Core Workplace Skills

DevOps in 2025: Winning Skills and Real Trends Two years ago, DevOps was a high-demand field. In 2025, it’s the backbone of every digital transformation—supercharged by cloud, automation, and now, AI. Here's what caught my attention 👇 📈 DevOps market is projected to expand from $13.2 billion in 2024 to an impressive $81.1 billion by 2028 📈 From specialized approach to mainstream strategy: Its adoption soared from 33% of companies in 2017 to an estimated 80% in 2024. Let me break down what's really happening out there and how you can ride this wave—whether you're just starting or gunning for that architect role. 📊 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀? Based on aggregated data from 2024-2025 DevOps job postings, here’s the tech that consistently tops job requirements: 1 - Terraform 88% (+9%) 2 - Python 80% (+8%) 3 - Kubernetes 76% (+6%) 4 - AWS 72% (–3%) 5 - Jenkins 74% (+6%) 6 - Docker 68% (+3%) 7 - Azure 60% (+6%) 8 - Git/GitHub 60% (+2%) .... 19 - Golang 18% (+13%) The pattern is clear: Infrastructure as Code is king, container orchestration is everywhere, and you better know your way around multiple clouds. Golang is the surprise breakout. 🌐 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 ↳ Cloud-native expertise is “non-negotiable”: 83% of organizations now use multi-cloud approaches. If you can juggle AWS, Azure, AND Kubernetes? You're golden. ↳ Architects and senior engineers who bridge DevOps, cloud, and AI lead the next evolution. These are the people building scalable, secure, AI-ready infrastructure—roles that are multiplying fast. ↳ Platform engineering is having a moment: Everyone wants internal platforms that make their developers' lives easier. 🤖 𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 (𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿) ✅ AI/ML is making DevOps smarter—think smart incident response, predictive analytics, and self-healing infrastructure that fixes itself. ⚙️ But success still comes down to knowing your foundations: DevOps, cloud architecture, and scripting. 🚦 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗵, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗚𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 - Get dangerous with 2 automation tools (Terraform + K8s is the combo right now) - Go deep with AWS or Azure, but stay curious about the others - Python is your Swiss Army knife—learn it, love it - Don't sleep on AI tools, but master your CI/CD and container game first 🎯 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽? We’ve compiled all the proven insights—plus actual salary data, skills breakdowns, and stepwise growth plans—into the latest DevOps Career Guide. 📌 Grab it here: https://bit.ly/44TevO0 💬 What are you seeing in your corner of the DevOps world? What skills are you stacking for 2025? Sources: - Forrester: DevOps and Platform Engineering, 2025 - DevOpsCube Report, 2025 - Prepare.sh: DevOps Job Market Trends 2025

Consulting isn’t dying—it’s evolving. The traditional "finder, minder, grinder" framework that has defined the industry for decades is being disrupted. As client expectations shift and technology advances, the reliance on junior-heavy teams and leverage-based profit models is under significant pressure. The future of consulting lies in a new model where hands-on leadership is paramount. Corporate and Private Equity clients expect senior-level Partners to actively drive strategy execution. They want seasoned professionals with deep expertise to lead from the front, ensuring that solutions are not just designed but delivered with measurable impact. Successful consulting firms will focus on outcomes rather than hours. By integrating AI and other technologies, they will accelerate efficiency and enable senior leaders to focus on delivering real value. Clients are increasingly drawn to results-driven approaches that prioritise entrepreneurial thinking and experimentation over time-based billing. As technology advances over analytical tasks, human consultants must excel in areas machines cannot replicate: creativity, emotional intelligence, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Coaching clients on how to leverage technology effectively will become a core skill, alongside curiosity and adaptability.

This is a graph of the top core skills in 2030 from World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report. Several of the most important core skills may surprise you. But look closer and you'll how much emotional intelligence matters both now and in the future. Look at the importance of adaptability, leadership, empathy, motivation and self-awareness! These are the cornerstone pieces of emotional intelligence and they will grow in importance in direct proportion to the rise of AI. Analytical thinking and innovation leads to complex problem-solving and further critical thinking and analysis. While we may begin these activities as individuals, the collaborative nature of teamwork drives greater impact. The truth is, with advances in technology will come the need for outstanding leadership, self-awareness and an ability to effectively communicate ideas to others to give them life. Here are three key points to encapsulate this: ➡️Innovative technology is only as good as one's ability to effectively communicate and design it in such a way that people can use it. And we know that great communication begins with empathy and active listening ➡️The world's greatest ideas can die if you lack effective communicators who can influence others through emotionally intelligent leadership ➡️ Further, it's the collaborative nature of bringing people of diverse backgrounds in your organization TOGETHER to share ideas, ask questions, challenge assumptions and bridge gaps to form the very best solutions This takes connection. If people cannot relate to one another, it's entirely possible these conversations won't take place in the most effective and efficient way. Leaders-- invest time in meeting with your direct reports, teams and employees. Set ground rules in conversations and define expectations. Let employees know that all ideas are welcome. Lift people up, build camaraderie and empower people to share. It's this connection and collaboration that empowers the skills of the future.

