2026 Global Learning & Skills Trends Report
Read the trends and dive into the data.
Prompt skills, agents, and copilots shape enterprise AI adoption
AI skills development in the enterprise is clustering around three clear trends: AI-assisted productivity, platform and app integration, and governance. Tool-driven coding assistants surged (GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Copilot), while ChatGPT and generative AI remain the most consumed topics, signaling broad adoption and more complex workflow integration across development, product, and knowledge work. Rapid growth in custom GPTs/GPT Builder, OpenAI API, and prompt engineering shows teams building bespoke, embedded large language model (LLM) experiences and citizen-developer solutions. Parallel spikes in Stable Diffusion and LLM platforms (Google Gemini, Dify) point to creative and customer-facing use cases. Rising interest in AI agents/agentic AI and workflow automation (n8n) signals automation-first strategies. Finally, stronger uptake of AI ethics and governance reflects enterprise focus on risk, compliance, and trustworthy deployment as organizations scale AI.
Top 10 surging AI skills*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% Increase |
|---|---|
| 1. GitHub Copilot | 14,299% |
| 2. Microsoft Copilot | 2,173% |
| 3. Custom GPTs / GPT Builder | 1,512% |
| 4. Prompt engineering | 782% |
| 5. Stable Diffusion | 365% |
| 6. Google Gemini | 211% |
| 7. OpenAI API | 183% |
| 8. AI ethics & governance | 98% |
| 9. Generative AI (GenAI) | 42% |
| 10. n8n | Surging* |
*No YoY data for this topic, but rapid growth in 2025.
Top 10 consumed AI skillsRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 1 |
| Generative AI | 2 |
| Microsoft Copilot | 3 |
| AI agents & agentic AI | 4 |
| Prompt engineering | 5 |
| AI ethics & governance | 6 |
| Dify | 7 |
| Model Context Protocol (MCP) | 8 |
| Large language models (LLMs) | 9 |
| Google Gemini | 10 |
For this report, we analyzed data from thousands of our customers around the world. We calculated total consumption by Udemy Business learners across all course topics for the year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. We calculated the percentage growth in consumption compared to the year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The total consumption ranking for the AI topics is also drawn from the July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, time period. For the growth of the AI topics, we included topics showing a percentage growth in consumption compared to the prior year. We also listed new AI topics showing significant surges in the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, time period, for which there is no prior year comparison. These topics are labeled as “surging.”
Skills for an AI-powered digital enterprise
Learning patterns show a clear split between foundational business capabilities and rapid uptake of digital, AI, and analytics skills development. Top consumed courses still center on Excel, presentations, communication, leadership, project management, and finance basics, core competencies that keep operations running. Surging topics include generative AI and prompt engineering, data literacy (SQL, Power BI/Tableau), low-code tools, UX/design software, and advanced financial modeling. These point to enterprises prioritizing automation and insight-driven decision-making, while maintaining a bedrock of people and process skills. For employees, that means balancing productivity and interpersonal skills with technical fluency, learning to apply AI safely, interpret data, design better digital experiences, and lead teams to sustain competitiveness in rapid digital transformation.
Top 10 surging business skillsRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot | 3,400% |
| Financial planning | 484% |
| Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification | 266% |
| Foundational banking topics | 219% |
| Foundational insurance topics | 207% |
| Sustainable development | 147% |
| Microsoft Planner | 141% |
| Macroeconomics | 134% |
| AI art generation | 131% |
| Logistics management | 127% |
Top 10 consumed business skillsRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel tools | 1 |
| ChatGPT for business use cases | 2 |
| Communication skills | 3 |
| Foundational project management | 4 |
| PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certification | 5 |
| Leadership | 6 |
| English language | 7 |
| Digital transformation | 8 |
| Agile | 9 |
| GenAI topics for business use cases | 10 |
Sustainability and resilience drive business operations optimization
Enterprise learners are doubling down on core enterprise resource planning (ERP) and process skills while rapidly adopting sustainability and supply‑chain capabilities. Business analysis and SAP‑family topics (ABAP, S/4HANA, FICO, MM, HANA) dominate total consumption, reflecting ongoing digital transformation and back office modernization. At the same time, surging interest in sustainable development, logistics management, and lean manufacturing shows firms prioritizing supply‑chain resilience, cost efficiency, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments. Growth in SAP Fiori, SAP Activate, and SAP Activate Project Manager training underscores demand for implementation and rollout expertise. For employees, this mix means career value from both technical ERP certifications and operational excellence skills that help organizations meet regulatory, sustainability, and continuity goals.
