The AI skills employers ask for most
The share of all 57,486 postings that ask for each AI skill, and the roles that ask for it most.
- AI Tools Literacy36%
In the top ten of 35 roles. Asked for most by Finance Manager, Financial Analyst, Operations Manager.
- Prompt Engineering34%
In the top ten of 35 roles. Asked for most by Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Marketing Specialist.
- AI Assisted Coding13%
In the top ten of 6 roles. Asked for most by DevOps Engineer, Platform Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer.
- AI Sales Tools8%
In the top ten of 8 roles. Asked for most by Account Executive, Sales Director, Business Development Representative.
- AI Project Management Tools7%
In the top ten of 2 roles. Asked for most by Project Manager, Program Manager.
- LLM Ops5%
In the top ten of 6 roles. Asked for most by DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Platform Engineer.
- Observability for AI Systems4%
In the top ten of 5 roles. Asked for most by DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Platform Engineer.
- AI Risk Awareness3%
In the top ten of 6 roles. Asked for most by Risk Manager, Finance Manager, Legal Counsel.
- AI Risk Assessment3%
In the top ten of 4 roles. Asked for most by Legal Counsel, Project Manager, Enterprise Architect.
- AI Content Generation3%
In the top ten of 4 roles. Asked for most by Social Media Manager, Marketing Manager, Marketing Specialist.
The AI skills candidates most often lack
How many of the 44 roles have each skill among their three most common gaps: the skills our analysis of job descriptions flags as missing most often.
- Prompt Engineering26 of 44 roles
- Generative AI Fundamentals25 of 44 roles
- AI Risk Awareness7 of 44 roles
- AI Governance Frameworks6 of 44 roles
- AI Ethics Awareness5 of 44 roles
- AI Lead Scoring5 of 44 roles
Which AI skills matter in your field
The AI skills asked for most within each group of roles, as a share of that group's postings. Each role guide goes further, with the skills to learn next and where the role is heading.
Engineering & architecture
- AI Assisted Coding53%
- Prompt Engineering46%
- LLM Ops20%
Role guides: Software Engineer, Engineering Manager, DevOps Engineer, Security Engineer, Solution Architect, Platform Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Cloud Engineer, Automation Engineer, Enterprise Architect
Data & AI
- Machine Learning16%
- MLOps16%
- Prompt Engineering9%
Role guides: Data Engineer, Data Analyst, Data Scientist, AI Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer, Data Architect, Research Scientist
Product & design
- AI Tools Literacy59%
- Prompt Engineering49%
- AI Product Management25%
Role guides: Product Manager, Business Analyst, Product Owner, Graphic Designer, Product Designer
Sales & customer success
- AI Tools Literacy35%
- Prompt Engineering32%
- AI Sales Tools30%
Role guides: Account Manager, Business Development Manager, Sales Manager, Account Executive, Customer Success Manager, Sales Development Representative, Sales Director, Business Development Representative, Sales Engineer
Marketing
- Prompt Engineering91%
- AI Content Generation86%
- AI Campaign Analytics66%
Role guides: Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Marketing Specialist, Digital Marketing Specialist
Management & operations
- AI Tools Literacy63%
- AI Project Management Tools34%
- Prompt Engineering20%
Role guides: Project Manager, Operations Manager, Executive Assistant, Management Consultant, Program Manager
Finance, legal & risk
- AI Tools Literacy64%
- AI Contract Review24%
- AI Risk Awareness18%
Role guides: Legal Counsel, Finance Manager, Financial Analyst, Risk Manager
The skills around them
AI skills sit on top of a job, not in place of it. These are the most requested skills that are not AI skills, across the same postings.
- Data Analysis42%
- CRM Automation9%
- Python8%
- CRM Analytics5%
- SQL4%
FAQ
What AI skills are employers looking for?
Across 57,486 job postings in 44 roles, the AI skills employers ask for most are AI Tools Literacy (in 36% of postings), Prompt Engineering (34%) and AI Assisted Coding (13%). The skill candidates most often lack is Prompt Engineering, among the top three gaps in 26 of 44 roles.
Which AI skills should I learn first?
Start with the gaps that come up in the most roles: Prompt Engineering (in 26 of 44 roles) and Generative AI Fundamentals (in 25 of 44 roles). Then add the AI skills specific to your field, which each role guide lists.
What is the most requested skill that is not an AI skill?
Data Analysis, asked for in 42% of postings across 33 roles. AI skills add to the core of a job rather than replacing it.
See the detail for your role
Every role guide shows its essential skills, the AI skills to learn next, the common gaps and where the role is heading.
Browse all 44 role guidesBuilt from 57,486 public job descriptions across 44 roles, published from March to September 2026 and deduplicated so that a job listed on several boards or by several agencies counts once. Skills are extracted from each job description. Each role contributes its ten most requested skills, weighted by its number of postings; a skill outside a role's ten counts as zero there, so every share is a lower bound. How we collect and deduplicate postings.