The day I took a 3 AM business call from New Zealand, I knew I'd failed. My girlfriend looked at me and said: "You don't own a business. Your business owns you." She was right. I'd built a successful company but forgot to build myself out of it. The best founders do one thing brilliantly: they build systems. Here's the framework that changed everything: 1. The $5,000 Hour Rule I audit my week every Sunday with one question: How many hours were actually worth $5,000? $5,000 hour tasks: • Vision setting • Hiring A-players • Strategic decisions • High-level partnerships $10 hour tasks: • Inbox zero • Editing videos • Micromanaging • Managing Slack threads Then I delegate, automate, or eliminate everything else. 2. The 4 Core Systems Most founders get lost in complexity. I focus on four systems: 1. Vision Clarity System Where are we going in 3 years? Everyone needs to know. 2. Role Definition System Who owns what? No overlap. No confusion. 3. Communication Rhythm System How do we stay aligned without endless meetings? 4. Decision Framework System How do we choose fast without me being involved? Build these four first. Everything else is noise. 3. Hire Solutions, Not Problems The worst hires ask: "Matt, what should I do?" The best hires say: "Here's the problem, here are 3 solutions, here's my recommendation." This one shift let me go from 16-hour days to 4-hour days. 4. The Rule of Three Anything I do more than 3 times gets documented. Loom plus Google Docs create playbooks so detailed a high schooler could follow them. Client onboarding? Documented. Team meetings? Documented. Customer complaints? Documented. If it's not documented, it doesn't exist in my company. 5. The Freedom Test Here's how you know your systems work: Can you disappear for 4 weeks without your business falling apart? I recently spent 3 weeks in the Dolomites with zero business calls. My team made every decision. Revenue grew 12%. Customers were happier. That's what real systems look like. Most founders build themselves into their business. Smart founders build themselves out of it. __ Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Matt Gray for more. Ready to learn how to remove yourself from operations? Get the complete system that helps founders multiply profits while working less: https://lnkd.in/eQ4RCByh

15 years ago, I wrote "Write Better, Sell Better". The tagline that defined my career. Since then, I've written copy for Fortune 500 companies, projects that made millions, and taught copywriting at the university → Yep, writing is my life. But you don't have all semester long to learn. This post contains my 7 biggest writing lessons: (Save and repost this 60-second class ♻️) --- 1. Clarity is 90% of your writing Clarity beats cleverness 10 times out of 10. Remember: First, write clearly. Then, write creatively. Most focus on "creative" right off the bat = big no. (If you can do both, jackpot) --- 2. Use signposting to showcase authority I teach this technique to every single client. (This sentence you just read was a signpost) Signposts are short "signals" to your expertise and results. Think of them as signs on the side of the road, which allow you to "trust" the journey you're on. Can you notice where else I used it in this post? 😉 --- 3. Too much copy? Make it choppy. Here are 2 examples (the second one is better): Sometimes, we write super long sentences that we have no time to breathe and neither do our readers. Sometimes, we write super long sentences. We have no time to breathe. And neither do our readers. Chop it up! It's easier to read. --- 4. Write unselfishly. Edit relentlessly. Think about it. Writing is 80% editing. You are tweaking, optimizing, and making things sound perfect. One bit of advice: Don't hold back. Edit (ehm, delete) anything that isn't on-topic. I've deleted probably 40% of this post. --- 5. Use sensory words. Add texture to text. That had to hurt! → That had to "sting"! Having a bad day? → Having a "rough" day? A seamless process → A "silky-smooth" process All of the 2nd descriptions above can be "felt". It's how your readers "touch an emotion", not just "read text". --- 6. Never write to "everyone" Remember this for all time: "Everyone" is not your audience. Sales happen when your prospect can clearly "see" themselves in your writing. So how do you go about this? --- 7. The "Dear son" writing method Pick "one" person to speak to → I speak to my son. For you, it could be your best friend, the old you etc. I start everything with "Dear son" and end with "Love, Dad". In the end, I simply delete these 2 parts. Doing so creates such a powerful connection with your readers + a consistent tone of voice. With every word. Where there's connection, there's trust. And where there's trust, there's sales. Words to live by. --- Write Better, Sell Better = that's the whole game! Let me know which lesson you enjoy the most. Professor Jay, out. (Repost this for your network ♻️)

I Can Spot a Great Candidate in 30 Seconds - Without Looking at Their Resume. At Vicco Laboratories, the first few interview rounds are handled by our HR and leadership team. They assess skills, experience, performance history - all the standard checkboxes. But when someone reaches my room, I’m not evaluating capability. I’m evaluating character. Because skills can be trained. Character can’t. So in the final round, I deliberately observe three things before we even get into formal questions: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 1: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 Before they enter, I always ask our receptionist to make them wait for a few minutes. Not to trouble them — but to observe: Do they greet her or ignore her? Do they show gratitude or entitlement? Do they smile or stay blank? Do they thank her when being called in? If someone is only respectful upwards, they’re not fit for leadership. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 2: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 During the conversation, I pause intentionally. A great candidate: Doesn’t panic when things go quiet Holds eye contact without overcompensating Thinks before responding, instead of rushing to impress Silence is a pressure test.  Silence exposes a person’s comfort with themselves. And self-assured people make better decisions under pressure. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 3: 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐬𝐤 “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐚���� 𝐈 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐨”, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐆𝐞𝐭?” I watch closely when compensation and responsibilities are discussed. If the questions are only about salary, perks and timings, they’re employees. If they ask about learning culture, values, decision-making structure…they are already thinking as an owner. I’ll always choose alignment over achievement. So if you’re ever preparing for your final round anywhere — don’t just prepare your resume. Prepare your presence. Because long after your words fade, your character stays in the room. Sanjeev Pendharkar  Just sharing what I’ve learnt #values #business #hiring #hr #decisionmaking #cv #leadership #skills