Top 10 surging skills: Business operations excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Sustainable development | 147% |
| Logistics management | 127% |
| Lean manufacturing | 121% |
| IT requirements | 95% |
| Environmental science | 90% |
| Warehouse management | 87% |
| SAP Fiori | 75% |
| Manufacturing | 72% |
| SAP Activate | 70% |
| SAP Certified Associate – SAP Activate Project Manager | 70% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Business operations excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Business analysis | 1 |
| SAP Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) | 2 |
| SAP | 3 |
| SAP S/4HANA | 4 |
| SAP FICO | 5 |
| SAP Materials Management (SAP MM) | 6 |
| Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification | 7 |
| Supply chain | 8 |
| SAP HANA | 9 |
| Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification | 10 |
Communication to strengthen connection, collaboration, and clarity
Communication skills development is shifting toward interpersonal agility, with facilitation, social skills, and adaptive (soft) skills surging most. Employees still gravitate to foundational competencies, like presentation skills, business writing, listening, and email etiquette. They are also looking to take on more difficult elements of communication, including assertiveness and difficult conversations. These trends reflect needs arising from increased cross-functional collaboration and leaders’ efforts to manage change and support employee well-being. Strong facilitation and adaptive skills help teams engage and navigate ambiguity together. Investing in these skills supports better customer interactions, more inclusive workplaces, and more effective adoption of AI-enabled tools that can augment but not replace human judgment and empathy.
Top 5 surging skills: Communication excellence*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Facilitation | 29% |
| Social skills | 26% |
| Adaptive (soft) skills | 25% |
| Body language | 18% |
| Storytelling | 14% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Communication excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Presentation skills | 1 |
| Business writing | 2 |
| Listening skills | 3 |
| Adaptive (soft) skills | 4 |
| Email writing and etiquette | 5 |
| Storytelling | 6 |
| Assertiveness | 7 |
| Facilitation | 8 |
| Body language | 9 |
| Difficult conversations | 10 |
*Five skills in the communication category saw positive surging consumption during the July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 time frame, as compared to the prior year.
Design tools for a visual-first workplace
Visual and motion tools are now central to enterprise content strategies. AI art generation and Canva lead surging interest in design tools, signaling demand for faster design production across more roles. DaVinci Resolve’s growth shows rising investment in professional video production, as the role of video continues to be ever more important. Learners continue to consume fundamental creative staples at scale, such as Canva and Adobe-family tools. These trends reflect business needs for scalable, on‑brand visual content across marketing, product, and internal communications. Many tools enable faster production with GenAI, more short‑form and motion content, and stronger in‑house creative capability to personalize campaigns and reduce agency spend.
Top 7 surging skills: Design tools excellence*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| AI art generation | 131% |
| Canva | 62% |
| 3D printing | 49% |
| Color theory | 36% |
| AutoCAD | 21% |
| DaVinci Resolve | 19% |
| SketchUp | 18% |
Top 10 consumed skills: design tools excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Graphic design | 1 |
| Blender | 2 |
| Canva | 3 |
| Adobe Photoshop | 4 |
| Adobe After Effects | 5 |
| Adobe Illustrator | 6 |
| Video editing | 7 |
| 3D modeling | 8 |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | 9 |
| Motion graphics | 10 |
*Seven skills in the design tools category saw positive surging consumption during the July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 time frame, as compared to the prior year.
