Want A Tech Job? These Skills Will Matter Most In 2026, State Of It Report Shows

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Spiceworks gave a sneak peek of its 2026 State of IT report. 
• IT jobs and investments show growth. 
• Some skills tin thief make you a much charismatic IT pro. 

IT professionals play a important domiciled successful supporting nan technological advancements of organizations, arsenic frontier technologies proceed to germinate and toggle shape nan scenery of galore industries. As a result, their roles are increasing successful demand, moreover pinch nan emergence of AI.

On Wednesday, Spiceworks previewed its 2026 State of IT study during a convention astatine its annual SpiceWorld conference in Austin, Texas. The 14th yearly report, conducted by Aberdeen Research, surveys complete 800 IT professionals from mini and mean companies arsenic good arsenic enterprises to stitchery insights into nan latest trends successful nan IT space. The cardinal trends showed it's a bully twelvemonth for IT professionals.  

Also: AI will origin 'jobs chaos' wrong nan adjacent fewer years, says Gartner

"Technology is evolving, truthful nan quality broadside of it has to evolve," said Peter Tsai, Head of Technology Insights, Spiceworks. "Overall, there's a affirmative outlook for IT, but you do request to germinate your skills." 

IT careers

The emergence of progressively intelligent AI has raised wide interest astir its imaginable to switch quality jobs. That fearfulness is heightened successful nan tech manufacture owed to nan precocious competency of AI devices successful performing coding-related tasks. 

Also: The champion free AI for coding successful 2025 - only 3 make nan trim now

However, arsenic highlighted successful nan session, information from nan Bureau of Labor Statistics show a 9% projected maturation successful machine and IT occupations from 2024 to 2034, compared to a 3% maturation for each occupations. Furthermore, nan aforesaid information show that nan 2024 median net for machine and IT occupations is doubly that of nan median net for each different occupations. 

Yet astir respondents said they find it difficult to prosecute skilled IT talent. The findings from nan 2026 Spiceworks State of IT study connection penetration into nan circumstantial skills that matter astir to IT professionals. There was overwhelming statement amongst nan professionals surveyed astir nan value of cybersecurity skills, pinch 92% believing that cybersecurity skills are crucial.

"If you want to beforehand your career, cybersecurity skills tin surely thief you there," added Tsai. 

The continuous summation successful AI initiatives besides impacts which skills professionals find astir valuable. Among nan respondents, 63% judge AI prompting skills are important, which is simply a 53% summation from past year. The respondent's assurance successful their abilities is besides increasing, pinch 49% reporting assurance compared to 42% past year. 

Also: Is AI a profession killer? Not if you person these skills, McKinsey investigation shows

Some of nan apical AI usage cases see writing, optimizing, and/or troubleshooting package and scripts (46%), generating imaginative contented (42%), and automating repetitive, high-volume, aliases algorithmic tasks (42%). 

IT spending

It's not conscionable IT profession prospects that are looking bright, but besides nan wide superior being invested successful nan space. The IT fund is projected to summation 11% year-over-year (YoY) from 2025, representing a important boost, and 55% of organizations scheme to summation their IT budgets. 

The study besides had insights into what is driving nan YoY increases, pinch nan starring logic being cybersecurity/compliance. This year, cybersecurity accounted for 13% (median) of IT Computing Infrastructure, up from 11.2% past year. 

Also: How AI will toggle shape cybersecurity - and supercharge cybercrime

"This is beautiful good, information is yet getting nan attraction it deserves, and group person fought for 20 years," said Derek Brink, VP and Research Fellow, Aberdeen Strategy & Research. 

Out of nan emerging technologies, 52% of businesses person implemented AI, doubly arsenic overmuch arsenic successful 2024. Furthermore, astir 4 retired of 5 respondents scheme to instrumentality astatine slightest 1 AI-related inaugural wrong nan adjacent 12 months, pinch nan median number of existent AI initiatives ranging from 1 (5th percentile) to 17 (95th percentile), astatine a median of 7.

This translates to much investments being funneled into AI, pinch AI initiatives besides being listed among nan apical investments. The information revealed that AI Software (on-premises and cloud-based) accounted for 2.7% (median) of IT Computing Infrastructure spending.

While this number whitethorn look low, it does not relationship for nan beingness infrastructure required for AI-related systems, including servers, storage, and networking. Brink speculates that, including those different factors, that whitethorn triple, quadruple, aliases moreover quintuple nan share, which would spot AI walk very adjacent to cybersecurity's share. 

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When asked much broadly astir spending connected AI, 42% of respondents reported an summation successful AI spending. This intends that 58% of businesses are not going to increase, aliases whitethorn moreover decrease, their AI spending, and, according to Jim Rapoza, VP & Principal Analyst astatine Aberdeen Strategy & Research, this suggests concerns astir a deficiency of ROI. 

"To opportunity 58% of businesses are not going to increase, aliases possibly moreover alteration their AI spend, that brings successful nan position that location are a batch of businesses that started AI, and possibly they're not. Seeing nan returns correct now, and they're not going to support investing until they commencement seeing those returns."