Career: AI threatens many jobs in IT - experts consider these to be future-proof

Berlin. Dirk Stöckmann celebrated an anniversary this summer: the former miner has been working for network equipment provider Cisco for 25 years. He started as a systems engineer in 2001. A few years later he specialized in data center technologies. He then worked, among other things, as a technical solution architect in a data analysis group. Stöckmann completed one of the most demanding IT certificates, called CCIE. There are only around 100,000 of them worldwide.

The 57-year-old celebrated his 25th anniversary as a so-called Hypershield Solutions Engineer. In this role, he develops security architectures for AI-based IT - so that data centers and cloud environments are better protected. Today he earns six figures.

Stöckmann made it to this top position because he continues to educate himself. His CCIE certificate alone, which he renews every three years, gives him a decent bonus. “Anyone who chooses a job in IT should be curious about technology and willing to keep learning,” he says. “Artificial intelligence has made this even more important.”

Hardly any other industry is feeling the change brought about by AI as clearly as IT. Artificial intelligence can write code, evaluate data, find errors and test software. All tasks that have previously been carried out by specialists.

The good news is: IT experts remain in demand. In a survey by the Bitkom association of around 850 companies, 97 percent have problems filling their IT positions. Around half of those surveyed also assume that AI will create an additional need for specialists.

However, 32 percent also expect job cuts due to AI. And more than one in three companies expect AI to largely replace individual IT jobs and job profiles.

So what do IT talents currently have to bring with them? Which profiles are becoming more important and which are losing importance? Handelsblatt spoke to experts and asked companies.

IT jobs: skills that will be in demand in the future

Companies are also hiring more cautiously in IT because of the economic uncertainty. This is shown, among other things, by the skilled workers index from the personnel consultancy Hays: According to this, the demand for IT experts has been falling steadily since the peaks in 2022 and 2023 and this year is significantly below the same quarter of the previous year.

Software developers, IT test managers and IT administrators in particular are less sought after. However, demand for IT security specialists and IT architects remains high.

However, Adél Holdampf-Wendel, head of the Future of Work division at the digital association Bitkom, is calm about this development. “The need for specialized IT specialists will tend to remain high,” she says. In the short term, the economic situation could dampen demand. “In the medium and long term, however, it will continue to exist and even increase due to the digitalization of the economy, administration and society.”

But what knowledge do those who are supposed to meet this demand in the future need? Alexander Hendorf is the managing director of Pioneers Hub, a non-profit organization promoting deep tech and open source communities. At the same time, he is chairman of the German Python Software Association for the further development and strengthening of the globally important programming language Python and its community in German-speaking countries. The expert believes that the skills required in the future will be significantly more sophisticated and more focused on the skilled use of AI.

This is also shown by a survey of 383 tech talents that the Python Software Association conducted for Handelsblatt. Accordingly, every second participant says that AI automates at least 30 percent of their routine tasks. Seven out of ten said their job had shifted. Instead of writing code, they review or implement and evaluate AI-generated content.

According to the survey, domain and business knowledge, system design and architecture as well as communication with stakeholders are also particularly important. “So developers don’t just have to use AI,” says Hendorf. They would have to be able to assess whether an AI proposal is safe, can be maintained and further developed, remains compatible and whether it fits the existing system architecture. “That’s where the real role change lies.”

According to Hendorf, the most important skill for developers is critical thinking. “AI tools can take on standard tasks wonderfully,” he says. “But they fail because of large and complex system architectures.” Hendorf compares this to a book: AI can provide suggestions for individual chapters. But a person has to read the entire work, curate it and eliminate the errors.

“AI tends to hallucinate,” says Dirk Stöckmann from Cisco. This makes it all the more important that IT talents can classify and evaluate the results that a system produces in the future. “This requires a deep technical understanding,” he says. “And that only happens when you exchange ideas and work practically with the technology again and again.”

These IT experts are wanted

If you ask companies, they will confirm that roles in IT are not completely disappearing, but are changing. However, AI is only a driver. The way companies design their IT infrastructure through cloud computing will also shape new job profiles. This also applies to big data, i.e. the ability to analyze large amounts of data for strategic decisions. The fourth area that will revolutionize the working world of IT specialists is cyber security.

