AI Isn’t Cutting Tech Jobs. It’s Redefining Them,
and Upskilling Is the New Competitive Edge
The headlines say AI is shrinking teams and displacing developers. The data says otherwise. The 2026 State of Tech Talent Report found AI is a net driver of job creation in IT, with a +31% net hiring effect this year. So why are so many organizations still struggling to keep up?
It’s not a hiring problem. It’s a capability problem: most organizations haven’t built the infrastructure, skills, or security posture to deploy AI safely and at scale.
Join us on Tuesday, August 18 for The Cap(AI)bility Edge: Why Workforce Upskilling Is Becoming the Defining Competitive Advantage of the AI Era, a free webinar unpacking the 2026 State of Tech Talent Report and what it means for how organizations hire, train, and retain technical talent.
Live Session
August 18 | 08:00 PDT | 11:00 EDT | 15:00 UTC
Register Now
Security concerns have jumped from the last-place barrier to AI adoption in 2024 to the number-one barrier in 2026, and the talent gap behind it runs across the full stack: AI, platform engineering, DevOps, cloud native, and cybersecurity. The organizations pulling ahead aren’t the ones buying more AI tools. They’re the ones investing in the people they already have.
This webinar is for tech leaders, HR and L&D professionals, and anyone responsible for building a workforce strategy for the AI era. Attendees will learn:
- What the +31% net hiring effect actually reveals about where tech job demand is growing, and why even entry-level roles are expanding despite automation
- Where the 2026 skills gaps really are: a full-stack readiness problem spanning AI security, platform engineering, Kubernetes, and DevOps, not just an AI specialization shortage
- Why security jumped from 17% to 48% as the top barrier to AI adoption, and what organizations need to close that gap
- Why organizations are 3.5x more likely to upskill than hire, backed by data showing new hires take 53% longer to reach productivity and 28% leave within six months
- What actually retains technical talent: 2026 data shows training (93%) now outranks compensation (91%) as a retention driver
Your speakers:
- Clyde Seepersad, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Linux Foundation Education
- Mumshad Mannambeth, Founder & CEO, KodeKloud
- Anna Hermansen, Senior Researcher & Ecosystem Manager, Linux Foundation Research
- Hilary Carter, Vice President, Linux Foundation Research
