IT leaders struggle to find AI talent but aren't investing in professional development

One-in-three IT leaders say they are struggling with finding qualified AI and ML talent, and while these are the biggest areas of focus, 43 percent rate their teams' AI and ML skill sets as low.

A new study from Skillsoft of more that 5,700 IT professionals finds skill development is a critical piece of the puzzle for building a competitive organization, though more work is needed to optimise training among technology teams.

Only 37 percent of IT professionals report receiving training 'most of the time' when their employers invest in new technology. Additionally, compared to last year, 40 percent more IT leaders say their organization is not investing enough in professional development and 80 percent more say their current training programs are not effective at developing the skills they need.

"With AI accelerating disruption at an unprecedented pace, the need for workforce training has never been more obvious and consequential," says Orla Daly, chief information officer at Skillsoft. "Organizations are at a critical point where they need to be deliberate and proactive about building skills and capabilities -- especially related to AI -- or risk falling behind in the coming year. Interactive training experiences where professionals learn by doing will unlock rich possibilities, creating business value while increasing team member engagement and morale."

While hard or technical skills have traditionally been prioritized in the IT industry, soft or power skills can fall by the wayside despite being essential for adapting and augmenting transformative technologies, especially Generative AI. IT professionals surveyed rank team communication (40 percent), interpersonal communication (21 percent), and emotional intelligence (13 percent) as the three most important skills for IT leaders to have. However, just six percent of IT leaders say leadership skills will be a key area of investment moving forward, and only seven percent say the same about power skills.

The features ranked most important in a training program include quality of content (55 percent), opportunities for hands-on practice (50 percent), and multiple learning methods (38 percent). Online, on-demand training is the most popular learning option among IT professionals this year (59 percent), followed by online live training (46 percent) and impromptu training at work (31 percent).

You can get the full report from the Skillsoft site.

Image credit: Matej Kastelic / Shutterstock