How to Strategize Around Future-Oriented Skills

Tech evolution is often a key economic disruptor, but equally critical are demographic and macroeconomic shifts. These changes can also have a far-reaching impact on organizations across industries and force skill requirements to evolve at an accelerated pace.

That's why, to stay agile and competitive, organizations must explore current market and talent trends and plan for future-oriented skills that will be critical to workforce planning and transformation.

5 Forces Redefining Work Across Industries

Here are a few of the most recent developments and trends prompting executives to rethink their workforce strategies:

1. The rise of AI: An estimated 78% of businesses consider generative AI tools as a competitive opportunity, according to a study in MIT Technology Review in February 2024. And a full two-thirds say they’re looking at ways to use the technology in everyday work.
2. The entrenchment of distributed work models: With just 12% of leaders with flexible work policies planning to shift to on-site work, work-from-home paydays aren’t likely to change much over the next year, as predicted by a joint report from Stanford and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
3. Shorter skill lifespans: The rate of skills obsolescence is on the rise. Employers expect 39% of key job skills will change by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report.
4. Automation and process reengineering: About 27% and 30% of hours worked in Europe and the U.S. respectively are predicted to be automated by 2030 thanks to gen AI technologies, according to a 2024 McKinsey study. 
5. Credential diversification: From technical certifications to behavioral assessments, skill validation is becoming more agile and context-specific.

So what does this mean for current and future skills? Not only will organizations need technical and operational competencies, or hard skills —— they’ll also need to focus on the more “human” proficiencies, or soft skills.

Future-Oriented Hard Skills 

In-demand hard skills increasingly center around tech and processes that ensure business resilience, risk mitigation, and innovation across sectors.

1. AI systems and automation engineering

AI and automation are converging across enterprise systems. Organizations need professionals who can not only build and refine machine language (ML) models, but also integrate them into real-time workflows.

Skills to plan for:

• Prompt engineering and model tuning
• Workflow automation and orchestration
• Model governance and ethical oversight

2. Cybersecurity and data governance

A 2024 cybersecurity workforce study reports a global talent shortage of nearly 5 million professionals. With ever-expanding digital ecosystems and increases in regulatory scrutiny, demand is rising for ethical data management and fully secure IT systems.

Skills to plan for:

• Secure architecture and threat response
• Cyber risk modeling and mitigation
• Data privacy compliance across jurisdictions

3. Cloud-native infrastructure and edge computing

Almost three-quarters of companies across multiple industries planned to increase edge computing investments in 2024, according to GSMA Intelligence. 

Scalable systems require flexible, distributed infrastructure. Cloud and edge capabilities are foundational for responsiveness and speed. 

Skills to plan for:

• Multi-cloud architecture
• Edge deployment strategy
• Infrastructure-as-code fluency

4. Advanced analytics and decision intelligence

Raw data is nice, but it’s not enough. Leaders also need actionable insights. Forecasting, pattern recognition, and cross-functional fluency are vital skills for the future.

Skills to plan for:

• Predictive modeling and scenario analysis
• Cross-domain data literacy
• Responsible AI and insight communication

5. Sustainable and resilient operations

The UNFCCC’s 2024 Climate Technology Progress Report points to a global increase in adoption of cost-effective renewable energy systems. Plus, sustainability and supply chain strategy are increasingly integrated. Resilient operations will need environmental insight and global adaptability.

Skills to plan for:

• Environmental systems planning
• Supply chain scenario modeling
• Climate and geopolitical risk mitigation

6. Digital product and platform development

As digital capabilities become core to all industries, product teams need to ship scalable, user-centered experiences – fast. In line with this, the WEF’s 2025 Future Jobs Report also predicts that demand for highly skilled software developers will remain high. 

Skills to plan for:

• Full-stack and platform engineering
• UX for emerging interfaces (AR/VR, mobile)
• Low-code rapid prototyping

7. Bioinformatics and emerging tech specialties

The rise of biotech and personalized medicine is generating demand for hybrid talent with expertise in science, data, and engineering.

