How to Prepare for the Jobs of the Future – with Tiberiu Radu, AI Automation Trainer

According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), 39% of the skills we use today will be transformed or become outdated by 2030. The jobs of the future aren’t only brand-new roles; they’re also today’s jobs, done differently. The practical question remains: what should you learn now to be ready?

We talked about it with Tiberiu Radu, Senior Software Engineer, Tech Lead, and trainer of the AI Automation Specialist course at NewTech Academy. Below you’ll find the latest data on the IT job market in Romania and Europe, a five-step guide for the next 5-10 years, and Tiberiu’s answers, grounded in real projects: which jobs are in demand, which courses are worth taking, and what an AI automation specialist actually does.

Tiberiu Radu has worked in software development for more than ten years as a Senior Software Engineer and Tech Lead, specializing in enterprise architecture and end-to-end development. He currently coordinates complex solutions based on microservices and event-driven architectures for warehouse management systems (WMS). In recent years, he has built conversational agents with LangChain and OpenAI for querying operational data, as well as machine learning-based image processing modules. At NewTech Academy, he teaches the AI Automation Specialist course.

We asked him about the moment he realized AI was a direction worth pursuing. The answer comes… from a warehouse. A physical one.

“The moment that confirmed AI was worth pursuing was when I integrated a conversational agent into a WMS, the system that keeps track of inventory, movements, and operations in a warehouse. Instead of building more and more charts and dashboards that people interpret differently, we let the team ask simple questions: ‘How many orders are late today?’, ‘Where is picking getting stuck?’, ‘Which SKUs have abnormal turnover?’. The answers came back explained in plain language, clear both to a logistics expert and to someone who simply works in the system every day.”

What surprised him wasn’t the technology, but the speed. Management got the information it needed without waiting for a development cycle for every new report.

“It was no longer ‘let’s build a new report’, but ‘let’s ask now’. That’s when I clearly saw that AI doesn’t replace expertise; it makes it accessible. And that it fundamentally changes the work: from building a visualization for every question to building a channel through which operational data answers on its own, in context.”

The Jobs of the Future in Numbers: What’s Changing in IT, in Europe and in Romania

Data from 2025 and 2026 points the same way from several directions: the job market isn’t shrinking, it’s reorganizing, and AI skills are among the most sought-after.

Globally, the Future of Jobs Report 2025 (WEF) estimates that between 2025 and 2030, 170 million new jobs will be created and 92 million will disappear, a net gain of 78 million. Also, according to the WEF, technology roles are growing fastest in percentage terms (Big Data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and machine learning specialists, software developers), and “AI and big data” is the skill with the fastest-growing demand.

Demand also shows up in job ads. The PwC AI Jobs Barometer 2026, which analyzed more than one billion job ads across 27 territories, shows that jobs requiring AI skills grew by 69% over the past five years, compared with 9% for the job market as a whole. According to the same study, workers with AI skills earn 62% more on average. PwC’s figures are global; the study does not publish separate data for Romania.

In Europe, AI adoption has accelerated, while Romania is starting from further behind:

In the local market, BestJobs describes a two-speed market in the first half of 2026. A job ad now attracts around 80 applicants on average, compared with about 40 in previous years, yet IT and engineering positions remain hard to fill. AI skills have also moved from “nice to have” to real hiring requirements, including in HR and sales.

The takeaway for anyone preparing: competition is fierce for generalist jobs that are easy to automate, while employers still can’t find enough specialists. And Romania’s gap in AI adoption shows how much room for growth there is for people who know how to implement it.

What Are the Most In-Demand Jobs of the Future in Romania?

In 2026, the most in-demand jobs of the future in Romania’s IT sector are those that combine a solid technical foundation with working with AI: backend developers, cloud and DevOps engineers, systems architects, data and AI specialists, and AI automation specialists, who connect a company’s processes with technology.

