An Edinburgh-based recruitment firm has revealed what tech jobs are expected to be the most in demand in Scotland over the next year, with insights into the competitive salaries these positions are likely to command.

Using quantitative data on emerging job market trends, Core-Asset Consulting’s research suggests that continued investments by businesses in emerging tech will see those working in technology integration and automation being particularly sought after.

According to Core-Asset, AI specialists in 2025 are set to earn an average annual salary of £92,000, while data analysts will take home around £83,500. However, both are outstripped by digital transformation leads, whose roles are projected to fetch salaries as high as £145,000 this year.

With the AI boom continuing businesses are being forced to pay a premium for those with the right skillsets. Last year, findings from the Fiverr Future Workforce Index found that 83% of UK businesses were willing to pay a higher wage to those with AI skills amid increasing hiring challenges, with four in 10 finding it difficult to recruit full-time, permanent new hires.

Integrating more technology means organisations face heightened threats to their digital infrastructure, which in addition to incoming regulation around fraud prevention means that cybersecurity roles will also be in demand.

Core-Asset’s report found that Scottish cybersecurity specialists and technology risk managers are set to make £100,000 on average in 2025, with IT governance leads potentially making as much as £142,500.

Navigating the increasingly complex regulatory environment, and subsequent focus on businesses’ operational resilience, will also apparently see compliance expertise being hunted out, with regulatory analysts seeing an average salary of £87,500, and compliance officers making £95,000, only slightly less than the £97,500 the report predicts operational risk managers could earn this year.    

Outside of tech specific roles, Core-Asset said that those working in strategic change management and tax management will also be valuable.

Scottish transformation project managers could see an average salary of £117,500, with strategy consultants potentially making as much as £120,000.

Global tax and intercompany specialists, meanwhile, are predicted to make £83,000, slightly more than personal tax specialists working in wealth management who Core-Asset’s forecast show will earn £73,000 on average. 

“Whilst these roles will be particularly in demand in 2025, there will be specific skills that businesses are looking for candidates to demonstrate when interviewing – more so than experience,” said Betsy Williamson, founder and CEO of Core-Asset Consulting.

“With the labour market and the world of work exceptionally volatile right now, businesses need workers that are able to constantly adapt, pivot and upskill in order to navigate known and unknown challenges ahead. Professionals that are able to demonstrate these skills will set themselves up for the most success when it comes to career progression in 2025.”

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Despite these tech roles being in demand north of the border, recent research has shown that tech workers could earn a lot more elsewhere.  

Although the UK reportedly has the second highest-paying IT market in Europe, beaten only by Switzerland, only the highest 10% of salaries in Edinburgh exceeded £70,000 in 2024.

Other cities, including London, Belfast, Cambridge, and Manchester were the foremost leading UK locations for IT remuneration, with the average London salary last year being £67,800, and the top 10% of salaries there exceeding £105,000.