Ryan FowlerO’Reilly, a leading source for technology and business learning, has released its annual Technology Trends for 2025report, offering insights based on the usage patterns of its 2.8 million users. The report highlights key shifts in developer learning, with AI-related skills dominating the landscape, while interest in traditional programming languages and some cloud certifications declines.
According to the report, AI technologies are driving the most significant changes in developer focus. Interest in prompt engineering rose by 456%, AI principles by 386%, and generative AI by 289%. Usage of content related to GitHub Copilot saw the highest increase, surging by 471%. Mike Loukides, vice president of emerging technology content at O’Reilly and the report’s author, said: “This year marks a pivotal transition in technology, with AI evolving from generative capabilities to a transformative force reshaping how developers approach their craft.”
In contrast, interest in platform-specific skills such as GPT saw a decline, with usage dropping by 13%. The report notes a shift towards foundational AI knowledge and skills like LangChain and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which are gaining traction alongside established AI frameworks such as PyTorch and Keras.
Security remains a critical area of focus, with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) topics seeing a 44% rise in interest, while application security content grew by 17%. Loukides added: “As foundational skills gain prominence and organizations increasingly adopt comprehensive security practices, professionals must prioritize upskilling to effectively integrate these tools into their operations.” The rise of the zero trust model, with a 13% increase in usage, further underscores a growing commitment to robust security strategies.
Additional trends noted in the report include a 29% increase in demand for data engineering skills and rising popularity of Rust, which saw a 9.6% increase in usage. Meanwhile, usage of Python and Java content fell by 5.3% and 13% respectively, reflecting a shift in programming preferences.
While cloud computing interest has plateaued, Google Cloud certifications were an exception, experiencing a modest 2.2% growth. Security certifications like CISSP and CompTIA Security+ remain highly sought after, with 11% and 13% growth respectively.
The report concludes that as AI matures and security strategies evolve, developers and businesses must adapt to new realities by prioritizing upskilling in emerging technologies to remain competitive.
