Despite the intense competition for AI talent in Silicon Valley, Microsoft Excel remains the most in-demand skill in the tech industry, according to recent research from Course Report. The analysis of over 12 million tech job postings on Indeed revealed that Excel appeared in 531,000 listings, dramatically outpacing AI-related skills and even essential programming languages.
The findings show a striking gap between traditional and emerging tech skills. Python, a fundamental programming language for AI development, appeared in only 67,000 listings, while SQL, used for data management, showed up 60,000 times. AI-specific expertise appeared even less frequently, with machine learning mentioned in 31,000 postings and AI itself in just 25,000.
This dominance of a 40-year-old spreadsheet tool (first released in 1985) highlights a crucial reality: the tech industry still relies heavily on Excel for managing the data backbone that powers the AI boom. As AI companies engage in fierce competition for unique data—sometimes pushing legal boundaries with copyright concerns—Excel expertise remains essential for organizing and analyzing this information.
Rajoshi Ghosh, cofounder of PromptQL, a tech unicorn helping Fortune 500 companies build reliable AI systems, explained that Excel’s interface is “too deeply ingrained in how business users think and operate.” She predicts that while Excel will remain central, AI’s role will evolve to “deliver accurate, contextual data directly into the tools people already trust: like Excel.”
Pukar Hamal, CEO of SecurityPal, emphasized that despite the excitement around chatbots and AI agents, Excel remains where “real decisions and real dollars move” for most B2B companies. He noted that companies either “dress up an Excel model with a UI, or you give buyers a way to take your data back to Excel.”
This trend persists even as tech giants engage in bidding wars for AI talent, offering premiums up to $200,000 for machine learning skills and $1 million pay packages for top AI experts at companies like Meta, Google, Amazon, and OpenAI. New AI-adjacent roles like prompt engineering and vibe-coding are also emerging as lucrative career paths, though Excel proficiency remains the foundational skill across the industry.
Key Quotes
The interface is too deeply ingrained in how business users think and operate. What will change is how the data gets into Excel.
Rajoshi Ghosh, cofounder of PromptQL, a tech unicorn helping Fortune 500 companies build AI systems, explains why Excel will remain relevant despite AI advances. This highlights how AI will augment rather than replace traditional business tools.
We keep pretending the future arrives through new interfaces. For most B2B companies, the last mile is the same. You either dress up an Excel model with a UI, or you give buyers a way to take your data back to Excel. That is where real decisions and real dollars move.
Pukar Hamal, CEO of SecurityPal, emphasizes the enduring importance of Excel in business decision-making. His observation reveals that despite flashy AI interfaces, Excel remains the trusted tool where actual business transactions occur.
As AI matures, its real role is to deliver accurate, contextual data directly into the tools people already trust: like Excel.
Rajoshi Ghosh articulates the future relationship between AI and traditional tools, suggesting that AI’s value lies in enhancing existing workflows rather than replacing them entirely. This vision positions AI as a data delivery mechanism for established business platforms.
Our Take
This data reveals a fascinating paradox in the AI revolution: while tech giants offer million-dollar packages for AI expertise, the market demands Excel skills at a ratio of 20:1 compared to AI-specific knowledge. This isn’t a failure of AI adoption—it’s evidence of how technology actually transforms industries. Real digital transformation happens through augmentation of existing tools, not wholesale replacement. The companies succeeding in AI aren’t abandoning Excel; they’re building AI systems that feed into it. This suggests the most valuable professionals won’t be pure AI specialists or Excel experts alone, but hybrid professionals who understand both—those who can architect AI systems that deliver insights through the interfaces where business decisions actually happen. The premium salaries for AI talent reflect scarcity, but the volume of Excel requirements reflects actual market need.
Why This Matters
This research reveals a critical disconnect between the AI hype cycle and actual workplace needs, with profound implications for tech education and workforce development. While billions flow into AI research and companies compete fiercely for machine learning experts, the data shows that traditional data management skills remain far more universally demanded across the industry.
For businesses, this underscores that AI implementation isn’t replacing foundational data skills—it’s building on top of them. Companies investing heavily in AI must ensure their workforce maintains strong data literacy and Excel proficiency to bridge the gap between AI outputs and business decision-making.
For job seekers and educators, the findings suggest a balanced approach to skill development is essential. While specialized AI skills command premium salaries, Excel expertise provides broader employability across the tech sector. The integration of AI with traditional tools like Excel represents the likely future of work—not wholesale replacement, but augmentation of existing workflows. This trend also highlights how enterprise software adoption moves slower than technological innovation, with established tools maintaining dominance even as new technologies emerge.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/excel-most-in-demand-skill-tech-job-listings-ai-2025-8