Building finance skills for risk and planning
Improving financial oversight is front and center as teams balance growth, regulation, and digital transformation. Financial analysis remains the most consumed skill, while financial planning saw a significant surge, reflecting renewed emphasis on forecasting and scenario planning amid economic uncertainty. Growth in foundational banking and insurance consumption learning signals demand for sector knowledge, as fintech and regulatory change accelerate. Rising interest in payments, operational risk management, internal auditing, and risk measurement/management underscores a shift toward resilience, compliance, and stronger controls. For enterprise employees, these trends mean developing analytical, modeling, and audit proficiencies to support strategic decision-making, modernize payments and finance operations, and manage economic risks.
Top 10 surging skills: Finance & accounting excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Financial planning | 484% |
| Foundational banking topics | 219% |
| Foundational insurance topics | 207% |
| Macroeconomics | 134% |
| Operational risk management (ORM) | 105% |
| Payments | 83% |
| Internal auditing | 71% |
| Private equity | 61% |
| Risk measurement | 61% |
| Risk management | 59% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Finance & accounting excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Financial analysis | 1 |
| Foundational banking topics | 2 |
| Foundational accounting topics | 3 |
| Corporate finance | 4 |
| Investing | 5 |
| Financial planning | 6 |
| Foundational finance topics | 7 |
| Financial accounting | 8 |
| Financial modeling | 9 |
| Risk management | 10 |
Business use cases focus on Copilots, prompt engineering, and responsible adoption
In the category of generative AI for business use cases, productivity and copilots dominate. Microsoft Copilot learning surged 3,400% and prompt engineering grew 2,146%, while ChatGPT remains the most-consumed GenAI topic. Rising interest in AI ethics and governance and foundational GenAI skills shows teams are balancing rapid adoption with risk management. Emerging tooling and agentic AI (n8n, Google NotebookLM, Dify, and AI agents) are also gaining traction as organizations embed autonomous workflows across functions. For enterprises, these trends signal a shift from experimentation to operationalization: Employees must learn prompt design, tool integration, and governance practices to boost productivity safely, ensure compliance, and scale AI-driven automation in business processes. Continuous upskilling will be critical to realizing benefits while managing ethical, security, and regulatory risks.
Top 7 surging skills: Generative AI for business use cases*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot | 3,400% |
| Prompt engineering | 2,146% |
| AI ethics & governance | 91% |
| Foundational GenAI skills for business use cases | 42% |
| n8n | Surging* |
| Google NotebookLM | Surging* |
| AI agents & agentic AI | Surging* |
*No YoY data for this topic, but rapid growth in 2025.
Top 10 consumed skills: Generative AI for business use casesRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT for business use cases | 1 |
| Foundational GenAI skills for business use cases | 2 |
| Microsoft Copilot | 3 |
| Prompt engineering | 4 |
| AI ethics & governance | 5 |
| AI agents & agentic AI | 6 |
| DeepSeek | 7 |
| n8n | 8 |
| Google NotebookLM | 9 |
| Dify | 10 |
*Only four skills topics that existed last year in the same category in the Udemy taxonomy showed an increase in consumption year-over-year. Topics marked “surging” are new topics this year growing in learning consumption over the last six months.
New markets and global collaboration drive language learning
In the business context, English remains the most consumed global language topic overall, reflecting continued demand for global fluency. Other languages seeing surging growth by over 40% include Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. The increases in Asian language learning suggests businesses are aligning with expanding economic opportunities in Asia-Pacific markets. Employees are also focusing on business-specific language skills, such as preparation for the Business English and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) exam. As hybrid and cross-border work become the norm, enterprises consider advanced language skills as key to unlocking new markets and fostering productive international collaboration.
