Talent drought hinders AI ambitions, study says

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in enterprises faces a significant hurdle: a shortage of skilled talent.
A comprehensive report by O’Reilly Media, based on nearly 3,000 responses from its learning platform users, reveals that two-thirds of the companies are actively utilizing generative AI.
However, finding the right talent, especially in AI programming and data analysis, remains a critical challenge.
“People with AI skills have always been hard to find and are often expensive. We don’t expect that situation to change much in the near future,” said O’Reilly Media’s Vice President of Content Strategy Mike Loukides.
Beyond talent woes, companies struggle to pinpoint appropriate applications for AI technology. Over 20% of respondents identified this as the primary barrier to expanding AI adoption.
To mitigate these challenges, Loukides suggests, “Companies will need to invest in training, both for software developers and for AI users; they’ll need to invest in the resources required to develop and run applications, whether in the cloud or in their own data centers.”
The talent shortage is also driving up wages significantly. Comprehensive.io said that the average salary for an AI engineer has surged to an average of $188,000, which is 21% higher than for non-AI software engineers.
BizReport also revealed that AI-related roles now offer 77.53% higher total compensation compared to non-tech jobs.