By Mustafa Furniturewala, Chief Technology Officer, Coursera

Today’s technology executives encounter extraordinary transformation challenges as cloud solutions and AI redefine the execution of technical tasks. To gain insights into how technology leaders are addressing these challenges, Coursera has collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to conduct a survey of senior technology executives driving digital transformation projects. The findings, published today in the new report From Cloud to AI: How Tech Leaders Are Investing in Skills Development to Propel Transformation, disclose how these senior decision-makers are emphasizing skills development demands, balancing AI integration with human capabilities, and organizing their transformation pathways.

Key discoveries:

• For technology executives, it transcends AI alone. Although cloud and GenAI transformations are significant goals over the next three years, they are emphasizing the cultivation of fundamental skills such as cloud, data, and cybersecurity alongside AI competencies.
  • A majority of technology executives (95%) agree that Cloud transformation and (91%) GenAI transformation are pivotal business objectives for the upcoming three years.
  • When pinpointing essential skills for the next three years, leaders prioritize cloud abilities (63%), data expertise (58%), cybersecurity knowledge (54%), and AI competencies (47%).
  • The primary reason driving the urgency for skills development among technology leaders is staying abreast of technological advancements.

• Technology executives are gearing up for automation to revolutionize their teams, workflows, and workplace demands. Survey participants foresee that they and their teams will experience up to half of their tasks being automated by AI within three years, while 86% predict that at least one-fifth of their organization’s coding will be AI-generated or AI-assisted during the same period.
  • Almost every participant expects some of their tasks to be enhanced with AI in the next three years, with over half (52%) anticipating that 30-50% of their own tasks will be automated—liberating time for more strategic endeavors. This sentiment is reflected in the views of technology executives (53%) regarding how task automation will influence the teams they oversee.
  • Nearly all (99%) participants predict that their codebases will be partially generated or supported by AI in the next three years—and 86% of technology executives estimate that between 20 to 50% of their code will be either AI-generated or developed with AI assistance.
  • More than three-quarters of respondents (78%) believe that all technical roles included in this survey will experience some degree of impact from task automation owing to advancements in AI over the next three years. Software developer (42%) and systems developer positions (41%) are expected to see the most significant effects.

• Despite rising levels of automation, executives stress that human contributions are irreplaceable: 88% assert that AI transformation aims won’t succeed without greater investment in talent development.
  • Sixty-three percent of technology executives concur that non-technical teams frequently underestimate the resources and training required to fulfill GenAI objectives.
  • The majority of technology executives (72%) expect new hires, regardless of their specific positions, to comprehend how generative AI could be utilized in their work tasks; however, an equivalent number of executives (74%) acknowledge they cannot rely solely on new recruits to address AI skills gaps.
  • Eighty-eight percent of executives agree that planned AI investments will falter without increased focus on training, and 77% recognize that enhancing skills is crucial to achieving transformation objectives in the next 12-18 months.
  • The majority of technology executives (86%) report moderate to notable productivity enhancements due to skills development, with improved performance (72%), increased workforce agility (67%), and higher employee engagement (59%) recognized as the primary benefits.

• Technology leaders consider training to be most beneficial when it mirrors real-world challenges—favoring practical, hands-on learning experiences that allow employees to immediately implement acquired skills.
  • Most technology executives believe that hands-on practice in applying new skills (60%), high-quality content produced by industry professionals (56%), and the ability to tailor training content for team requirements (55%) are critical factors when selecting an online learning platform.
  • In developing hands-on learning experiences for technical teams, most technology executives prioritize providing real-world projects that directly relate to their work (60%), practical skills evaluations (56%), and risk-free experimentation (51%) as the most valuable components.

Our global study, conducted from March to April 2025, captures insights from over 750 director-level or higher leaders in IT, product, and engineering sectors at large enterprises with more than 1,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding $100M USD. Their responses offer strategic insights into how organizations aim to successfully merge cloud infrastructure, AI capabilities, and talent development to cultivate a competitive edge in an increasingly automated landscape.
Access the complete set of insights from the Technology Leaders’ Survey here.

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