Top 10 surging skills: Language learning excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Mandarin Chinese language | 52% |
| Korean language | 45% |
| Japanese language | 43% |
| English language | 41% |
| TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) exam | 35% |
| English conversation | 32% |
| English vocabulary | 19% |
| Business English | 18% |
| Spanish language | 18% |
| Italian language | 14% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Language learning excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| English language | 1 |
| English grammar | 2 |
| English vocabulary | 3 |
| Business English | 4 |
| English conversation | 5 |
| TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) exam | 6 |
| Spanish language | 7 |
| Japanese language | 8 |
| French language | 9 |
| IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam | 10 |
Leaders look to extend their strategic and ethical capabilities
Rising demand for leadership and management learning centers on strategic, measurable, and ethical capabilities. MBA topics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) lead surging topics, with ethics and management consulting also increasing. Consumption data shows communication, foundational leadership, and digital transformation as the most-learned skills, highlighting a blend of people-centered and tech-savvy leadership needs. As globalization, hybrid work, and rapid digital adoption reshape markets, enterprises are upskilling leaders to drive performance, navigate regulatory and (environmental, social, and governance) ESG pressures, and enable cross-border collaboration. Investing in communication, metrics literacy, and digital change management equips employees to execute strategy, enter new regions, and sustain competitive advantage.
Top 10 surging skills: Leadership & management excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| MBA topics | 96% |
| Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) | 75% |
| Ethics | 64% |
| Management consulting | 60% |
| Business development | 51% |
| Employee engagement | 49% |
| Systems thinking | 47% |
| Strategic planning | 45% |
| Retail business | 40% |
| Internal controls | 39% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Leadership & management excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Communication skills | 1 |
| Leadership | 2 |
| Digital transformation | 3 |
| Business strategy | 4 |
| Management skills | 5 |
| Business communication | 6 |
| Emotional intelligence | 7 |
| Design thinking | 8 |
| Critical thinking | 9 |
| Decision-making | 10 |
Data-driven platforms and video-led marketing
Marketing teams are investing in martech, measurement, and video to drive growth. Certification and platform skills surged: Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator and internet marketing jumped, while the increased interest in public relations and YouTube audience growth underscore demand for reputation and video expertise. Programmatic advertising, Google Ads, and marketing psychology also saw meaningful gains. At scale, learners continue to favor foundational capabilities: digital marketing, marketing strategy, social media, SEO, and Google Analytics are the most consumed topics. Together these trends reflect enterprises prioritizing personalized, data-driven customer journeys, tighter martech-CRM software integrations, and measurable ROI from video and paid channels.
Top 10 surging skills: Marketing excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Administrator | 74% |
| Internet marketing | 62% |
| Public relations | 41% |
| YouTube audience growth | 36% |
| Marketing psychology | 30% |
| Sales funnel | 25% |
| Programmatic advertising | 23% |
| Google Ads certification | 20% |
| Advertising strategy | 20% |
| Google Ads | 20% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Marketing excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Digital marketing | 1 |
| Marketing strategy | 2 |
| Social media marketing | 3 |
| Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | 4 |
| Google Analytics | 5 |
| Product marketing | 6 |
| Marketing analytics | 7 |
| Growth hacking | 8 |
| Google Ads | 9 |
| YouTube marketing | 10 |
Excel and Microsoft tools power productivity growth
When it comes to improving productivity, it is (almost) all about the tools. Employees are doubling down on core Microsoft skills while broadening their focus to include collaboration and well-being. Microsoft Excel tools are both the most consumed and fastest surging productivity topics, with advanced Excel topics (dashboards, VBA, formulas, pivot tables) plus PowerPoint, Power Automate, SharePoint, Teams, and Office 365 dominating consumption. Notably, mindfulness, work‑life balance, and career development are rising, reflecting a focus on human-centered productivity. These trends align with wider business shifts, including AI integration into workflows, platform consolidation around Microsoft, hybrid work needs, and data-driven decision-making. Employees are upskilling both their technical tool fluency and resilience practices to drive efficient, sustainable enterprise performance.
