Of these skills, which also include creativity, blockchain, and affiliate marketing, artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the hottest skills to have, according to the study which surveyed HR professionals and employees across several regions including India. "AI's demand is only set to increase as technology adoption continues. Being a highly scientific field, employees seeking to upskill in this area have taken on a pragmatic approach that translates knowledge into real-world skills and helps them develop capabilities to create data sets, build machine learning models, and use Python and/or R programming to deliver measurable results," said Randstad RiseSmart in a statement. According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of employees worldwide will need reskilling as technology adoption increases, and this need has likely only increased given the pandemic. The survey findings add adaptability and creativity as the next best skill to have.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining how businesses operate. Artificial intelligence enables computers to learn from experience and accomplish human-like tasks more efficiently by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns. Think of how credit card companies use AI to troll through mountains of data to predict and detect fraudulent activity, etc. Over the next decade, data analytics and AI will augment workers' efficiency, as companies rely on leading tech to beat out competitors, according to Gartner's Hype Cycle 2019. However, given the speed of change, most organizations aren't ready for AI.