2025 Skills Report: What AI can’t replace and how you can build it (Free Bonus)

AI is moving fast, and the job market is changing with it. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, the most in-demand skills in the era of AI are those that machines cannot easily replicate. I’m not going to dive into technical skills like prompt engineering, data analytics, or machine learning (you can read more about these here). Instead, I want to focus on human-centric skills, the ones you can actively train to stay relevant and competitive in today’s world (you can download the full PDF of the report here).

Here is the point: AI is not replacing jobs but changing them. Individual Contributors (ICs) like developers and designers now act like managers earlier in their careers. You're not being replaced, you're being promoted! But only if you're ready to adapt your mindset and build new skills. To manage AI agents effectively, ICs must develop modern leadership.

There’s a great talk with Shishir Mehrotra (Co-founder and CEO of Coda, and former executive at YouTube) about this shift. (HERE THE LINK)

System Thinking

One of the most critical skill for both individuals and organizations. Today’s companies expect employees to understand how changes in one part of a system can affect the whole.

So, what is systems thinking? It’s the ability to spot patterns and understand feedback loops.

It's important because it helps us to identify which actions will have the biggest impact (high leverage), so we don’t waste time on changes that make only a small difference. It goes beyond solving isolated problems.

Why is important in the Age of AI?

AI is excellent at improving tasks and making processes faster, this is known as optimization. But AI doesn’t understand the bigger picture or context unless we, as humans, define the right problem.

How to Practice Systems Thinking?

1. Visual mapping: One of the most effective ways to practice systems thinking is to make the system visible. This involves mapping out the components and relationships of a situation. It helps you to see the big picture.

2. Ask Better Questions: What’s influencing this pattern over time? Are we fixing symptoms or root causes? What patterns or trends do i see over time?

3. Zoom in, Zoom out: Let’s say your goal is to feel more energetic and healthy. The big-picture view is your overall wellness (sleep, diet, exercise, stress, and lifestyle habits). The zoomed-in view is on the small daily actions what you eat for breakfast, how much you sleep tonight, whether you take a walk today.

If you only zoom out, thinking "I want to be healthy," but don’t pay attention to what you’re actually doing each day, your habits won’t support your goal. If you only zoom in, obsessing over one meal or one workout, but ignore your sleep or stress levels, you won’t make real progress either.

Data literacy

In 2025 and beyond, one skill separates valuable professionals from the rest: data literacy (the ability to read, understand, work with, and communicate using data).

You don’t need to be a data scientist to work with data, but you do need to know how to read, explain, and act on it. Whether it's dashboards, charts or heatmaps, being able to extract insights from data is what allows you to make smart decisions based on data and not personal opinions.

Why It Matters

Businesses today don’t want opinions they want proof. They want professionals who can: take decisions based on real numbers, spot trends and patterns that others miss and translate data into actions that drive results. Let me give you an example, imagine you're a marketer or a designer and want to improve your company website, you don’t just say:

“This feature looks bad, let’s remove it.”

Instead, you use analytics tools to see how users are interacting with it. Then, based on actual behavior, you make your decision.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists data literacy and analytical thinking among the top 5 most in-demand skills globally. This demand spans every industry from marketing and UX to logistics and management.

How to Start Building Data Fluency?

Take Courses: Google Data Analytics (Coursera); Khan Academy. These resources provide a solid foundation, even if you’re starting from zero.

Learn by Doing

This article includes a free 30-minute call where you’ll learn how to make data-driven decisions, understand what heatmaps are, and how to read them to improve your product’s user experience (fill the form below👇🏻).

Emotional Intelligence & Resilience

No matter how advanced AI becomes, human skills like empathy, influence, and team leadership remain irreplaceable. “Leadership & Resilience” continues to climb in employer demand as cross-functional collaboration grows.

Harvard Business Review reports that 90% of high performers score high in emotional intelligence (EQ). To be valuable in the future workforce, you need to manage emotions and stay resilient (more about resilience).