Top 10 surging skills: Productivity excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel tools | 320% |
| Microsoft Planner | 141% |
| Foundational office productivity topics | 110% |
| Email productivity hacks | 72% |
| Excel Dashboard | 65% |
| Mindfulness | 58% |
| Work-life balance | 31% |
| Career development | 28% |
| Document management | 22% |
| Notion Workspace | 19% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Productivity excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel tools | 1 |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | 2 |
| Microsoft Power Automate | 3 |
| Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) | 4 |
| Microsoft Excel formulas and functions | 5 |
| Microsoft SharePoint | 6 |
| Microsoft Teams | 7 |
| Microsoft Office 365 | 8 |
| Pivot tables | 9 |
| Stress management | 10 |
Execution, stakeholders, and certification prep lead
Project and product management learning is accelerating as organizations tackle more complex, cross-functional work. Stakeholder management led surging topics, speaking to the breadth of many project and product management initiatives in today’s enterprise. Tool- and process-focused topics such as Smartsheet and root cause analysis are also climbing, while Project Management Institute (PMI) certification prep rose, matching high sustained consumption of foundational project management and Project Management Professional (PMP) topics. Agile, Scrum, Jira, and Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) remain among the most consumed subjects, reflecting ongoing demand for delivery frameworks and collaboration platforms. These trends tie to digital transformation, hybrid work, and GenAI-driven productivity initiatives: Businesses need stronger planning, governance, and stakeholder engagement to scale change, de-risk projects, and certify talent for strategic execution and career mobility.
Top 10 surging skills: Project & product management excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Stakeholder management | 109% |
| Project Management Office (PMO) | 80% |
| Oracle Primavera | 60% |
| Project planning | 60% |
| Root cause analysis | 45% |
| Project Management Institute (PMI) certifications | 40% |
| Smartsheet | 37% |
| Foundational project management | 30% |
| Project cost management | 23% |
| Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) certification | 22% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Project & product management excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Foundational project management | 1 |
| PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certification | 2 |
| Agile | 3 |
| Scrum | 4 |
| Jira software | 5 |
| PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMI PMBOK) | 6 |
| Foundational product management | 7 |
| Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification | 8 |
| Project Management Institute (PMI) certifications | 9 |
| Confluence | 10 |
Digital selling and customer retention take priority
Sales and customer service learning is focused on digital tools and retention-focused selling. Customer service and core sales skills remain the most consumed topics, while customer relationship management (CRM) software saw the largest surge and Salesforce remains a core learning topic. Growth in B2B sales, sales management, and cold calling shows teams are balancing account growth with renewed outbound tactics. Rising interest in customer experience, customer success, sales forecasting and sales and operations planning (S&OP) reflects a shift toward data-driven revenue predictability and cross‑functional alignment. For enterprises, upskilling in CRM, negotiation, and forecasting improves customer lifetime value, pipeline health, and operational planning. These are the capabilities that matter as organizations embrace digital transformation, tighter margins, and more personalized, analytics-led selling.
Top 5 surging skills: Sales & customer service skills*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Customer relationship management (CRM) software | 95% |
| B2B sales | 49% |
| Sales management | 44% |
| Cold calling | 35% |
| Sales skills | 33% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Sales & customer service excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Customer service | 1 |
| Sales skills | 2 |
| Salesforce software | 3 |
| Customer experience management | 4 |
| Customer success management | 5 |
| B2B sales | 6 |
| Sales forecasting | 7 |
| Sales and operations planning (S&OP) | 8 |
| Customer relationship management (CRM) software | 9 |
| Sales management | 10 |
* Five skills in the sales & customer service category saw positive surging consumption during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, time frame, as compared to the prior year.
HR upskilling focuses on certification, analytics, and learning
Workplace and human resources learning is centering on professionalization, data-driven decision-making, and internal capability building. Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification surged while corporate learning and development (L&D), human resources (HR) analytics, and Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management (HCM) also showed strong growth. At the same time, foundational HR topics remain essential, followed by recruiting, business etiquette, interviewing, and learning strategies. Rising interest in Articulate Storyline and online course creation signals increasing investment in in-house training and scalable onboarding. These trends reflect business priorities: reducing turnover amid talent shortages and using HR analytics and modern HCM tools to optimize workforce planning and learning outcomes.
