UK Tech Leaders Emphasize Cloud and Artificial Intelligence Expertise as Key Priorities for Business Transformation, According to Coursera-AWS Survey Results
In a recent global study conducted by Coursera in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the focus of tech leaders in the United Kingdom (UK) over the next three years has been revealed. The study surveyed 750+ senior technology executives across six countries, with a particular focus on UK leaders.
The top business transformation priorities for UK tech leaders are centred around digital infrastructure, system integration, data strategy, innovation, and improving digital competence. These priorities aim to enhance information flow, system functionality, and address challenges such as cybersecurity, data governance, and digital maturity across sectors.
Staying ahead of security threats is a key driver of skills development for 62% of UK tech leaders. In this regard, foundational capabilities like cloud (70%), data (59%), and cybersecurity skills (52%) are considered critically important, with AI skills (50%) slightly lower on the list. This emphasis on foundational skills reflects the need for a robust and secure digital infrastructure to support the broader digital transformation efforts.
The study also found that nearly all (99%) respondents anticipate that their codebases will be partially AI generated or developed with AI assistance in the next 3 years. Over two-thirds (68%) of UK tech leaders expect new hires to understand how generative AI could be applied to their work tasks.
Cybersecurity ranks higher in importance than AI for UK tech leaders, taking third place in terms of priority for skills development. This is evident as over a quarter (27%) of companies in the UK were hit by a cyber-attack in the past year.
AI currently ranks fourth on the list of top skills priorities, behind foundational IT expertise in cloud, data, and cybersecurity. However, AI is not overlooked, as it is integrated into the broader digital and data strategy priorities as part of automation and productivity improvements.
Cloud transformation is another key priority for UK tech leaders, with 94% prioritizing it as a business goal in the next three years. To address the skills gaps in AI and cloud transformation, 74% of UK tech leaders acknowledge they cannot depend on hiring alone to fulfil these needs, indicating that training must intervene to fill them.
In summary, while AI and cloud transformation are critical and integrated components, UK tech leaders prioritize a holistic digital transformation approach addressing system integration, data governance, infrastructure robustness, and sector-specific needs over the next three years. AI and cloud play enabling roles within these broader transformation imperatives.
The study also highlights that software developer and systems developer roles are anticipated to be the most significantly impacted by AI. The respondents were director-level or higher leaders in IT, product, and engineering, working at large enterprise organizations with more than 1,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding $100M USD.
Coursera, a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, is one of the largest online learning platforms in the world with 183 million registered learners as of June 30, 2025. Coursera partners with over 350 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees, which could prove instrumental in addressing the skills gaps identified in the study.
- The holistic digital transformation approach prioritized by UK tech leaders encompasses fields like digital infrastructure, system integration, data strategy, innovation, and improving digital competence, with an emphasis on foundational skills like cloud, data, cybersecurity, and AI.
- To address the skills gaps in AI and cloud transformation, a majority (74%) of UK tech leaders recognize that relying solely on hiring may not suffice, indicating a need for training to fill the gaps.
