O’Reilly, a provider of technology and business learning, has released its Technology Trends for 2025 report. Drawing on data from its 2.8 million platform users, the report looks at key technology trends expected to shape business strategies in the coming year.
The findings show a strong growth in AI-related skills and tools, alongside a rising focus on security governance and compliance.
The report noted a dramatic surge in interest in AI, with topics such as prompt engineering showing a 456 percent increase in usage. Other key areas of growth include AI principles (up 386%) and generative AI (up 289%). Interest in GitHub Copilot grew by 471 percent, a sign of the popularity of tools designed to boost developer productivity.
While usage of content related to GPT declined by 13 percent, developers are shifting their focus toward foundational AI knowledge to work effectively across multiple AI models, such as Claude, Google’s Gemini, and Llama. Emerging skills related to LangChain and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) have seen rapid adoption, matching usage levels of established AI libraries like PyTorch and Keras.
Rising Demand for Security Skills
While AI remains a dominant focus, security governance and compliance are increasingly critical as businesses adopt more robust strategies to safeguard operations. The report saw remarkable growth across topics like governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), which rose by 44 percent. Interest in compliance skills increased by 10 percent, while application security content saw a 17 percent rise.
The zero trust security model, with strict authentication and access controls, experienced a 13 percent growth in platform usage as businesses address evolving cybersecurity challenges.
Data engineering skills experienced a 29 percent growth in usage, likely due to their role in supporting AI applications. In contrast, traditional programming languages like Python and Java saw declines of 5.3 percent and 13 percent respectively. Rust bucked this trend, with a 9.6 percent increase in usage, gaining favour among developers for its performance and reliability.
Cloud computing content usage plateaued across major providers, with slight growth in Google Cloud certifications (up 2.2 percent). Security certifications, including CISSP and CompTIA Security+, continued to gain popularity, with growth rates of 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
The Importance of Upskilling
“This year marks a pivotal transition in technology, with AI evolving from generative capabilities to a transformative force reshaping how developers approach their craft,” said Mike Loukides, vice president of emerging technology content at O’Reilly and the report’s author.
“As foundational skills gain prominence and organizations increasingly adopt comprehensive security practices, professionals must prioritize upskilling to effectively integrate these tools into their operations. The future is not about fearing AI’s impact on jobs but in harnessing its potential to enhance productivity and drive innovation across industries.”
