Most Chief Information Officers (CIO) would confidently say they are the company’s most tech-savvy employees. This includes AI skills and everything pertaining to the safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence at work. A recent Gartner research study proves them wrong.
Only 44% of CEOs are confident that their CIOs possess reliable AI skills. At the same time, they recognise that responsible AI use is one of the most in-demand job skills in 2025 and beyond. For the Olinio recruitment team, this is just another example of a worrying trend: a disconnect between the employees’ abilities and the core skills that companies demand.
How the AI Skills Gap Affects the Adoption of This New Skill
From job stealer to a transformative way of working, artificial intelligence is going through a huge change in people’s perception. And top-level executives are the most eager group to integrate AI into their operations.
However, there are several issues related to reskilling for AI. It must be a clearly structured process, starting from the top – the CIO. This is the job role responsible for:
- Selecting approved AI tools to use in the workplace
- Creating policies for safe and ethical AI use
- Being the first point of contact for questions and clarifications
- Determining whether employees breached AI policies and imposing remedial actions.
In this context, the CEOs’ lack of confidence in their Chief Information Officers’ AI skills is a big stumbling block. According to the research study, CEOs believe that the most AI-savvy roles in their companies are:
- 46% Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
- 40% Chief Data Officers (CDO)
- 24% Chief Strategy Officers (CSO).
Critical Management Roles Perceived as Lagging in Reskilling for AI
What makes the case for AI adoption more difficult is that CEOs have very low confidence in the AI skills of the most critical C-suite roles. They gave a 7% to 18% vote of confidence to their:
- Chief Revenue Officers
- Chief Operations Officers
- Chief Financial Officers
- Chief Sales Officers.
These are key roles in shaping a company’s customer acquisition and financial management strategies – the backbones of any successful business.
For the Olinio recruitment experts, this is a sign that companies still do not have an integrated strategy regarding the necessary AI skills to learn. However, this issue is easy to fix by open discussions among C-suite members and agreeing on a joint strategy for reskilling their entire team.
AI Skills Will Become a Must-Have Soon – Are You Getting Ready?
There is no question about the need to learn how to use AI effectively and responsibly. Both companies and candidates must start learning and bridging the AI skills gap. As with every new technology, the first adopters will get a head start and be the big winners in a new AI-powered workplace.
So, don’t be left behind! Your CEO may be ready to overlook a lack of AI abilities for now, but won’t do it for too long. And if you feel the need to refresh your career path, talk to Olinio and let us help you find a job you’ll thrive in!