Data is key to the AI ‘iceberg’

AI will be top of the agenda. However, the success of AI relies on a number of other contributing skills and specialisms, which will therefore be critical. A useful analogy here is an iceberg. AI is the visible tip – but there is essential work going on below the waterline.

Most crucial of all is data. It used to be said that we are all technology companies, but it’s truer to say that we are all data companies now. You can’t make AI work without good data – the focus has to be on how businesses acquire, organise, structure and secure data so that AI can turn it into meaningful insights. For that reason, we expect to see strong and growing demand for data roles (architects, engineers, scientists) as well as related areas including cyber security (data security being critical) and platform engineering.

Meanwhile, the market for generalist tech skills and roles will most likely remain at flat or see very modest growth, similar to 2025. The traditional staples of the IT workforce – testers, Java developers, routine coders – essentially perform repeatable tasks that are increasingly being outsourced or offshored, or indeed replaced by AI itself (checked and supervised by members of the human team).

However, on the positive side, there are some encouraging signs from the US, where there has been a pick-up in tech hiring volumes in the second half of 2025. With the UK and other economies generally following the US trend on around a six-month time lag, this could bode well for the market in 2026.

Against all of this, there remain some significant unknowns. There will come a tipping point around AI, a pivotal moment when, in one or more sectors, an organisation makes a significant breakthrough that enables them to truly supercharge their business. This will spark a domino effect among competitors scrambling to keep up, galvanising the tech recruitment market across the piece – somewhat akin to the e-commerce boom of the 1990s and 2000s, perhaps.

When this will happen is impossible to know – it could be during 2026, or it could be later. But at some stage, the market will shift and shift quickly.

Upskilling and reskilling

A key part of an organisation’s AI journey is having the talent needed both to develop/deploy it and to actually use it effectively. The fundamental realisation here is that AI is not a whole skillset in itself – rather, it is an add-on to other existing skills, such as engineering, data, cloud, and so on.

Therefore, it isn’t a question of mass-recruitment of “AI professionals” – who largely don’t exist anyway – but rather a case of upskilling and reskilling all the good talent you already have. This can be done through encouraging staff to safely test and experiment themselves, making formal and informal AI-related training and learning resources available, and knowledge augmentation and skills transfer from contractors who come into the business.

This should be a case of pushing at an open door, with tech staff highly motivated to upskill themselves given AI’s key importance. I expect that many hiring processes will include testing for AI proficiency and certifications in the coming years.

However, this is an area where Harvey Nash research shows businesses need to do more. AI is the biggest area of skills shortage, but over half of respondents of our 2025 leadership report admitted they have no or only limited AI upskilling programmes in place.

Talent-sourcing models

With such rapid shifts in the tech industry, companies’ talent and resourcing models are changing too. Traditional permanent and contractor hiring of technology talent is still the backbone, but more strategic and flexible solutions are also coming into play – recruiting firms must rise to this challenge. Instead of reactive hiring programmes, there is significant growth in “statement of work” agreements where recruiting firms take a real stake in processes, and “hire-train-deploy” programmes that deliver workplace-ready talent.

Organisations’ tech skill needs are evolving faster than we have ever seen before – the speed of change is only going to increase. The challenge for businesses is how they keep pace and ensure they have the right skills in the right place at the right time. It’s going to be another fast-moving and exciting year.