A new Validated Insights study shows AI education and training is expanding at more than twice the rate of other career learning sectors – with enrolment booming and a severe talent gap predicted.
A new report from Validated Insights estimates that AI education and training was a $16.2B market in 2024 and projects it will grow at more than 22 percent annually.
According to Validated Insights Report: Education Offerings in AI Fields Growing Very Rapidly, Dramatic Growth Expected, the market for training and education in AI fields is substantial and growing, with outsized anticipated demand signalling even more significant near-term growth. The report analyses enrolment trends in higher education and training, student demand and the labour market.
Enrolment in AI programmes at colleges and universities grew 45% annually from Fall 2018 to Fall 2023 – however there was a shortage of 341,000 AI and machine learning workers in 2023 that, by 2027, is projected to grow to nearly 700,000.
“Based on the data, there was sizable existing interest and demand for professional and workplace education and training in AI and AI-related areas, but we probably haven’t seen anything yet,” said Brady Colby, Head of Market Research, Validated Insights.
“According to survey data and hiring trends, this market, the AI education and training market, is positioned for incredible, maybe explosive, growth,” he said.
From Fall 2018 to Fall 2023 enrolment in AI programmes at colleges and universities grew 45% annually. Just 14 months after the launch of ChatGPT, enrolment in Generative AI courses on platforms like Coursera and Udemy grew to 3.5 million. Between 2019 and 2023 completions of graduate certificates in AI from colleges and universities grew 245 percent annually.
“As it stands, roughly 4% of the white-collar workforce is pursuing upskilling in the field of AI while 80% indicate interest in doing so,” according to the report. To highlight demand further, the report cites that there are 46.9 million workers indicating plans to upskill in AI within the next six months.
For comparison, leadership training, one of the largest and fastest-growing career education markets, is predicted to grow at 10.2% annually according to the report. Meanwhile, AI education programmes are projected to more than double that growth rate – estimated to grow at 22.7% per year.
“The expressed demand isn’t only driven by current workers wanting to upgrade or refine their skills on new technologies,” Colby said. “The job market is starting to seek and reward AI skills in hiring and we’re already seeing dramatic projections of shortages in many AI-related career fields.”
The report found that there is an estimated shortage of nearly 700,000 AI workers, a gap projected to persist in the coming years. AI/ML engineer employment is expected to almost triple from 2024 to 2027.
Also noteworthy in the report is an alarm for degree-granting higher education institutions. Only 0.2% of people learning AI in a supervised and structured environment are doing so via a credit-bearing programme, the report found.
“Given the expected very high demand for learning AI, that so few existing learners are in credit programmes is an important thing to know,” said Colby. “It’s not necessarily a warning for colleges and universities as it may be a blast of opportunity. If for-credit degree-granting institutions can sync their programmes and reach this massive pool of interested students, the rewards could be excessive – for the students and schools alike,” he said.
Another key finding is that although interest and demand for AI training is very high, workplace hiring for AI skills is uneven. Nearly half (46.7%) of all job postings for AI experts came from California, New York, Texas or Washington, according to the report.
The study also covers degree competition trends in AI fields of study, states with the highest and lowest interest in acquiring AI training, trends in venture capital funding for AI-related companies and existing business use of AI among other data.
The report is the first from Validated Insights to examine AI education and training specifically.
Previous studies have analysed the market for online programme management companies, MBA programmes, nursing education, computer science programmes and trade schools.