For example, while the auditor KPMG used to look for more traditional IT profiles such as IT system administrator, they are now looking for specialized positions. The HR department's wish list includes cloud specialists, data analysts, AI specialists, cyber security experts and even software developers who are familiar with agile methods.

“However, the most exciting change we are seeing is not in job titles, but in the requirements within existing roles,” says Dagmar Zippel, Head of Recruiting at KPMG. In the past, specialist knowledge and technical expertise were what counted. Today, critical thinking, judgment, interface skills and a sense of responsibility are becoming more important.

This also applies to BMW: five years ago, the focus was more on classic IT skills. Today, according to a spokesman, the company is increasingly looking for skills that bring together specialist processes, software, data and new technologies. Accordingly, AI specialists, security experts and data scientists are in demand at the car manufacturer.

At Cisco, Dirk Stöckmann's employer, software and AI/machine learning developers, data engineers and cloud and embedded engineers are currently in demand. “As AI usage increases, the demand for corresponding specialists for AI security, AI infrastructure and AI governance increases,” says Cisco Germany boss Uwe Peter. He sees the biggest change in software development. “Enormous leaps in productivity are occurring here because development, documentation and testing can now be carried out much faster with AI.”

And specialized IT expertise is also becoming increasingly important in medium-sized businesses, such as the fastening specialist Würth. At the same time, the need for expertise “that combines technological competence with strategic process and business understanding” is also increasing, according to the company headquarters. The company is therefore increasingly looking for IT specialists in the areas of software engineering, data and AI engineering, cloud technologies, cyber security as well as SAP and business platforms.

This is what IT experts deserve in the future

According to the salary report from the Stepstone job platform, the gross median salary in the IT professional group is 66,750 euros. However, anyone who works in a highly complex future field can expect much more. As salary data from the recruitment agency Robert Half shows, an IT security architect with the relevant experience earns 81,250 euros gross. A data analyst can therefore receive up to 90,000 euros. And a software architect even up to 109,500 euros.

And AI specialists can also expect a good salary. According to Robert Half's salary data, the salary of an AI developer with the relevant professional experience is 92,000 euros and that of a machine learning engineer is 87,000 euros.

This is how companies educate themselves

At the pharmaceutical company Bayer, AI is also used in all areas. According to a spokesman, the company is primarily looking for workers who are able to responsibly develop and use AI-supported solutions. Full stack engineers, cloud and platform architects, data scientists, AI engineers and cyber security experts are particularly in demand here.

In order to build up the required skills, Bayer continually develops its employees. In addition to classic training, there are digital learning offers, learning paths and practical learning formats. However, the company says that the most important place for learning is not the seminar, but the work itself. Employees should therefore learn new skills primarily in projects and through collaboration in interdisciplinary teams.

A company that has been working with artificial intelligence for many years is Celonis. The Munich company has become Germany's most valuable start-up with a platform for analyzing business processes. Because AI has been an issue for a long time, the basic requirements for employees have not changed significantly in the past five years, it said in response to a Handelsblatt query.

However, in view of the rapid technical development, employees must be prepared to continue their training. As an example, Celonis cites skills in dealing with agentic AI or different language models. Especially with language models, the technical pioneering role is constantly changing, so that employees cannot limit themselves to just one model, but must be able to flexibly use the best tool in each case. In addition to the training courses offered, employees should also learn from each other, especially in their everyday working lives.

“Continuous qualification is particularly crucial in IT because technologies, tools and requirements change particularly quickly,” says Adél Holdampf-Wendel from Bitkom. In general, the willingness of companies here is high. According to a survey by the association, 80 percent of companies would impart digital skills to at least some of the workforce. And every second company has a strategy for further training on digital topics.

These tasks disappear in IT

And are there jobs that are disappearing completely? Hendorf doesn't believe it. “Instead, there is partial automation in certain roles,” he says. What would be replaced or significantly changed would be primarily standard tasks, which previously only made up part of the work of developers.

He sees a great opportunity here, especially for juniors who have previously often carried out such standard tasks. “With the time gained, career starters can use their creativity in research and development much earlier, instead of wasting this important potential.”