Future of IT workers: Around 80% engineers will need to learn new AI skills by 2027, says study

By 2027, about 80 per cent of engineering workers will need to learn new skills to work with artificial intelligence (AI), according to a new report by Gartner. This is because AI is changing the way software is developed, and new roles are emerging in the field of software engineering.

Despite some claims that AI could replace human engineers, Gartner says human creativity and expertise will always be important. Philip Walsh, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner, explained that while AI will change how engineers work, it won't take over their jobs completely. Instead, engineers will need to work alongside AI to create innovative software.

Gartner predicts AI's impact on software development will happen in three stages:

Short Term: AI will help engineers be more productive. AI tools will assist developers in their current tasks, boosting productivity, especially for experienced engineers.

Medium Term: AI agents will enable engineers to automate more of their work. At this stage, much of the code will be generated by AI, with engineers guiding the AI. Skills like prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) will become essential.

Long Term: Organisations will need more engineers with skills in AI and machine learning. These "AI engineers" will need to be skilled in software development, data science, and machine learning to meet the growing demand for AI-based applications.

A Gartner survey found that more than half of software engineering leaders consider AI/machine learning engineers as the most in-demand role for 2024. Many also see applying AI to software as the biggest skills gap.

To support this shift, companies will need to invest in new tools and platforms to help developers integrate AI into their work more easily. This will also require upskilling data and platform engineers to adapt to AI technologies.

Gartner's report suggests that while AI will change software engineering, it won't replace the need for skilled human developers. In fact, it will create new opportunities for those ready to learn AI-related skills.