This list will share the best skills to learn in 2025. For each skill, we’ve shared the prerequisites needed to learn it, why you should learn it, is the skill transferable to other businesses/industries, who shouldn’t learn the skill and the salary.
That should offer you an ultra-detailed insight into which of these skills suit (or do not suit you) best.
At the very end, we’ve also included a list of soft skills that ultimately influence your overall career graph regardless of the hard skills you may have.
Let’s get started then.
Table of Contents
How to pick the best skills to learn in 2025?
This list includes dozens of skills you can learn in 2025. Not all the skills will be best suited for each of you reading this article.
Hence, go through the explanation below to pick the skill that you think suits “you” best. Without taking into consideration “your” individuality, jumping on a skill is not recommended.
It would be like seeing a bird fly and asking an Elephant to start flying.
Future demand
The biggest factor to look at is a skill’s current vs. future demand. Just because something is stable today, does not mean it will remain in-demand 10 years from now.
A major example of a skill becoming irrelevant very fast is graphic designing, at least at the basic level. Graphic design was one of the most sought-after skills in 2015, today in 2025 with AI Image generators, anyone can design literally anything, within seconds. Hence, the entry-level customers who were on a very tight budget and were okay with “less than perfect” results have already started self-designing logos.
And generative, public-scale AI is relatively new. Given AI’s ability to learn and consume information, it’ll probably soon be producing “perfect” results in the near future.
A research paper published in 2023 on AI’s impact on graphic design claimed- “.AI could displace human workers in the industry, leading to job losses and other negative consequences”
How to validate future demand: The process involves complex research and compilation of reports from multiple departments (such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics), governments, analyzing skill gap issues, impact by technology and more.
Fortunately for you, we’ve done all that for you in this list and hence each skill listed here has been enlisted after thorough manual research.
Your Interests and passion
If you’re trying to learn new skills for the future, choosing something of your interest makes things exponentially easier.
This is because you wouldn’t feel like it’s a “task”, you wouldn’t get bored and you’re less likely to give up.
You’d also be able to churn in more hours as it’s something that already interests you.
Of course, it’s hard to find the perfect “interest + economic value” skill. Hence, you may have to adjust and pick something that’s a middle ground between interest and market value of the skill.
Transferability
It’s just a fancy term for “use of the skill in other areas/jobs”. Learning a skill that has a very specific or narrow application isn’t the best bet. It would be like putting all your eggs in one basket.
Your skill should be such that whatever you learn can also be used across multiple jobs and industries.
Example: Basic computer skill is arguably the best example of a transferable skill. You start with paint and MS-Word and end up designing websites, software, graphic designing and so much more.
AI-replacement threshold
The AI replacement threshold is just a line that defines how long till the skill is overtaken or dominated by AI. Some jobs will be dominated sooner than others. E.g. “The Safe Zone” is a movie entirely written & directed by AI. While “social work” is something that we believe will be one of the least or last impacted fields by AI.
Best skills to learn in 2025
These are the best skills to learn in 2025 based on their future demand, transferability, salary and AI-replacement threshold.
Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence is being incorporated across almost all industries, jobs and even some government departments.
Machine Learning is one of the most desirable skills you can learn when it comes to AI adoption.
Machine Learning is both a technology, as well as a skill. It’s the ability of a computer (or a piece of code) to learn from data without explicitly telling it what to do.
Machine Learning has multiple subsets. Meaning, what you do after acquiring ML skills differs for each person, company and job.
Prerequisites to learn ML: To discover what is Machine Learning, you need a good understanding of math, and basic understanding of programming languages (such as Python), cross validation, algorithm selection etc.
Why it’s desirable: Mass-scale AI adoption requires employees and businesses to learn (or hire someone) with ML skills. Almost every field and industry, including healthcare, finance, education and even art to some extent can utilize Machine Learning.
Is it transferable: Yes. With Machine Learning as a skill-set, you can be a Data analyst, Machine Learning Engineer/Scientist, software developer with ML applications and so much more.
Who shouldn’t learn ML: If “computers” or AI isn’t your interest, and if you’re a complete newbie with 0 understanding of programming languages, ML may not be the best bet for you.
Salary: The base salary for a ML engineer in the United States is nearly $162,000/year. This is based on data from Indeed, which in turn is based on 3162 user submissions.
CyberSecurity
CyberSecurity has always been one of the most sought-after jobs in the world. The trend will only go up with the advancement in AI and increasing dependency of humans on tech. This is true because with AI, cybercriminals now have a faster and smarter weapon at their disposal.
Hence, learning to protect users and systems from said criminals is a job that’s almost directly proportional to the advancements of AI. The smarter AI becomes, the more protection jobs will be created.
Prerequisites to learn Cybersecurity: Basic knowledge of computers is required. Everything else can be learnt from scratch, including coding and hardware configurations.
Why it’s desirable: AI will always have a good and bad side. In the wrong hands, it’ll empower crime and hacks which will always need to be countered.
Is it transferable: Yes. Cybersecurity involves multiple skills coming together, such as coding, data analysis, pattern recognition etc. These skills are independently and individually just as valuable.
Who shouldn’t learn Cybersecurity: Being almost entirely a computer and partially coding-based skill, anyone without interest in computers or security should probably look at the other skills on this list.
Salary: This would depend on your job-type. Independent cyber security firms may be valued at millions of dollars. However, the average salary in the U.S is $124,567 annually.
