AI Skills Shortage Surpasses Big Data, Cybersecurity
CIODIVE, Tuesday, June 10th, 2025
Scarcity of AI skills jumped from 2023, marking the steepest rise Nash Squared has ever recorded.
The gap in AI skills is accelerating drastically as enterprises rush to deploy the technology, according to the Nash Squared/Harvey Nash Digital Leadership report published in May. The company surveyed more than 2,000 technology leaders.
More than half of IT leaders say their companies suffered from an undersupply of AI talent, up from 28% in the previous edition of the report, published in 2023. AI know-how went from being the sixth most scarce technology skill to the No. 1 in 16 months, marking the fastest increase in more than 15 years.
Nine in 10 respondents said their companies were piloting or investing in AI use, up from 59% in the 2023 report. Despite the rise, more than two-thirds of leaders said they had not yet received a measurable return on investment from the technology.