In 2025, demand for IT expertise stays sturdy throughout core roles — and specialists predict that the necessity for important IT positions will proceed to develop. Companies face stiff competitors for prime expertise in areas corresponding to software program engineering, cybersecurity, and information administration.

And whereas AI dominates information protection, a latest Deloitte report cites MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, who suggests solely 5% of jobs are in danger from AI automation within the subsequent decade — due to reliability challenges and the necessity for human oversight and judgment. IT execs aren’t so positive that AI isn’t going to make their skills obsolete. Both means, IT roles concerned in fueling AI transformations are in high demand.

Deloitte’s report additionally suggests the enterprise case for expertise is evolving. As a substitute of viewing rising expertise primarily as a method to scale back prices — by cutting head count and ramping up automation — sensible hiring methods ought to give attention to constructing long-term worth throughout all the group.

Right here’s a have a look at the IT positions that leaders say are driving enterprise worth and innovation in 2025, translating to larger demand and better pay.

Information engineer

As organizations combine AI into day-to-day operations, the demand for data engineers has elevated dramatically. Ezequiel Ruiz, vp of expertise acquisition for software program outsourcing agency BairesDev, says shopper demand for data-related hiring rose 77% in 2024.

“Corporations throughout each business are in search of information specialists who may help gas AI,” Ruiz says.  “The demand is rising quick.”

Mike Loukides, vp of rising tech content material at O’Reilly Media, echoes the emphasis on data science to succeed with AI.

“You want individuals who perceive your information, its strengths, its weaknesses, and learn how to get higher information,” Loukides says. “You additionally want individuals who can analyze AI’s output to make it possible for it’s doing what you need and serving to you to fulfill your targets. AI insiders name this ‘evals,’ and it’s one of many hottest matters of dialogue proper now.”

Cybersecurity specialist

Escalating cyberattacks have led to a steep rise in hiring for associated roles, together with methods safety managers and knowledge safety analysts.

AI-driven attacks are a part of the rationale safety roles are a number of the most profitable jobs you may have in 2025. With safety threats rising extra subtle, corporations are increasing their hiring of ethical hackers and penetration testers, says Travis Lindemoen, managing director at Nexus IT Group.

“Reactive protection is out of date,” Lindemoen says. “Attackers now leverage automated phishing, polymorphic malware, and ransomware-as-a-service platforms. Organizations now require offensive safety capabilities — proactively stress-testing methods.”

Lindemoen factors out that the worldwide cybersecurity skills shortage represents a significant risk to many organizations, particularly in areas corresponding to cloud safety and moral hacking the place hands-on expertise stays tough to seek out.

“Though most corporations are doing extra about safety than they’ve previously, safety stays an enormous problem,” says O’Reilly’s Loukides. “Significantly with AI each as a element in an assault, and as a vulnerability to be attacked — the challenges are multiplying quicker than the individuals who know learn how to deal with them.”

Platform engineer

Nate Paynter, principal and human capital companies chief at Deloitte, says there’s a rising want for platform engineers, who play a vital function in constructing and integrating new options and platforms to be used by different engineers. Platform engineering is seen by many early adopters as a future core for IT orgs.

“They primarily personal all the platform for others to construct and supply enterprise options,” Paynter says. “Infrastructure is having a heyday proper now.”

Kevin Cochrane, CMO of Vultr, expects rising demand for platform engineers who may help make software program growth and deployment extra environment friendly, constant, and scalable.

“Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of software program engineering organizations will set up platform engineering groups as inner suppliers of parts and instruments to facilitate utility supply,” Cochrane says. “These groups streamline software program supply, making it quicker, simpler, and safer.”

Inexperienced tech roles

Hiring round sustainability will proceed to develop, specialists say, as extra corporations pair environmental targets with enterprise targets. Recruiters report regular demand for IT professionals who may help organizations enhance vitality effectivity, handle related gadgets, and meet net-zero targets.

The necessity for these roles is basically pushed by the numerous prices of managing information, Paynter says. “I’m not stunned to see roles like inexperienced tech platform engineer in demand. Though in lots of instances we’re seeing that rolled into the information engineer function.”

In-demand roles embody IoT builders and sustainability-focused cloud architects, says Matt Collingwood, founder and managing director at VIQU IT Recruitment.

“Regardless of tech layoffs and important downturn, now we have seen rising demand for professionals within the inexperienced vitality sector,” Collingwood says. “Inexperienced tech is the place the demand is.”

Product supervisor

Product managers proceed to play an vital function, as organizations depend on them to make sure that expertise options meet buyer and enterprise wants — and organizations more and more flip to product-based IT over conventional IT initiatives.

“In 2025 we’re seeing expertise actually is the enterprise,” Deloitte’s Paynter says. “Which means we want product managers who drive innovation.”

