Investing in Technology Is Not Enough: Closing the Talent Gap in AI, Quantum, and Cybersecurity
Billions of dollars are being invested in emerging technologies each year, but talent development is far behind. Take quantum for instance, there are three open jobs for every one qualified candidate, with four industries—pharmaceuticals, chemicals, automotive, and finance—on track to benefit from this technology.1 Meanwhile, professionals with advanced AI skills such as machine learning and data science account for only about one percent of the overall workforce.2 And yet there are still more than half a million cybersecurity jobs unfilled in the U.S. alone, despite the growing need for professionals who can protect our infrastructure as our data becomes increasingly digitized.3
Given these talent shortages, the workforce challenge is clear—governments and organizations need to invest more in our emerging technologies workforce. If the talent pipelines and educational pathways are not built along the way, we risk creating technologies that very few people are prepared to use, apply, and secure. Investment in both technology and the related workforce must happen simultaneously.
Building Competencies Beyond Technical Skills
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), through its Workcred division, has already begun engaging in this work through the development of an Accreditation Model for Cybersecurity Competency-Based Community Clinics. The model identifies key elements of competency-based clinics, and addresses the need for cybersecurity training programs to more clearly identify competencies that are then demonstrated and validated through assessments.4
As the model asserts, investment in talent should not be limited to technical skills alone—it should also include critical thinking, adaptability, communication, creativity, and problem-solving. These competencies are essential not only for emerging technologies, but for driving innovation, responding to changes, and making informed decisions in complex situations. As technologies become more integrated into our schools and workplaces, we need to ensure these vitally important skills continue to be nurtured alongside technical components.
Keeping Up With Emerging Technologies
Research suggests there may be risks associated with relying too heavily on AI. A study from MIT found that when people engage with AI passively, brain activity is weaker than when they do not use AI.5 While AI can certainly be used as a tool to support necessary job functions, evidence shows that fully offloading our thinking could come at the cost of weakening our critical competencies through underuse.6 We cannot afford to engage with emerging technologies passively, nor can we focus only on developing the technical skills of the workforce. Instead, we must also ensure that creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking are also valued, nurtured, and developed alongside the technologies themselves. Otherwise, we risk creaking a workforce that can operate these tools but lacks the needed skills through critical thinking and problem solving to use them effectively.
To keep pace with demand in key emerging technologies like quantum, AI, and cybersecurity, workers and employers need traditional education pathways complemented with competency-based, work-based learning models that accelerate skill acquisition and expand access to emerging technology skills. Only by investing in both technological innovation and human capability skills can we fully realize the promise of these transformative technologies.
Help Shape the Future of Emerging Technologies
Anyone interested in shaping the future of emerging technology research, standards, and talent development should engage with ANSI’s collaborative initiatives.7
References
1 Biondi, Matteo, Anna Heid, Nicolaus Henke, Niko Mohr, Lorenzo Pautasso, Ivan Ostojic, Linde Wester, and Rodney Zemmel. Quantum Computing Use Cases Are Getting Real: What You Need to Know. McKinsey & Company, December 14, 2021. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/quantum-computing-use-cases-are-getting-real-what-you-need-to-know.
2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Skills in the AI Age. OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers, no. 60. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2026. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/07/skills-in-the-ai-age_e8d8c1e6/972bd15e-en.pdf.
3 CyberSeek. “Cybersecurity Supply/Demand Heat Map.” Accessed August 31, 2026. https://www.cyberseek.org/heatmap.html.
4 Workcred. Accreditation Model for Cybersecurity Competency-Based Community Clinics. Washington, DC: Workcred, September 2025. https://share.ansi.org/wc/Shared%20Documents/Workcred-Reports/Accreditation-Model-for-Cybersecurity-Competency-Based-Community-Clinics.pdf.
5 Kosmyna, Nataliya, Eugene Hauptmann, Ye Tong Yuan, Jessica Situ, Xian-Hao Liao, Ashly Vivian Beresnitzky, Iris Braunstein, and Pattie Maes. Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt When Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. MIT Media Lab, June 10, 2025. https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/.
6 American Psychological Association. “How AI is reshaping human skills and thinking: Can regular AI use in work and daily life impact job skills and key cognitive abilities?” July 1, 2026. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2026/07-08/ai-job-skills-thinking.
7 American National Standards Institute. “Standards Coordination Activities Types, Objectives, and Deliverables.” Accessed September 15, 2026. https://www.ansi.org/standards-coordination/types-objectives-and-deliverables.