Top 10 surging skills: Workplace & human resources excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification | 266% |
| Recruiting and hiring | 208% |
| Workplace health and safety | 81% |
| Corporate learning & development (L&D) | 50% |
| Foundational human resources (HR) topics | 50% |
| Human resources (HR) analytics | 50% |
| Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management (HCM) | 48% |
| Articulate Storyline | 29% |
| Online course creation | 27% |
| Business etiquette | 26% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Workplace & human resources excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Foundational human resources (HR) topics | 1 |
| Recruiting and hiring | 2 |
| Business etiquette | 3 |
| Interviewing skills | 4 |
| Workplace health and safety | 5 |
| Learning strategies | 6 |
| Human resources (HR) Analytics | 7 |
| Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management (HCM) | 8 |
| Train the Trainer | 9 |
| Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification | 10 |
For this report, we analyzed data from thousands of our customers around the world. We calculated total consumption by Udemy Business learners across all course topics for the year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. We calculated the percentage growth in consumption compared to the year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The total consumption ranking for the AI topics is also drawn from the July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, time period. For the growth of the AI topics, we included topics showing a percentage growth in consumption compared to the prior year. We also listed new AI topics showing significant surges in the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, time period, for which there is no prior year comparison. These topics are labeled as “surging.”
AI-first development transforms tech in the enterprise
Enterprise technical teams are pivoting toward AI-enabled productivity and resilient infrastructure. The biggest surges signal widespread adoption of AI-assisted coding and large language model (LLM)-powered apps (most significantly, GitHub Copilot +13,534%, Microsoft Copilot +818%, but also prompt engineering, Google Gemini, and vector databases). At the same time, foundational skills remain dominant: Python, Java, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Power BI, SQL, React, Spring, and Selenium lead consumption, reflecting continued investment in core development, cloud, data, and testing capabilities. Clusters emerge around AI toolchains (Copilots, prompt engineering, vector databases), data/cloud certification and engineering (DP-600, AWS data certifications, Microsoft Fabric), and governance/security (Certified in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (CGRC) surge). These trends show learning tied to rapid innovation, production-grade deployment, and risk management. For businesses this mix accelerates delivery and AI-driven features while raising imperatives around infrastructure, observability, and compliance.
Top 10 surging tech skillsRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | 13,534% |
| Microsoft Copilot | 818% |
| Certified in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (CGRC) | 595% |
| pytest | 388% |
| Salesforce Certified AI Associate | 335% |
| Implementing Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric (DP-600) certification | 297% |
| AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate | 183% |
| Prompt engineering | 174% |
| Google Gemini | 169% |
| Vector databases | 145% |
Top 10 consumed tech skillsRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Python | 1 |
| Java | 2 |
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | 3 |
| Microsoft Power BI | 4 |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | 5 |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | 6 |
| SQL | 7 |
| React | 8 |
| Spring Framework | 9 |
| Selenium WebDriver | 10 |
Cloud certifications and AI skills surge rapidly
Demand for cloud credentials remains strong, even as learning shifts toward AI and data engineering. Amazon Web Services (AWS) certification paths top consumption (Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect, Developer) alongside Azure Fundamentals, while the fastest growth is in specialized roles: AWS Certified Data Engineer, Google Cloud Vertex AI, and Google Cloud ML Engineer. Rising interest in AWS DevOps, Step Functions, and AWS security services signals growing focus on automation, serverless orchestration, and cloud security. Observability and infrastructure topics (Datadog, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and cloud architecture) also climbed, reflecting enterprise needs for resilient, cost‑efficient platforms. For businesses, this means investing in certification-backed upskilling across data engineering, MLOps, DevOps, and cloud security to operationalize AI, maintain governance, and scale cloud-native systems.
