In what may come as no surprise, artificial intelligence (AI) is driving the most significant shifts in developer learning. In fact, demand for AI skills is considered the lifeblood of any serious developer.
Those are among the top-level conclusions of O’Reilly’s annual Technology Trends for 2025 report, released on Monday.
“This year marks a pivotal transition in technology, with AI evolving from generative capabilities to a transformative force reshaping how developers approach their craft,” Mike Loukides, vice president of emerging technology content at O’Reilly and the report’s author, said in a statement. “The future is not about fearing AI’s impact on jobs, but in harnessing its potential to enhance productivity and drive innovation across industries.”
Interest in AI-related skills surged dramatically, led by prompt engineering (456%), AI principles (386%) and generative AI (289%). Use of content about GitHub Copilot soared 471%, reflecting developers’ enthusiasm for productivity tools.
Security was another area of focus, as interest in governance, risk and compliance surged 44%, while interest in compliance skills rose 10%.
Conversely, there was a marked decline in interest in ChatGPT. It slid 13% in use and a similar decline in searches, indicating that developers are prioritizing foundational AI knowledge over platform-specific skills to navigate across AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Llama.
Cloud computing engagement, meanwhile, appears to have plateaued. Content use for the major cloud providers and their certifications were down across all categories except Google Cloud certifications, which inched up 2%.
“AI is undeniably accelerating progress and driving transformative change,” Swamy Kocherlakota, executive vice president and chief digital solutions officer at S&P Global, said in a statement. “S&P Global’s expertise and rich data sets offer insights into AI that will enable companies, governments and other institutions to strategically navigate the coming transition, and effectively shape and power the future of global markets.”
A vast majority of companies are relying on GenAI for enhancing automation (85%), co-developing products and services (84%) and supporting code development (84%), according to a C1 poll of more than 500 IT leaders and decision makers in U.S. organizations with more than 500 employees.
What is more, Accenture found 63% of organizations plan to increase their efforts and investments in GenAI and further strengthen those capabilities by 2026.
“AI is not going to take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI is going to take your job [in 2025],” Tim Houlne, author of “The Intelligent Workforce,” said in an interview.
