Tech giants: AI will transform 92% of ICT jobs; we must upskill now

Generative AI is already changing the way many of us work — and it is set to completely revolutionize some roles. 

In fact, according to one bold new prediction, more than 92% of information and communication technology (ICT) jobs will either be highly or moderately transformed by AI. 

This assertion comes from the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium, which has released the new comprehensive report, “The Impact of Generative AI.” The consortium was formed in April by some of the world’s largest big tech companies — including Google, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Intel, Cisco, Accenture, Indeed and Eightfold AI — to address challenges with AI talent. 

“Gen AI has the potential to reinvent fundamental aspects of our daily lives,” said Ryan Oakes, global health and public service industry lead at Accenture. “We are tackling the opportunities and challenges that the workforce will face as generative AI becomes increasingly prevalent.”

Seven ‘job families’ to be most disrupted

To gain a broad understanding of AI’s impact on the workforce, the consortium analyzed 47 specific ICT job roles across seven “job families.” Those families included business and management; cybersecurity; data science; design and user experience; infrastructure and operations; software development; and testing and quality assurance. 

Roles were rated low, moderate or high transformation. Moderate- and -high indicating that at least 50% of principal skills will be impacted by AI. Jobs were also analyzed by seniority level, with the consortium finding that 96% of entry-level and 84% of mid-level positions will be significantly impacted by AI.

While AI will have an effect to some extent on all job roles, the consortium projects the biggest transformations to occur in business and management, design and user experience and testing and quality assurance. 

In business and management, for instance, 62.5% of roles were identified as high transformation and 37.5% as moderate. In day-to-day work, AI can help create product strategies, provide predictive analytics, develop reports, manage large-scale projects and automate numerous processes. 

Looking ahead, workers across seniority levels will need to acquire skills in AI-driven competitive analysis, AI integration strategies, machine learning (ML) literacy, prompt engineering, data science and visualization and natural language processing (NLP), according to the consortium. Other skills with increasing relevance will include understanding of the product development lifecycle, agile methodologies, process improvement, predictive analytics, data management, success KPIs and statistical models. 

Skills with decreased relevance, on the other hand, will include basic data analysis, manual data cleaning and preparation, task scheduling, basic report generation, documentation maintenance and KPI monitoring. 

In the design and user experience family, for its part, 66.7% of roles are expected to have high transformation and 33.3% moderate transformation. The consortium points out that AI can automate routine tasks, streamline workflows, facilitate data analysis and create “hyper personalization.”

Workers will need new (and enhanced) skills in ML, prompt engineering, proprietary AI design, Scikit, data analysis and interpretation, product design and even lean manufacturing, the consortium urges. Skills that are beginning to go by the wayside, meanwhile, include basic coding, manual content creation and research. 

Lydia Logan, VP for global education and workforce development at IBM, commented of the overall report: “Now, those in the ICT sector — from students to workers to employers — have the data about which jobs will change, how they will change, and what individuals and employers can do to prepare for this shift and remain competitive in the evolving global labor market.”

Skill shifts require quick action by all parties

Across the board, the consortium identified 10 increasingly relevant skills: 

• AI ethics and responsible AI
• AI literacy
• Prompt engineering
• Large language model (LLM) architecture
• Agile methodologies
• Data Analytics
• ML
• Retrieval augmented generation (RAG)
• TensorFlow
• NLP

On the other hand, the 10 technical skills expected to decrease in relevance include: 

• Basic programming and languages
• Content creation
• Data management
• Research information
• Documentation maintenance
• SQL
• Manual XML handling
• Manual Perl scripting
• Integration software
• Manual malware analysis

The consortium emphasizes that enterprises must invest in AI training to promote competitiveness and innovation. By doing so, they can attract and retain talent. At the same time, they must take worker training needs and feedback into consideration.

For their part, academic institutions should be updating their curriculum to include AI technologies and offer concise certificate programs, according to the consortium. They should also prioritize investments in work-based learning initiatives, flexible learning paths and collaboration with regional secondary education institutions.

The onus falls on workers, too, who should “embrace lifelong learning to stay relevant,” the consortium advises. Those in the workforce must proactively seek reskilling and upskilling opportunities through employer programs, labor-sponsored training implemented by labor unions or online courses or certifications. And, those just joining the workforce can take advantage of internships, mentorships and hands-on projects. 

Going forward, the consortium will explore public-private partnerships to contribute to an “AI “skills taxonomy” that will define and map skills to roles and define required levels of proficiencies, explained  Francine Katsoudas, EVP and chief people, policy and purpose officer at Cisco. 

The consortium also plans to introduce an AI Workforce Playbook, she said, which will help enterprises of all sizes proactively reskill and upskill workforces. This will draw on insights from stakeholders such as labor unions, coalitions, academia, governments and, just as importantly, underserved communities. 

Further, Katsoudas said the consortium will continue to collaborate with the G7 governments on an AI Action Plan. 

“AI represents a never-before-seen opportunity for technology to benefit humankind in every way,” she said, “and we have to act intentionally to make sure populations don’t get left behind.”