As digital transformation accelerates across industries, the job market in 2025 is shifting rapidly. Transformational CIOs are continuously investing in their operating models, with a focus on developing product management, design thinking, agile methodologies, AI agents, DevOps practices and data-driven strategies.

Organizations embracing new technologies, however, are discovering a growing skills gap that’s impacting their ability to innovate and scale. Understanding the technology roadmap and organizational priorities requires an investment in training existing teams and bringing in subject matter experts with the requisite skills required.

In 2025, businesses intentional with upskilling will maximize AI benefits with a competitive edge, while those who rush to incorporate AI’s next big thing before their team is ready will be hindered in their efforts to innovate. – Ed Macosky, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Boomi

What’s in demand for 2025 and beyond

Organizations are targeting this (and other) talent to stay strategic and allow them to remain agile as they move into 2026.

AI and machine learning specialists:

Artificial intelligence remains a key driver of innovation and is transforming industries in remarkable ways, from creating personalized customer experiences to advancing predictive analytics. This includes data modeling, deep learning and ethical AI practices. Finding talent with hands-on experience in this area is critical. To highlight the discrepancies, Deloitte’s State of Generative AI in the Enterprise found nearly 70% of respondents said their organization has moved 30% or fewer of their AI experiments into actual production.

Cloud architects and engineers:

Enterprises are migrating to the cloud at scale. Cloud talent is essential for designing scalable and secure infrastructure. This includes people with experience in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and cloud security, and those with deep architectural and automation expertise.

Cybersecurity analysts and engineers:

Organizations are rightly concerned about their exposure when it comes to their data. Rising threats and regulatory pressure require skills like incident response, risk management, penetration testing and security analysis. Finding talent with this level of cybersecurity experience is difficult; organizations are relying on consultants and contractors to come in, lead teams in this area and upskill their full-time employees.

Data analysts and data engineers:

Data-driven decision-making is a must-have for organizations across all industries. Having clean, structured data and actionable insights is crucial. Talent with SQL, data warehousing, ETL pipelines and dashboarding will be critical to this endeavor.

Technical project managers and program managers:

With the globalization of the workforce over the past decade, strong leadership is essential to keep projects aligned with business goals and on track for delivery. Talent with experience in Agile and Kanban methodologies, stakeholder and team management and risk mitigation remains crucial.

Business analysts with technical expertise:

Organizations need people who can bridge business requirements with technical implementation, and this isn’t easy to find. Talent that has experience with requirements gathering, process modeling, SQL, APIs and basic scripting will become a core requirement rather than a “nice to have”.

Specialized skills will drive organizational advantage

The IT and project management job market in 2025 is being defined by deep expertise with the above skills. Organizations that invest in upskilling and a willingness to bring in niche talent with real-world experience will be best positioned for growth.

Horizontal has decades of experience connecting organizations with the right talent, team and project solutions to drive innovation. Our practices in cloud engineering, project management (and PMaaS), testing, managed application services and enterprise development help organizations prepare for the future and deliver on projects that impact their core business strategies.

If you want to explore our specialized talent pools in the above areas and more, please reach out to us today.

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What careers are in demand or facing a shortage in 2025?

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What careers are in demand or facing a shortage in 2025? 