Industry Consortium Calls For Reskilling, Upskilling As AI To Impact 92% Of Tech Roles
With the introduction of technology and tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Midjourney, workers must prepare for digital work environments increasingly adept at mimicking human capabilities.
Around 92% of information and communication technology jobs are expected to undergo high or moderate transformation due to advancements in artificial intelligence, according to a report by the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium—led by Cisco with companies such as Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft and SAP.
The report—The Transformational Opportunity of AI on ICT Jobs—provides a look at the effects of AI on nearly 50 top ICT jobs and identifies essential trainings in AI literacy, data analytics and engineering for workers seeking to adapt to the AI advancements.
With the introduction of technology and tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Midjourney, workers must prepare for digital work environments increasingly adept at mimicking human capabilities. According to a recent World Economic Forum study, 58% of surveyed employees believe their job skills will change significantly in the next five years due to AI and big data.
Jobs Becoming AI-Influenced
According to the report, entry-level and mid-level ICT professionals are at the forefront of AI transformation, with 40% of mid-level positions and 37% of entry-level positions expected to have high levels of transformation.
As AI continues to impact job functions, certain skills will rise in importance, such as AI ethics, responsible AI, prompt engineering, AI literacy, large language models architecture and agile methodologies. Others, including traditional data management, content creation, documentation maintenance, basic programming and languages, and research information, may become less relevant, the report suggested.
The report also noted that foundational skills are needed across ICT job roles for AI preparedness, including AI literacy, data analytics and prompt engineering.
Reskilling And Upskilling Need Of The Hour
The report provides an examination of AI’s impact on 47 ICT roles across seven job families—business and management, cybersecurity, data science, design and user experience, infrastructure and operations, software development, and testing and quality assurance—through a Job Transformation Canvas.
The Job Transformation Canvas outlines how AI will influence each role and identify future skills required, skills made less relevant by AI as well as those complemented by it. Each ICT job receives an AI-impact evaluation with detailed recommendations for reskilling and upskilling.
Companies that are part of the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium are developing worker pathways in job sectors that will increasingly integrate AI technology. Consortium members have established goals with skills development and training opportunities to impact over 95 million individuals around the world over the next 10 years, according to the report.
“AI represents a never-before-seen opportunity for technology to benefit humankind in every way, and we have to act intentionally to make sure populations don't get left behind,” said Francine Katsoudas, chief people, policy and purpose officer, Cisco, and founding member of the consortium. “Across the consortium member companies, we have made it our collective responsibility to train and upskill 95 million people over the next 10 years,” Katsoudas added.
