Talent Reset: AI and Cybersecurity Shake Up Tech Workforce

Battle for Talent in the AI Era

Digital leaders are facing mounting challenges in sourcing and retaining tech talent as AI and cybersecurity redefine IT priorities. According to a recent Diginomica report, enterprise executives across sectors see the skills gap as more than just a hiring issue—it’s a structural shift demanding new hiring models, strategic upskilling, and cross-functional talent. The most in-demand roles are now centered around cybersecurity, data science, and AI model management, with traditional coding jobs taking a back seat. But scaling internal capabilities is becoming more difficult, as tech evolves faster than organizations can train. This is pushing CIOs and CTOs to think creatively about talent sourcing, often through new partnerships with vendors or academia, and investing heavily in automation to reduce reliance on manual labor entirely.

From Coders to Collaborators

The transformation spurred by AI and cybersecurity isn’t just changing tech roles—it’s redefining what it means to be a technologist. Technical teams are no longer siloed builders; they now need fluency in cross-departmental collaboration, legal implications of AI, and even ethical frameworks. Organizations like BP, Vodafone, and Thames Water are investing in internal academies and modular training to build hybrid talent capable of adapting to these blurred lines of responsibility. Meanwhile, external hiring isn’t enough, with many leaders calling for industry-wide collaboration to scale education pipelines in emerging skills. The future of tech work, it seems, will favor adaptability, ethical awareness, and cyber-competence as much as code fluency.