Looking at this data from the World Economic Forum, my own take is that the skills defining leadership in 2030 fall into three macro domains: 🔹 Human-Centric Capabilities: Empathy, creativity, human talent management—skills machines can’t replicate, yet. 🔹 Cognitive & Strategic Intelligence: Analytical thinking, systems mindset, lifelong learning—the foundation for navigating uncertainty. 🔹 Digital & Technical Fluency: AI, cybersecurity, tech literacy—no longer optional for executives in a tech-driven world. As someone deeply embedded in executive search, I see this shift daily: what separates top candidates isn’t just what they know—it’s how they think, adapt, and connect. #Leadership #FutureOfWork #ExecutiveSearch #AI #Skills2030 #TechLeadership #TalentStrategy

Everyone talks about what is changing in sales that I think it's important to remember what will NEVER change in sales... 👇 Yes, AI is important. Yes, technology advances. Yes, buyers change. BUT there are a lot of things in sales that will never change: 1 - Sales will ALWAYS be about solving problems and helping people. ↳ People can tell when someone is only interested in selling something. ↳ The focus should always be on the problem you solve, not the product. 2 - Listen always has been, and always will be, more important than talking. ↳ The best salespeople listen 2-3X more than they talk. ↳ They ask the right questions and give their customers time to answer. ↳ The encourage their customers to elaborate and go deeper. 3 - People buy from people they TRUST. ↳ In an AI dominated world, trust has never been more valuable. ↳ If they don't trust you, they'll find a salesperson they do trust. 4 - Never sell something to someone who doesn't NEED it. ↳ You might win a sale, but chances are it will get cancelled. ↳ There's also the risk they tell others about their bad experience. 5 - Lying is NEVER acceptable in sales. ↳ If you lie to win a sale, chances are it won't last. ↳ No good salesperson will ever need to lie to win a sale. 6 - Sales success will always be based on hard and smart work. ↳ Hard work is important, but hard smart work will always win. ↳ Quality and quantity come hand in hand in sales. 7 - Salespeople need to be RESILIENT to win at sales. ↳ You'll face a lot of rejection, objection and challenge. ↳ The best in sales walk through it and know how to deal with it. 8 - The most important sales skill is the ability to ADAPT. ↳ Adapting to new tech, new platforms, new tools and new processes. ↳ Adapting to each individual prospect and customer. I'll be the first to embrace new things in sales. But I'll always follow the basics. And after 20+ years in sales I can tell you one thing... The basics will always win. Always.

The most important skills today and in the next years will be human capabilities: critical and analytic thinking, resilience, leadership and influence, overlaid with technological literacy and AI skills to amplify these human capacities. World Economic Forum's new Future of Jobs Report provides a deep and broad analysis of the drivers of labour market transformation, the outlook for jobs and skills, and workforce strategies across industries and nations. It's a really worthwhile deep dive if you're interested in the topic (link in comments). Here are some of the highlights from the Skills section, which to my mind is at the heart of it. 🧠 Analytical Thinking Leads Core Skills. Skills like analytical thinking (70%), resilience (66%), and creative thinking (64%) top the list of core abilities for 2025. By 2030, the emphasis shifts even more towards AI and big data proficiency (85%), technological literacy (76%), and curiosity-driven lifelong learning (79%). This shift underscores the critical role of technology and adaptability in future workplaces. 📉 Skill Stability Declines but at a Slower Rate. Employers predict that 39% of workers' core skills will change by 2030, slightly lower than 44% in 2023. This reflects a stabilization in the pace of skill disruption due to increased emphasis on upskilling and reskilling programs. Half of the workforce now engages in training as part of long-term learning strategies compared to 41% in 2023, showcasing the growing adaptation to technological changes . 🌍 Economic Disparities in Skill Disruption. Middle-income economies anticipate higher skill disruption compared to high-income ones. This disparity highlights the uneven challenges of transitioning labor forces across global regions, particularly in economies still grappling with structural changes. 🚀 Tech-Savvy Skills in High Demand. The adoption of frontier technologies, including generative AI and machine learning, is increasing the demand for skills like big data analysis, cybersecurity, and technological literacy. These trends indicate that businesses are aligning workforce strategies to integrate these advancements effectively. 📚 Upskilling Is the Norm, Not the Exception. By 2030, 73% of organizations aim to prioritize workforce upskilling as a response to ongoing disruptions. This reflects a shift in corporate investment priorities towards human capital enhancement to maintain competitiveness.