A lack of skilled workers, along with budget constraints and security/privacy concerns, are the top challenges to adopting new technologies, according to the 2025 State of Tech Talent Report from the Linux Foundation.

This year’s report – which focused on the shortage of skilled IT professionals, the workplace transformation caused by AI, and the role of upskilling to fill technology needs – found that “critical talent gaps exist across organizations, with 68% understaffed in AI & ML, 65% in cybersecurity, and 61% in FinOps & cost optimization.”

In terms of hiring decisions, key points include:

• Organizations are 3.2x more likely to invest in upskilling existing talent than to recruit externally.
• The hiring and onboarding process takes 62% longer than upskilling the existing workforce.
• 85% of organizations prioritize portfolios of practical work, with open source contributions offering proof of technical ability and collaboration skills.

In terms of AI, 94% of organizations expect the technology to deliver significant value in core activities, such as software development (54%), data analytics (52%), IT infrastructure monitoring (45%), and customer support (40%), says Clyde Seepersad, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Linux Foundation Education.

AI is also giving rise to new job roles, the report says, with 33% of organizations saying that developers now spend significant time reviewing AI-generated code, for example. Specific new AI-related roles cited by organizations include:

• AI & ML Operations Engineer (64%)
• AI Product Manager (36%)
• AI Quality Assurance Engineer (33%)
• AI Governance Specialist (29%)
• Prompt Engineer (26%)
• AI Safety Engineer (20%) 
• AI Ethics Officer (16%)

Download the free report for more details.