Top 10 surging skills: Cloud computing excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate | 183% |
| Google Cloud Vertex AI | 77% |
| Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer | 29% |
| AWS DevOps topics | 21% |
| AWS security services | 19% |
| AWS Step Functions | 19% |
| Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) | 12% |
| Server infrastructure | 12% |
| Cloud architecture | 8% |
| Datadog | 8% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Cloud computing excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | 1 |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | 2 |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | 3 |
| Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification | 4 |
| AWS Certified Developer – Associate | 5 |
| Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) | 6 |
| Microsoft Azure | 7 |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional | 8 |
| Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification | 9 |
| AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate | 10 |
Governance, certifications, and proactive cyber defense
Enterprises are strengthening governance, certification pathways, and offensive testing to manage rising threats. The surge of topics like data governance, Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) certification prep, and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) all rose meaningfully, signaling focus on data protection, risk management, and trusted encryption. Offensive skills are growing too (security hacking, Red Team Offensive Security), even as foundational cybersecurity and cybersecurity awareness remain among the most consumed topics. Learning patterns show a two‑track need: broad workforce awareness plus specialist capabilities, the latter including ethical hacking, CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), network security, cloud security (AWS Certified Security), and penetration testing. For modern enterprises, this mix supports compliance (General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)), cloud‑native risk controls, and resilient incident response, making role‑based certification paths, red/blue training, and continuous awareness programs strategic investments.
Top 10 surging skills: Cybersecurity excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Data governance | 130% |
| Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) certification | 97% |
| Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) | 78% |
| Security hacking | 52% |
| Red Team Offensive Security | 49% |
| Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900) certification | 40% |
| General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | 33% |
| Microsoft Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate (SC-400) certification | 32% |
| Foundational cybersecurity | 23% |
| Cybersecurity awareness | 21% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Cybersecurity excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Foundational cybersecurity | 1 |
| Ethical hacking | 2 |
| CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) | 3 |
| Cybersecurity awareness | 4 |
| Network security | 5 |
| AWS Certified Security – Specialty | 6 |
| CompTIA PenTest+ | 7 |
| Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) | 8 |
| Penetration testing | 9 |
| CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) | 10 |
Data science skills shifting toward AI and architecture
Enterprises are prioritizing a blend of practical analytics, AI, and modern data infrastructure. High consumption of Power BI, foundational data science, AI, and machine learning (ML) shows ongoing demand for self‑service analytics and model literacy. Surges in Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS), Microsoft Fabric, Looker Studio, data architecture, dbt (Data Build Tool), Grafana, and LangChain signal investment in integration, governance, observability, and large language model (LLM) tooling, all core elements of the modern data stack. Together these trends reflect a push to operationalize machine learning, scale reliable pipelines, and deploy generative AI responsibly. For organizations, this means upskilling teams across data analysis, engineering, and LLM frameworks to enable faster insights, better data stewardship, and competitive automation.
Top 10 surging skills: Data science excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Informatica Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS) | 125% |
| Microsoft Fabric | 107% |
| Google Looker Studio | 78% |
| Data architecture | 76% |
| LangChain | 61% |
| dbt (Data Build Tool) | 40% |
| Grafana | 40% |
| Databricks | 29% |
| Data engineering | 28% |
| Data analysis | 26% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Data science excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Power BI | 1 |
| Foundational data science | 2 |
| Artificial intelligence (AI) | 3 |
| Data analysis | 4 |
| Machine learning (ML) | 5 |
| Data modeling | 6 |
| Databricks | 7 |
| Tableau | 8 |
| LangChain | 9 |
| Deep learning | 10 |
Testing, AI, and cloud-native development converge
Modern development skills reflect priorities in quality, automation, and AI readiness. Top consumed skills remain foundational (Python, Java, SQL, and React), while cloud-native and scalable patterns like Spring, Kubernetes, and microservices continue to rank high in total learning consumption. pytest leads surging topics due to its concise syntax, fixture model, rich plugin ecosystem, and seamless Python integration, which speeds test development for web, API, and machine learning (ML) workflows. Other fast growing areas, including Appian, vector databases, Playwright, and system design prep, point to rising interest in low-code automation, AI infrastructure, resilient end-to-end testing, and hiring for architecture skills that support scalable enterprise systems.
