2025 Technology Trends report shows AI driving the shift

This year’s report showed AI technologies were notably driving the most significant shifts. Interest in related skills surged noticeably, with the most pronounced usage increases observed in topics such as prompt engineering (456% increase), AI principles (386% increase), and generative AI (289% increase). Use of content about GitHub Copilot soared by an impressive 471%, reflecting developers’ enthusiasm for tools that enhance productivity. 

Among AI topics, there was a decline in interest for GPT, witnessing a 13% drop in usage and a similar downward trend in searches, which suggests developers are prioritising foundational AI knowledge over platform-specific skills to navigate across AI models including Claude, Google’s Gemini and Llama.

Other findings show that AI-related skills tied to LongChain and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) have gained prominence and can be compared to established AI libraries like PyTorch and Keras. These advancements empower developers to build more sophisticated applications on top of AI models.

Security has become a critical focus, registering substantial growth across nearly all related search topics. Interest in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) grew by 44%, while interest in compliance skills rose by 10%. Additionally, content related to application security grew by 17%, reflecting developers' commitment to securing all types of applications.

The rise of the zero trust model, which witnessed a 13% increase in usage, illustrates a proactive approach to security that emphasises strict authentication and access controls. Collectively, these trends indicate a significant shift toward comprehensive security strategies within organisations.

Other findings:

• Data engineering skills experienced a 29% increase, underscoring the critical role of data in powering AI applications
• There was a noticeable decline in traditional programming languages, with Python usage decreasing by 5.3% and Java dropping by 13%. However, Rust’s usage trends stood out, winning over developers with a 9.6% increase
• Security certifications remain the most popular recognised credentials, with increases in CISSP (11% growth) and CompTIA Security+ (13% growth)
• Interest in Cloud computing appears to have plateaued, with content use for the major cloud providers and their certifications down across all categories except Google Cloud certifications, which experienced 2.2% growth

“This year marks a pivotal transition in technology, with AI evolving from generative capabilities to a transformative force reshaping how developers approach their craft,” remarked Mike Loukides, Vice President of emerging technology content at O'Reilly and the report’s author. “As foundational skills gain prominence and organisations increasingly adopt comprehensive security practices, professionals must prioritise 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.”