Data Engineers at the Forefront of AI Revolution, Workloads Surge: New Report
CAMBRIDGE, MA - A new report reveals data engineers are increasingly critical to business success adn are dedicating a rapidly growing portion of their time to artificial intelligence projects, even as their overall workloads intensify. The findings, released today, underscore a fundamental shift in the role of data engineering as organizations lean further into AI-driven strategies.
According to the study, 72% of technology leaders now view data engineers as integral to their businesses, a sentiment rising to 86% within the largest organizations-those with the highest levels of AI maturity. This importance is notably pronounced in the financial services and manufacturing sectors. The evolving landscape is driving a significant increase in time spent on AI initiatives, nearly doubling from an average of 19% of a data engineer’s day in 2023 to 37% in 2025. Experts predict this trend will accelerate, reaching 61% within the next two years.
The report highlights the growing complexity of data management, particularly with the rise of unstructured data and the demand for real-time data pipelines to support advanced AI models. Consequently, 77% of respondents anticipate continued growth in data engineer workloads.
The full report is available for download here.
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This content was researched, designed, and written by human writers, editors, analysts, and illustrators. This includes the writing of surveys and collection of data for surveys.AI tools that may have been used were limited to secondary production processes that passed thorough human review.