Skills to plan for:

• Genomic data interpretation
• Clinical data modeling
• AI-augmented biotech research

Future-Oriented Soft Skills

These future-focused skills enable organizations to lead through uncertainty and build adaptive, high-performing working cultures. And Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends report highlights the importance of “human performance” at the apex of business and human outcomes.

1. Adaptive thinking and learning agility

Executives must continuously evolve thought processes and approaches for both themselves and their teams in a world where the half-life of skills is shrinking. This means the need for a malleable, ever-shifting, agile mindset will be higher than ever before.

Skills to plan for:

• Continuous skill acquisition
• Pattern recognition and mental agility
• Role versatility and unlearning capability

2. Systems leadership and complex problem-solving

Navigating ambiguous, high-stakes challenges demands both strategic foresight and systems thinking. This is especially the case in a business landscape that’s rife with disruption and upheaval both micro and macro.

Skills to plan for:

• Strategic scenario evaluation
• Root cause analysis
• Cross-functional decision-making

3. Ethical judgment and cross-cultural governance

As global teams expand and AI scales, leaders must balance ethics, compliance, and cultural nuance in their teams – especially when working with multilateral perspectives and diverse experiences.

Skills to plan for:

• Value-based leadership and governance
• Cultural intelligence and stakeholder empathy
• Global compliance fluency

4. Emotional intelligence and resilience

In a world that gets shaken up every few years (think COVID-19, AI, tariffs, etc. just in the last five years), durable leaders are the ones who show empathy, adaptability, and personal regulation – and also benefit from similar skills in their employees. 

Skills to plan for:

• Crisis response and stress management
• Interpersonal awareness
• High-EQ team leadership

5. Digital collaboration and influence

Remote, hybrid, and asynchronous work in increasingly digital environments requires teams to be grounded in trust, clarity, and coordination to build stronger working relationships.

Skills to plan for:

• Digital team facilitation
• Communication strategy across time zones
• Workflow orchestration in hybrid environments

Staying Future-Ready with a Data-Backed Skills Strategy

The good news? Executives can tangibly plan for future in-demand skills. This requires implementing standardized, data-driven systems. 

Here’s what leading organizations are doing right now to stay ahead of the curve:

1. Establishing workforce transformation frameworks

Organizations are implementing enterprise-wide solutions that interlink talent intelligence and global market insights to align with technology and business transformation. 

This means aligning current and future work capabilities with long-term economic trends and evolving market demands. 

2. Implementing skills inventory management systems

Many successful businesses are implementing sophisticated skill tracking platforms that not only document current capabilities but also forecast emerging needs and gaps in their existing workforce.

3. Prioritizing learning ecosystems

Periodic training is being replaced by continual learning environments. Spending on corporate learning has seen double-digit growth in the last two years alone, according to Josh Bersin’s 2024 research, reaching about $1,400 per employee on average.

“We’ve entered a skills-based economy,” Bersin wrote, adding that ongoing skill development now outweighs traditional indicators like degrees and tenure.

4. Mapping for skills adjacency

In other words, organizations must continually adapt workforces through skill management.

Forward-thinking organizations need to regularly map their employees' capabilities and make critical reskilling, upskilling, and skill transference decisions that allow for rapid workforce adaptation.

5. Planning workforces at the board level

Treat workforce development as a capital investment – with measurable ROI, scenario modeling, and strategic alignment. 

A 2024 Ernst & Young report finds that a successful talent strategy in 2025 and beyond requires board-level attention, focusing on talent governance and future skills development among others.

Mapping In-Demand Skills for the Future

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella once said: “The greatest risk isn’t technology disruption – it’s failing to develop the human capabilities needed to harness it.” 

That mindset doesn’t just apply to technology – it’s overarching across all sectors. Those who treat talent as dynamic capital and not as a fixed resource will sustain a competitive advantage over their peers. It’s about aligning proactive skills development and forecasting with overall business strategy – it’s about aligning skills forecasting with business goals to minimize risk and maximize strategic growth.