Even as thousands of workers lose their jobs to AI, the number of job openings seeking “AI skills” continues to grow.

Mentions of AI skills in job postings rose 5% year over year, according to data released in December by staffing firm Manpower Group. The staffing firm said the increase is partially due to AI buildout and growing demand for machine-learning skills.

But what exactly are AI skills? Computerworld talked to experts and executives, who shared insights into the skills job seekers need to develop this year to stay competitive in a rocky job market.

The consensus: it’s not just about growing technical skills like prompt engineering or vibe coding. Job candidates also need to be able to demonstrate the tangible use of AI to solve a problem and show enough flexibility to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies.

Just using ChatGPT isn’t enough

Being able to use generative AI (genAI) tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google Gemini is good, but it’s not enough: would-be hires need to be able to use AI as a partner to think proactively, said Carter Busse, CIO at Workato. “If an agent can look ahead to help a human, that will be game changing,” Busse said.

In that context, AI skills entail understanding the underlying processes being used, recognizing the importance of data points and signals and being able to punch that information into AI tools to be a more impactful employee.

“AI can help [users] realize the potential of all that data from your salespeople, the sales customers, the finance team, the CEO — that’s real,” he said.

The rise of context engineering

One of the earliest AI skills involved prompt engineering — being able to get to the necessary AI-generated results by using the right questions. But that baseline skill is being pushed aside by “context engineering.”

Think of context engineering as prompt engineering on steroids; it involves developing prompts that can deliver consistent and predictive answers. Ideally, “everytime you ask the same question, you always get the same answer,” said Bekir Atahan, vice president at Experis Services, a division of Manpower Group.

That skill is critical because AI models are changing quickly, and the answers they spout out can differ from day to day. Context engineering is aimed at ensuring consistent outputs despite a rapidly evolving AI ecosystem.

“Humans are moving from operators to policy designers,” Atahan said. “And then the future of work is supervising intelligence, not producing an output.”

Context engineering requires employees to be subject-matter and domain experts to better enable them to root out typical liabilities associated with AI, such as hallucinations and logical inconsistencies.

A domain expert understands definitions, constraints, and confidence thresholds in specific knowledge areas, making it easy to verify accuracy and reduce ambiguity about the outcomes, he said.

“When AI is wrong, somebody has to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is not right. Fix it….’ or put the guardrails in place,” Atahan said.

The importance of AI governance

Gartner director analyst Deepak Seth agreed with Atahan that AI governance was among the top skills sought in 2025 and will remain important this year. Being a jack-of-trades who knows a little about a lot of AI areas doesn’t carry as much value as being focused.

He stressed that good AI governance means minimizing AI risks by maintaining accountability and trust. Both trust and AI sovereignty will be hot skills in 2026, Seth said.

“Beyond algorithms and coding, the next wave of AI talent must bridge technology, governance and organizational change. The most valuable AI skill in 2026 isn’t coding, it’s building trust,” Seth said.

Along those lines, he recommended that job seekers immerse themselves in the technology beyond simply taking a class. “Instead of a course, go to any conference,” Seth said. “If you’re talking about a person [seeking work] who is on the finance side of things, go to any finance conference.

Every conference will have some focus on AI because it’s become so ubiquitous in the business world. That makes it critical to “understand what people are saying about AI in that business context,” Seth said.

Make AI your buddy

When appropriate, a job candidate should be able to show how they would use AI to solve a real-world problem. That demonstrates adaptability, and the willingness to use AI as a partner in corporate workflows — something companies want to see.

“A good signal is asking candidates how they would design an interview or take-home task in the age of generative AI, which quickly reveals how thoughtfully they understand the tools and their impact,” said Matthew Blackford, vice president of engineering at RWS.

In hiring, genuine AI capability shows up through curiosity and real experience, Blackford said. “Strong candidates can talk honestly about something they tried, what did not work, and what they learned,” he said, adding “these skills apply equally to engineers, product managers, and technology leaders.”

Many companies are upskilling their employees with citizen developer programs. That helps employees take the initiative to solve problems and is an asset that job seekers can carry over to their next job.

Software company Ivanti, for instance, has an AI Governance Council that encourages employees to participate and deploy AI skills.

“The council allows employees to submit tools for review, fostering collaboration and innovation while maintaining oversight and accountability across all departments,” said Brooke Johnson, senior vice president and chief legal counsel at Ivanti.

It’s important to stay hungry

Since genAI and other AI tools first burst on the scene just three years ago, the number of people who are true experts is still limited. And because AI technology is changing so rapidly — from genAI to agentic AI and increasing physical AI — job seekers need to be on top of skills development. 

“Things are evolving at such a fast pace that there will be no perfect set of skills,” said Seth. “I would say more than skills, attitudes are more important — that adaptability to change, how quick you are to learn things.”

From a technical standpoint, AI skills represent an evolution “of the craft as new tools and paradigms become available. What matters is adaptability and genuine interest,” Blackford said.