While a tumultuous 2024 may be drawing to a close, the tech industry will continue to experience dramatic shifts in the year ahead, creating a spectrum of new careers that necessitate new skills and expertise, according to the IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index from Foote Partners LLC.
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has caused traditional roles to evolve at a rapid pace while rendering many legacy tech skills obsolete, explained chief analyst and research officer David Foote.
Specifically, successfully applying AI to an existing role or technology requires holistic and soft skills such as communication, collaboration, analytical thinking and innovation. Foote’s firm is also seeing return-to-office policies and the rise of self-managing teams, which will fundamentally alter the way work gets done and require different skills and abilities.
To help you plot your next career move by staying ahead of trends, here’s a look at the roles and skills that gained (and lost) value during 2024 and are positioned to continue down the same path in 2025.
Jobs and Skills Trending Upward
Data Science/Data Analysis
The amount of data being collected and generated across industries will continue to drive the demand and market value for professionals with data analysis and interpretation skills. However, with businesses increasingly using AI tools to handle basic tasks such as data collection and preparation, data professionals will need the ability to handle more strategic tasks involving data strategy, data ethics, data architecture for AI systems, data governance and data modeling for AI, Foote said.
In fact, data strategy was the highest ranked skill in the firm’s latest report, recording a 15.8 increase in market value in the six months ending October 1, 2024. “Roles that merge analytics and engineering are hotter than ever,” Foote noted.
The extra pay awarded by employers reflects the robust demand for advanced non-certified data expertise. The following skills garnered pay premiums ranging from 18 percent to 22 percent of base salary equivalent in the quarter ending October 1, 2024:
- Data Strategy
- Apache Flink
- Business Analytics
- Predictive Analytics and Modeling
- Snowflake/Snowflake Schema
- Data Architecture
- Splunk
- Data Security
Cybersecurity
It’s not surprising that cybersecurity professionals will continue to be in high demand in the coming year; however, with platforms like CrowdStrike increasingly taking over basic security functions, new roles are emerging in the field, Foote said. His conclusion is supported by an analysis of the noncertified skills and certs that are commanding premium pay.
For example, employers are looking for cybersecurity professionals who can use AI-powered tools to predict attacks. They’re also offering premium pay to professionals who have the ability to develop robust machine learning models and strategies to defend against complex attacks. In fact, knowledge of security architecture and AI/ML models is one of the highest paying non-certified skills, commanding premium pay equivalent to 20 percent of base salary, while NIST/NIST 800 garnered average premium pay of 18 percent in the quarter ending October 1, 2024.
So are certifications still relevant? Absolutely. Many of the highest earning certifications tracked by Foote Partners continue to be in the cybersecurity field including:
- GIAC Security Leadership (GSLC)
- GIAC Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership (GSTRT)
- GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)
- Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE-ISACA)
- Fortinet Certified Expert in Cybersecurity (FCX)
- Offensive Security Exploitation Expert (OSEE)
- GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA)
- GIAC Network Forensic Analyst (GNFA)
- Offensive Security Certified Expert
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML)
The thing about AI is that it's not just changing existing roles, but creating entirely new ones that require interdisciplinary skills, especially in the engineering field, Foote said.
For instance, we’re seeing the emergence of human collaboration managers as well as ML engineers focused on AI models, ethical AI deployment, AI/ML ops and AI model auditing, just to name a few.
While any and all AI skills are valuable in today's job market, the following non-certified skills earned premium pay equivalent to 18 percent to 21 percent of base salary during the quarter ending October 1, 2024. Additionally, if you want to invest in a certification, Foote recommends the AiE certification, which experienced a hefty 25 percent increase in value during the six month period ending October 1:
- Deep Learning
- Large Language Model/LLM tuning
- Natural Language Processing
- PyTorch
- Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps)
- Machine Learning
- Prescriptive Analytics
- Keras
- Google TensorFlow
AI Augmented Software Development
Next year will continue to see the rise of AI augmented software design and development and the further decline of roles focused on traditional programming approaches and tasks such as code generation, debugging and testing.
Next-generation software developers need to be familiar with architectural design, systems architecture, Git version control and advanced problem-solving methods to develop new software and seamlessly incorporate AI features into existing systems or applications.
Generally speaking, you need the ability to think critically to apply AI to an existing role like software development, Foote said. Software developers will also need highly refined soft skills and knowledge of Agile to work alongside colleagues from different departments or rotate into a leadership role on a self-managed team.
Jobs and Skills Trending Downward
Basic IT Support: As automation and AI take over routine support tasks, traditional IT support skills are becoming less critical.
Traditional Database Management: With the adoption of cloud-native and serverless databases, routine tasks such as backups and maintenance are increasingly automated. Employers now prioritize knowledge in database architecture and data governance within cloud environments over traditional database management skills.
Legacy Systems Management/Network Administration: The ongoing shift to serverless and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) eliminates tech like Windows Server management without cloud integration.
Basic Web Development: With the rise of advanced frameworks and tools, basic HTML/CSS/JavaScript skills are becoming less valuable.
Manual Security Threat Detection: The rise of automated security tools has reduced the demand for manual threat detection skills. Advanced competencies like threat intelligence and reverse engineering are now more sought after.
Manual Penetration Testing (Non-specialized): Automated tools like Metasploit, Qualys, and AI-driven vulnerability scanners make manual pen testing less relevant (unless highly specialized).
In summary, embracing the disruption to the labor market that will be fueled by AI and ML can help you develop new skills and chart a new career path in 2025.