Programming languages/coding
This is probably the #1 skill you should learn if you wish to stay relevant in the future in terms of tech.
Be it AI, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, Software development or anything else, almost everything a computer does is done via code.
Yes, AI is now also capable of writing code for us. But the code it writes (so far, as of 2025) is still pretty basic and often full of errors.
While it may get much better with time, the world will still need someone to look at and understand the code in the near future.
The biggest threat to most professions today is AI, and by learning to code you get to control the threat and speak to it (as all AI is essentially just code).
Prerequisites to learn coding: Basic knowledge of computers is enough to get started with coding. I’ll suggest you start with Python as it’s a more user-friendly and simpler language than its other counterparts.
Why it’s desirable: Everything that the future holds, coding will probably play a major role in it. Things may go from actually writing code to simply auditing them but every company and business in any way impacted by AI or tech will need coding skills at hand.
Is it transferable: Yes. Coding is one of the most transferable skills. You can write your own software, audit code, use your skills for cyber security, venture into machine learning and millions of other jobs.
Who shouldn’t learn coding: Everyone can learn as long as they like computers.
Salary: There’s no fixed salary as coding as a skill allows for jobs starting at $5,000/month to 6-figures a month.
Digital Marketing
One of the few future-proof skills you can learn today is digital marketing. It’s future-proof because “marketing” is all about human emotions. You can’t sell something unless you convince the buyer that your product is worth their time and money.
AI & technology, even at their strongest stages may struggle to crack “human emotions”. They may write the best software, design the best banners, and analyze the best times to post content. However, you’ll need the human brain to understand what exactly appeals to a buyer and how to actually “sell” whatever your product is.
Prerequisites to learn digital marketing: Everyone on this piece is already qualified-enough to start learning digital marketing. Start with learning basics of website building (WordPress/blogger), graphic designing, running ads, email marketing and so on.
Why it’s desirable: The scope of digital marketing is vast. You could be a blogger, ad specialist, content creator, etc. Literally every industry needs “sales” and they’d need a marketer to make those sales.
Is it transferable: Digital Marketing as a skill can be applied across any industry or niche. You could be doing this for a hospital, a government, presidential candidate or a local vendor!
Who shouldn’t learn digital marketing: There are no major entry or interest barriers. Almost anyone with any interest can start with digital marketing.
Salary: Again, the vast scope doesn’t allow me to quote a specific salary. You may be handling a single aspect of a digital marketing campaign (e.g. email marketing) or the entire campaign. The money will be distributed according to the role, outcome, and other factors.
Gen AI
Gen AI simply stands for generative AI. We talked about machine learning and AI dominance in the future. A lot of this AI-talk is referring to “Gen AI” models. You may have used ChatGPT, Midjourney, or even DeepSeek. They’re all Gen AI models that “generate” new content based on your inputs.
Prerequisites for learning Gen AI: It’s the newest skill on the planet that we’ve listed here. This means, there isn’t a whole lot you need to start learning it. The best option is to start using these models at length and understand them and their outputs.
Why is it desirable: It’s a “skill” because Gen AI is something the whole planet has access to. Hence, those who can use it best are the ones who get paid. Everyone can use ChatGPT but if your outputs are better than the competitor, you get hired. GenAI skills can be used for any industry or company that’s using almost any AI product that generates content.
Is it transferable: Yes. Production houses, graphic design companies, book publishers and even authors are using Gen AI to assist their work.
Who shouldn’t learn Gen AI: It’s one of the easiest skills to learn out there and hence I’d say it’s for everyone.
Salary: Due to its low entry-point and massive competition (everyone trying to be a “prompt engineer”) the salary is comparatively lower (on the $50,000-$60,000/year) as compared to the other skills listed here.
Soft Skills
Soft Skills are almost as equal, if not more than your hard skills when it comes to career and pay.
Let’s assume you’re the smartest AI engineer, coder, graphic designer, or hacker on the planet. If your communications skills aren’t proper, you can’t handle stress or address issues properly, you won’t even be considered for a job. Your skills get nullified as you’ll be denied the chance to even show them.
Additionally, the AI-replacement threshold for soft skills is almost infinite. AI would need to understand human emotions and responses alike a human to ever start dominating soft skills.
There’s no definite list of soft skills fit for every job, however, the following skills are universal. They will make your life easy not just in 2025, but throughout your entire life:
- Stress tolerance: Every job, across every industry will probably come with some stress. You must be physically and mentally capable of handling stress if you’re to succeed regardless of your skill levels for the industry/job.
- Communication skills: You need to know when to be direct, when a negotiation suits better, the tone, timing and everything else that “communication” entails. A few tips I’d recommend include active listening. Listen not simply to reply, but to understand the other person’s perspective and aim to solve their problem without countering it when possible.
- Creative thinking: A hacker, digital marketer, graphic designer, Machine Learning scientist and everyone else needs to be at the top of their creative thinking game. You need to think differently than the rest of the competition. It’s something that helps you outrun the competition in multiple aspects and add value to your company.
- Ability to learn: This skill will probably outrank everything else on this piece. No matter who you are, your age, and what you’ve achieved. You must always be willing to learn from someone who’s teaching.
Conclusion
These are the best stepping stones if you wish to learn new skills in 2025. Some of these skills may massively help your career graph, others not so much. The point is, that a list of such skills can never be definite. You can learn hundreds of skills depending on time, interest, economy, and other factors.
However, this list has been hand-picked to ensure some of the highest-paying packages and future-proof professions if that’s your goal.
