There is a very obvious AI skill gap across organizations, and it widens a little further every day. Organizations are unabashedly adopting AI into their operations at an increasing rate, but many are doing so without preparing the business first or determining a clear strategy for its adoption. Amidst this chaos of change, employees are exceptionally unprepared to keep up with the evolving technology. Addressing this AI skills shortage is a crucial step to consider before progressing further in any large-scale investments in the resource.
So far, AI talent development has taken a backseat in favor of investing in as many artificial intelligence tools and services as possible to ensure companies keep up with the times. With employers and employees equally unprepared for this change, organizations are left floundering.
Simultaneously, the AI talent shortage is such that there aren’t enough experts to hire to replace the current workforce either. Hiring and firing is not a sustainable strategy for organizations that want to close the AI talent gap effectively, which is why we must turn to AI reskilling programs as soon as possible.
There’s an evident shortage of AI skills in the workforce, but replacing workers with new ones is a cumbersome solution. (Image: Freepik)
There’s an AI Skill Gap In the Workforce—It’s Time to Address It
The AI talent shortage is hitting companies hard. The Harvey Nash Digital Leadership Report found that 51% of technology leaders felt their organization had a shortage of workers with AI skills. This is a significant jump from the 28% who felt this way last year. In the last 18 months, AI skills have climbed up from being the sixth-most-scarce skill in the world to the number one position, indicating both the demand and the scarcity of experts in the field.
Instead of hiring experts who can use AI, organizations are rapidly cycling out talent in favor of AI tools that can do employees’ jobs for them, and this has meant a rapid decline in workforce numbers. Despite appearances, this isn’t a solution either. AI tools cannot run themselves without some amount of supervision, and employees are an essential part of keeping the systems running without errors and incorrect assessments.
Many businesses that have resorted to layoffs in favor of AI now regret doing so, due to their lack of clarity on how best to employ these tools. This is where the AI skill gap is most apparent. As resistant as employers might be to the idea of investing in talent in-house, AI talent development needs to be treated as a top priority.
How Can Organizations Close the AI Talent Gap?
Upskilling and reskilling employees has always been an employer’s responsibility and that remains unchanged in 2025. The AI skill gap is not a result of an employer or employee shortcoming, but simply the result of technology moving forward at a faster rate than usual. Hiring AI experts and talent in the area is possible, but there’s a limited pool of ready experts on the job market. Those who do have insights into the world of AI are snapped up by AI companies that are using their knowledge to develop the tools rather than spreading the word on how to employ them.
As a result, AI skills need to become a key part of corporate training so employees are able to pick up the pace and meet the needs of the organization. Rather than rehiring for every role that is touched by AI, it’s best to lead existing employees to meet those needs. There are a few different ways to approach the AI skill gap right now.
Before Investing in AI, Consult the Employees
Organizations are currently investing in AI tools that far exceed the needs of the organization, and with half the workforce laid off to pay for the investment, there’s no one left to explore how to utilize AI. Before investing in AI services, work with teams from every department to understand the needs of the department and the possible applications of AI.
This will allow you to make investments sparingly, and the initial teams will also be able to familiarize themselves with the tool and then pass the knowledge on to others.
Hire A Few AI Experts to Aid the Company
Hiring individuals skilled in AI for every single role is a waste of resources. Organizations are better off hiring a team of experts who can guide the organization through future investments and train each team on embracing AI. This way, you can hire top talent for every role without eliminating them purely because they aren’t experts in AI.
Stop Treating AI as a Solution and Look at It As a Tool
It is too early to treat half-baked AI tools as the solution to all your business needs. Consider giving employees access to these AI tools to see how they can embrace it in their roles, and work with them to perfect a system where repetitive tasks can be managed by AI while employees still put their other skills to use in supporting the organization to the best of their abilities.
Identify the AI Skills That Are Relevant to Your Organization
We use AI or artificial intelligence as a blanket term for the new technology available to us, but there are many facets to AI, and the skills necessary to handle each one vary. Understand the needs of your organization and the direction of your AI investments to better understand if you need to invest in prompt engineering skills, familiarity with AI-powered predictive analysis, AI in cybersecurity, etc.
As you understand which AI skills you want to prioritize, you can hire or train for those specific skill sets.
AI Reskilling Programs Are Your Best Bet
Employees are willing to learn new skills but with their packed schedules and responsibilities outside of work, all of them can’t keep up with AI without some assistance. AI upskilling and reskilling programs are critical to the AI adoption process as they will allow them to learn the skills they need specifically for their role at the organization, rather than just learning how to use AI.
Training existing staff is the easiest way to make a safe transition into the era of AI, developing career growth plans and internal promotion pathways for employees to learn and grow within the organization.
Partner with Organizations that Can Help with Reskilling
To close the AI talent gap, you may have to look externally to organizations that are building their expertise in the field and use their help to develop AI upskilling and reskilling programs. Do not try to train employees internally if you do not have experts to handle the training in a way that can be adjusted to the level of understanding your workforce has about AI.
Introduce AI Skills Among the Workforce Right from Onboarding
Organizations often make the mistake of leaving critical training for later until they know an employee is worth retaining. This wastes many productive months and leaves the employee feeling unprepared to keep up with the organization. Such practices of holding off training and benefits only encourage employees to quit faster rather than wait until they are actually prepared for their role at the business.
AI tools can be used right from the onboarding process to help employees start familiarizing themselves with them from the start.
Addressing the AI Skills Shortage Is a Top Priority in 2025
Most businesses have now realized the importance of AI adoption and the fact that this is one trend that they can’t opt out of. Every industry from healthcare to management is exploring the use of AI, but there is an obvious AI skill gap that cannot be ignored any longer. Employees are more than willing to bridge this gap with the support of their HR teams and employers, as the distance is too vast to leap across on their own.
Instead of waiting for workers to close the AI talent gaps themselves, more organizations need to clearly understand their approach to AI, and then invest equally in the tools as well as the employees. These resources are meant to work together instead of against each other, which is why AI reskilling programs must be a priority in the coming months.
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The AI skill gap is widening as organizations rapidly adopt AI technologies without adequately preparing their workforce