skills are needed to navigate an IT career over the next 5 years? As a first step we compared the responses from ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, and 24 undergraduate IT students getting ready to move into the workforce in April 2025. The most frequently identified skills are listed in Table 1 (total of 21 skills identified). [Table 1 omitted] Our next step is to ask the same question of IT professionals in the early, mid, and late stages of their career. It is our intention to take a proactive approach to understanding the skills needed by IT professionals at multiple career stages to successfully transition to the new AI economy. As we move toward an increasingly AI-driven world, we believe the ability to thrive during transition will be key to managing the AI effect. References Brooks, F. P. (1987). No silver bullet: Essence and accidents of software engineering. Computer, 20(4), 10-19. Palmer, A. (April 7, 2025). Shopify CEO says staffers need to prove jobs can’t be done by AI before asking for more headcount. CNBC.com. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/07/shopify-ceo-prove-ai-cant-do-jobs-before-asking-for-more-headcount.html