Recent IDC research underscores the importance of recruiting and hiring AI skills, as frequently identified in CIO.com. This trend will continue as many organizations compete within their industries and against the big tech firms for scarce AI talent.
The trend for organizations to invest in GenAI-related projects is unmistakable. From IDC’s April 2025 CIO Sentiment Survey, a mere 1% of IT leaders have no plans for GenAI implementations. When 437 global IT leaders were surveyed in April 2025, they identified AI and automation as the area that will receive the most investment over the next 12 months, followed by cybersecurity and risk management. IT leaders also identified AI and automation as the top area that will have the greatest impact on business outcomes over the next 12 months. Over 90% of CIOs are actively using or plan to implement AI projects, as shown below.
IDC’s 2025 CIO Sentiment Survey, n = 437
Hiring skilled AI workers is one of the biggest challenges for organizations. Globally, IT leaders cite their primary talent challenges as “finding appropriately skilled professionals” (35.5%) and “retaining talent” (15.1%). The most difficult skills to recruit and retain are AI and cybersecurity.
