What’s in store for workers in 2025? Here are four predictions from Udacity CEO Kai Roemmelt that include how technologies like agentic AI will impact work in 2025.

Kai Roemmelt, CEO of Udacity

  1. Companies will care less about associates or bachelor’s degrees when hiring: When shopping for talent to hire or promote in 2025, employers will focus more on skills than college degrees. This is referred to as skills-first hiring. Job descriptions will continue to reflect this more and more. The good news is that the flexibility and accessibility of skills development platforms like Udacity make it easier and faster for workers or prospective employees to learn. (Data shows that the online learning market segment is projected to grow by 8% by 2033 so these services will be readily available.) As an aside, we’ve seen that Gen Zs are jumping on this skills-first learning trend and getting the same jobs as older generations but without the same degrees.  
  1. The “Wild West” of AI use at work will be brought to order: More companies will start to formalize AI guidelines both in terms of what tools their employees can use and how they use them. More legal problems will ensue in 2025, and corporate attorneys will draw up guidelines. Small companies may go out of business if they don’t set some basic guidelines for employees to follow. (Industry data backs this prediction. Our 2025 State of AI at Work Report found that the vast majority of organizations in countries from North America to Europe to the Middle East have limited AI usage guidelines in place.)
  1. Agentic AI will permeate the workplace: The consumerization of generative AI or ‘gen AI’ started in early 2023 and now its usage is commonplace. People are integrating tools like ChatGPT in their everyday lives which includes the workplace. Next up is agentic AI, a tool that completes a task autonomously. This application will permeate the workplace as people bring this technology to work with them each day. By the end of 2025, we’ll all know people who have built AI agents and are using them to improve their productivity. Said another way, we will cross the chasm for agentic AI! 
  2. Companies will help their workers learn industry-specific AI skills: We predict that new jobs will be created that require both a deep understanding of AI and industry expertise. Innovation will come from industry application of AI instead of stunning innovation of the technology itself. This is where entrepreneurs will live. (Industry data supports this notion. Data and in particular industry-based jobs, like sustainability and healthcare, are expected to be hot in 2025. Data is needed to do AI. Online learning is expected to grow around 8% by 2033 and a Udacity survey revealed that the vast majority of leaders in 87 countries will invest in AI in 2025.)
Kai Roemmelt
Kai Roemmelt