The calls for have gotten extra C-suite seen, he says. And at this time’s product managers need sturdy communication abilities, a deep understanding of the product life cycle, and the power to develop enterprise instances that assist broader firm targets.

“I feel we’re seeing the abilities inside the function pivot,” he says “There’s extra of a give attention to foundational human abilities. And to thrive you have got to have the ability to affect your friends.”

Software program engineer

Software program engineering stays one of the crucial vital and difficult-to-fill roles in IT, even when the market is softening somewhat from previous heydays. Throughout key areas, together with AI, networking, and cloud environments, demand is robust, specialists say.

As a substitute of utterly new positions showing, Deloitte’s Paynter is seeing many software program growth roles evolve and grow to be extra specialised. 

“We’re seeing a cut up in how engineering roles are outlined — AI engineers are actually considered as distinct from community engineers, and normal cloud engineers are seen as separate from cloud-native specialists.”

“Regardless of layoffs within the tech industries, we nonetheless want programmers,” says Loukides of O’Reilly Media. “What’s new is that we want people who find themselves in a position to make use of AI effectively. And we’re studying that that’s not so simple as we have been led to imagine a 12 months or two in the past. Computer systems are nonetheless rubbish in, rubbish out, and a poorly worded pure language immediate is simply as rubbish as a badly written program.”

Cloud and DevOps engineers

Cloud adoption stays a precedence for many organizations, and the necessity for engineers who can assist, optimize, and automate these methods continues to develop. Cloud architects and DevOps engineers play a key function in managing methods, simplifying how purposes are deployed, and protecting them working easily.

Nexus IT’s Lindemoen says that cloud architects can earn as much as $194,000, and he’s seeing demand for DevOps engineers rise by 24% year-over-year.

Cloud architects are one of the crucial often listed tech jobs, together with safety analyst, and information/AI engineer, says Brittany Lutes, analysis director at Data-Tech Analysis Group.

“These are additionally the toughest roles to rent for, with most organizations anticipating main struggles this 12 months,” Lutes says. “They’re being added to many organizational charts.”

Loukides says he hears dialogue about cloud repatriation, however he thinks corporations are nonetheless transferring in the wrong way.

“If something, AI is driving corporations to the cloud,” he says. “It’s onerous to construct an on-premises information heart that may run AI at scale. Corporations will proceed to wish individuals who perceive learn how to deploy and function purposes within the cloud. Cloud is an important a part of fashionable infrastructure.”

Eric Lund, head of worldwide recruitment at Kaseya, additionally factors out that DevOps roles stay extremely wanted inside his group and throughout the business.

“DevOps has been essentially the most in-demand function in our group this previous 12 months, and I anticipate it would proceed to be essential as we transfer ahead,” Lund says. “Whereas we anticipate this place to evolve with AI automation, it would stay extremely wanted.”

Construct abilities, embrace change

For these simply beginning out of their IT careers, specialists say essentially the most profitable candidates are those that present they’ll make use of new abilities as expertise and business evolves.

“You don’t have to really feel locked into a particular path simply because it’s at the moment in excessive demand,” says Angelic M. Gibson, CIO at AvidXchange. “Deal with constructing a powerful basis that may open doorways throughout the IT panorama, notably in areas shaping the longer term.”

Gibson recommends studying broadly used programming languages corresponding to Python, Java, or JavaScript and getting hands-on expertise with cloud platforms. Certifications corresponding to AWS Licensed Options Architect, Certified Ethical Hacker, Google Information Engineer, or Azure cloud may help exhibit the power to hit the bottom working.

By way of rising alternatives, O’Reilly’s Loukides factors to the necessity for extra environment friendly methods for groups inside a company to work together with AI.

“Ever since ChatGPT appeared, we’ve assumed that the proper interface for AI is chat,” Loukides says. “I don’t suppose that’s a superb assumption. Our present interfaces all assume a single person — however most work includes teams. Designing new person interfaces for AI is a vital, thrilling space that we’re solely beginning to discover.”

Ruiz of BairesDev emphasizes that profession selections shouldn’t be primarily based on market tendencies alone. “Profession decisions aren’t nearly demand — they’re additionally about ardour,” he says. “I’d personally pursue Python, because it permits for extra dynamic alternatives in software program growth, information science, and AI. Finally, one of the best profession transfer is to seek out the intersection of demand and curiosity. That’s the place long-term success occurs.”

Lutes factors out that entry-level roles corresponding to service desk or desktop technician have gotten tougher to seek out. She advises these simply beginning out to transcend incomes certifications and present they’ll rapidly put what they study into follow.

“The technical abilities we frequently exhibit at this time aren’t all the time what organizations will want in 18 months,” she says. “Fairly than specializing in a single skillset, present which you could evolve, study new instruments, and translate these abilities into totally different areas.”