Companies across all industries have been scrambling to secure top AI talent from a pool that's not growing fast enough. Even during the economic disruptions and layoffs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for AI talent has been strong. Leaders are looking to reduce costs through automation and efficiency, and AI has a real role to play in that effort.1 In Deloitte's third edition of the State of AI in the Enterprise survey, we found something unexpected when it came to skill gaps for AI implementations.2 Although a majority of the most mature AI adopters, the Seasoned, reported little or no gap between their AI needs and current abilities, 23 percent said they had a major or extreme one--a higher percentage than the less mature organizations.

There's been a lot of talk about the shortage of data scientists and engineers, and unfortunately, the problem is going to get worse before it gets better. When you consider the increasing demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) expertise in all types of businesses and the role that AI is playing in making companies more competitive, there's no question that it's a serious issue. We're seeing AI applications across industries, in situations as diverse as saving the environment, predicting who will be re-admitted to hospitals or which medical device might fail, and it seems like use cases keep on coming. As Andrew Ng, a noted computer scientist, was quoted as saying, "I actually have a hard time thinking of an industry that I don't think AI will transform in the next several years." And, industry statistics bear that out.

Last week, I sat down with Intel's Gadi Singer, vice president and general manager of artificial intelligence architecture, and Chris Rice, head of AI talent acquisition, to talk about AI workforce issues. Here's what they had to say. "What you see in the articles is relatively the truth," said Rice. "One of the interesting things in AI is that it's no longer just the technology companies that play in this space, you've got the finance industry, medical, retail, mobility, manufacturing--they are all starting to recruit AI engineers, whether they are developing a technology or applying a technology. Because of that, there is an increased global demand, and that is driving up the value of those engineers." But, interjected Singer, remember that AI is not one skill, one job description.

Everywhere you turn, there's another news story emphasizing the impact artificial intelligence will have on the enterprise this year. Along with that are headlines screaming about Silicon Valley giants siphoning off talent at a time when machine learning has become a huge driver in the battle for digital transformation dominance. So if you're looking to make good on the promise of AI, where can you turn for talent? Desperate times, it is said, call for desperate measures. Many organizations are dealing with the AI talent shortage by forming partnerships with universities and by training and building from within. If you think this is all a lot of hype, consider that by 2030, the global GDP could be up to 14% higher, or $15.7 trillion as a result of AI, making it the biggest commercial opportunity in today's economy, according to the recent PwC report "Sizing the Prize."