News

Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

• By John K. Waters
• August 06, 2025

The long-standing career strategy of stacking certifications to boost income is losing its edge in the AI era. Instead, for AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.

A new report from Foote Partners' "IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index," which analyzed data from 4,722 companies, found that professionals with proven, non-certified AI expertise are earning up to 23 percent above base salaries. By contrast, workers with formal AI certifications top out around 11 percent. This shift reflects a broader industry reality: As AI becomes central to business operations, measurable performance is trumping traditional credentials.

"AI is beginning to shift from experimental to operational for many employers," said David Foote, chief analyst and research officer of Foote Partners, in a statement. "Now, employers are thinking about jobs more as tasks, not titles: tasks that can be done entirely by an AI agent/robot, tasks that will be done with a human working with an AI agent/robot, and tasks that are uniquely human."

The Hands-On Advantage
Here's the breakdown that's turning conventional wisdom upside down. Twenty-three specific non-certified AI skills are commanding pay bumps ranging from 19 percent to 23 percent of base salary. Meanwhile, the 10 highest-paying AI certifications barely crack double digits, averaging 9 percent to 11 percent premiums.

The numbers tell a clear story: Employers value practical AI experience over formal credentials. Across 89 non-certified AI skills that companies consider essential to their initiatives, workers are earning an average 15 percent salary premium. Compare that to the 21 tracked AI certifications, which average just 8.1 percent.

What's driving this shift? Companies are fundamentally rethinking how work gets done. Instead of hiring for traditional job titles, they're organizing around three types of tasks: those handled entirely by AI, those requiring human-AI collaboration, and uniquely human work.

This task-based approach demands constantly evolving skill combinations, the kind of adaptable expertise that can't be captured in static certification programs. "Skills are mapped directly onto these three task segments," Foote explained, "except each task requires new skills and skill combinations, and that continually changes."

The AI Skills Gold Rush
The pace of change is staggering. When researchers first began tracking AI-related pay premiums 18 months ago, only 57 skills and certifications qualified. That number has exploded to 110, nearly doubling as AI transitions from experimental side projects to core business operations.

Pay premiums for these 112 AI-related skills and certifications have risen more than 3 percent in market value over the past year alone, signaling sustained employer appetite for AI talent.

The implications are clear for anyone looking to capitalize on the AI boom: Focus on building demonstrable skills over collecting certificates. In a field moving at breakneck speed, the ability to adapt and apply AI tools in real-world scenarios trumps formal credentials every time.

As companies integrate AI deeper into their operations, they're betting on people who can hit the ground running, not those who've simply passed a test. The lesson? In the AI economy, your portfolio matters more than your diploma.