Demand is sharp and it is moving fast. Demand for AI skills increased nearly 200 percent in a year, with London accounting for 80 percent of AI-related job postings and nearly two-thirds of all technology vacancies in the UK The Register (Accenture data). That concentration tells you where the market is heating up, and it raises a question for the rest of the country: how do we spread the gain more widely?
The public ambition is large too. During London Tech Week 2025, the UK government announced a partnership to upskill 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills by 2030, equivalent to around 20% of the UK workforce techUK. That is the public good side of the ledger: skills that stay with people and move between employers, not just inside one firm.
Looking further out, the net change for AI-related occupations ranges from approximately 696,000 jobs in an automation scenario to 1,072,000 in a technological opportunities scenario, with replacement demand rising from 3,077,000 to 3,193,000 jobs across these scenarios AI Skills for Life and Work: Labour market and skills projections - GOV.UK. Even the cautious scenario points to sustained hiring for years.
The pull is strongest for deep specialists. Against a subdued 2025 economic backdrop, businesses took a cautious approach to hiring but there were demand hotspots for specialist tech skills including AI, data, enterprise applications and cyber security Computer Weekly (tech recruitment outlook 2026). These are the people who turn a pilot into something that runs reliably in production.
Adjacent skills matter as much as the headline AI roles. A comparison with the Cyber Security Skills 2024 report showed 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (Gardiner & Theobald), GOV.UK / publishing.service.gov.uk, a reminder that secure AI delivery needs security talent alongside data and engineering.
The way firms build these teams is changing. Apprenticeships have risen from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report. That shift sits right on the line between public good and private gain: employers grow their own talent, and workers gain skills they carry for life.
Demand also spans sectors, not just tech firms. Sectors like retail and logistics were already actively integrating AI to improve customer insights and streamline functions such as inventory management and supply chains AI Adoption Research - GOV.UK. So the roles you compete for are wanted well beyond your own corner of the market.
Start with the problem, not the job title. Write the role around the outcome you want, whether that is a working model in production or a clean data pipeline, and you will attract people who can actually deliver it. Vague AI job ads draw vague applications.
Build teams, not just hires. Pair AI and data specialists with security skills from day one, given that 70% of cyber firms reported at least one hard-to-fill vacancy AI Labour Market Survey 2025 (Gardiner & Theobald), GOV.UK / publishing.service.gov.uk and secure delivery cannot be an afterthought.
Grow talent as well as buy it. With apprenticeships rising from 3% of AI hires in 2020 to 19% in 2025 GOV.UK / DSIT – AI Labour Market Survey 2025 report, the firms that develop people early widen their own pipeline and contribute to the national skills base at the same time.
Finally, look beyond London. With London accounting for 80 percent of AI-related job postings The Register (Accenture data), employers open to remote or regional hiring reach strong talent that other firms overlook, and they help spread the gain.
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