Top 10 surging skills: Development excellenceRanked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| pytest | 388% |
| Appian | 148% |
| Vector databases | 145% |
| Microsoft Playwright | 136% |
| System design interview | 89% |
| Software as a service (SaaS) | 82% |
| Logic | 73% |
| Logstash | 72% |
| Blazor | 61% |
| FastAPI | 58% |
Top 10 consumed skills: Development excellenceRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| Python | 1 |
| Java | 2 |
| SQL | 3 |
| React JS | 4 |
| Spring Framework | 5 |
| Selenium WebDriver | 6 |
| JavaScript | 7 |
| Angular | 8 |
| Kubernetes | 9 |
| Microservices | 10 |
AI skills are transforming technical productivity
Generative AI for technical teams has moved from novelty to core capability. GitHub Copilot learning surged 13,534% due to its ability to boost developer productivity, providing context-aware code completion, test generation, refactoring, and documentation inside Integrated Development Environments. These qualities are rapidly making it an enterprise favorite for faster delivery, reduced context-switching, and scalable developer onboarding. ChatGPT for tech use cases and foundational GenAI are the most consumed topics, with AI agents, Model Context Protocols (MCP), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), large language model (LLM) fine‑tuning, and Google Gemini surging as organizations push LLMs into production. For enterprises, these skills boost developer productivity, accelerate application development, and enable smarter automation, but they also elevate needs for MLOps, data governance, security, and ethical oversight. Investing in GenAI upskilling helps teams ship intelligent features faster, reduce toil, and responsibly scale AI across products and workflows.
Top 10 surging skills: GenAI for tech use cases*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | 13,534% |
| Microsoft Copilot | 818% |
| Prompt engineering | 174% |
| Google Gemini | 169% |
| ChatGPT for tech use cases | 68% |
| Foundational GenAI for tech use cases | 44% |
| Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) | Surging* |
| Model Context Protocol (MCP) | Surging* |
| Large language models (LLM) | Surging* |
| LLM fine-tuning | Surging* |
*No YoY data for this topic, but rapid growth in 2025.
Top 10 consumed skills: GenAI for tech use casesRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT for tech use cases | 1 |
| Foundational GenAI for tech use cases | 2 |
| AI agents & agentic AI | 3 |
| Microsoft Copilot | 4 |
| Dify | 5 |
| Prompt engineering | 6 |
| Model Context Protocol (MCP) | 7 |
| Large language models (LLM) | 8 |
| Google Gemini | 9 |
| Cursor AI | 10 |
*Only six skills topics that existed last year in the same category in the Udemy taxonomy showed an increase in consumption year-over-year. Topics marked “surging” in the first table are new topics this year, growing in learning consumption over the last six months.
Design systems to speed delivery and collaboration
UX and web design remain the most consumed skills. The fact that Figma is surging while also ranking third in total consumption is a clear signal that teams are standardizing design systems, component libraries, and developer handoffs to speed delivery and reduce rework. The growth of service design and UX writing show enterprises prioritizing end-to-end journeys and content strategy across complex product ecosystems and microservices. Mobile app design still appears among the top consumed topics, underscoring mobile performance, observability, and platform-specific UX needs for engineering teams. This collection of topics suggest that engineers are focusing on Figma-powered prototyping, design tokens, accessibility, and tight collaboration with product and content designers to accelerate scalable, user-centered delivery.
Top 3 surging skills: UX, web & mobile design excellence*Ranked by increase in consumption |
% increase |
|---|---|
| Figma | 18% |
| Service design | 7% |
| UX writing | 6% |
Top 10 consumed UX, web & mobile design skillsRanked by total consumption |
Rank |
|---|---|
| User experience (UX) design | 1 |
| Web design | 2 |
| Figma | 3 |
| Product design | 4 |
| User interface design | 5 |
| UX writing | 6 |
| Adobe XD | 7 |
| Service design | 8 |
| Mobile app design | 9 |
| User research | 10 |
*Three skills in the UX, web & mobile design category saw positive surging consumption during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, time frame, as compared to the prior year.
For this report, we analyzed data from thousands of our customers around the world. We calculated total consumption by Udemy Business learners across all course topics for the year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. We calculated the percentage growth in consumption compared to the year from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The total consumption ranking for the AI topics is also drawn from the July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, time period. For the growth of the AI topics, we included topics showing a percentage growth in consumption compared to the prior year. We also listed new AI topics showing significant surges in the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, time period, for which there is no prior year comparison. These topics are labeled as “surging.”