In short, here’s what demand looks like:

• Backend developers. They remain among the most sought-after roles, especially in ecosystems such as Java, .NET and Node.js, according to the JoburiIT.ro platform (February 2026).
• Cloud and DevOps engineers and systems architects. The same source notes a visible increase in demand, as companies need scalable, resilient systems.
• Developers who use AI tools effectively. Demand isn’t necessarily for building models from scratch, but for integrating AI into teams’ workflows.
• AI, machine learning, and Big Data specialists. They are among the fastest-growing roles in percentage terms globally, according to the WEF (2025).
• AI automation specialists. A hybrid role between a business consultant and a technical expert that identifies which processes are worth automating and implements the solutions.

So AI jobs in Romania aren’t just about research or advanced programming. Tiberiu sees the same shift in the teams he works with:

“The jobs that remain in high demand in Romania are in IT infrastructure and software development. They’re not disappearing; they’re transforming. In development, advanced ‘pure’ coding is no longer as decisive as it was a few years ago. What has grown strongly is the ability to analyze a problem, choose the right technologies, and apply them with judgment.”

What do employers ask for today that they didn’t three years ago? “People who understand systems, data, automation and how a business process connects to a technical solution, not just someone who ‘knows a language’,” says Tiberiu Radu, AI Automation trainer at NewTech Academy.

How to Prepare for the Jobs of the Future Over the Next 5-10 Years: a 5-Step Guide

To be ready for the job market of the next 5-10 years, start with processes and data, not with a tool. Then practice on real cases and develop three skills that don’t go out of date: disciplined curiosity, judgment about priorities, and validating results. Tools will change; these habits will stay.

The guide below follows the steps Tiberiu would take if he were starting from scratch today.

1. Start with processes and data. Understand how work flows through a company: who does what, where information lives and where time is lost. “Without that, AI is just a pretty toy,” says Tiberiu.
2. Automate a small, real case. Pick a concrete workflow from email, Excel, a CRM or tickets and take it all the way to a result someone actually uses. “You learn the technology on a problem, not in the abstract.”
3. Cultivate disciplined curiosity. Keep asking “why” until you find the cause of a problem, not just the symptom.
4. Practice judging priorities. Learn to see what’s worth automating and what’s just noise. Not everything that can be automated adds value.
5. Validate with the people on the ground. Don’t stop at “it works in the demo.” A solution is done only when the people who use it confirm that it solves their problem.

The data points in the same direction. According to the WEF (2025), analytical thinking is the most sought-after core skill (seven in ten companies consider it essential), and curiosity and lifelong learning are gaining importance through 2030. Employers are ready to invest: 85% of the companies surveyed by the WEF plan to prioritize upskilling their workforce, and in Romania the share of companies planning to invest in upskilling reaches 94%, according to EURES (May 2025).

It’s also a good time for a career change into IT. In 2025, only 31.8% of Romanians had basic digital skills, the lowest level in the EU, according to Eurostat, so anyone building digital and AI skills now stands out. And Romanian IT is more diverse than the European average: women made up 27.8% of ICT specialists in 2025, the highest share in the EU.

“Tools change. Whoever understands the process and checks the result stays relevant,” Tiberiu sums up.

What Courses or Programs Should You Take to Access the Jobs of the Future?

Choose a course or program that starts from a company’s real problems, not from tools, and that ends with real projects, not demos. Tiberiu uses two simple criteria to tell a program that prepares you for a job apart from one that simply shows you tools.

First criterion: start from the problem, not the tool.

“A good program doesn’t start from the tool, but from the problem. You learn to map a process, to see where time is lost, where errors happen, who makes the decisions, and only then do you choose the tool. The difference from a course that ‘just shows you tools’ is clear: there, you see what ChatGPT or a workflow builder can do; here, you learn to say which process is worth touching and why.”

Second criterion: real projects, not demos.

“If by the end you’ve automated a workflow in logistics, HR or marketing, with data, exceptions and a user who actually uses it, you’re ready for a job. If all you have are screenshots of nice prompts, you’ve seen tools, not the profession.”

His test for any program: “Can you explain to a manager what you automated, what cost you reduced, and what risk you managed?” If yes, the program is preparing you. If not, it was a tool demo.

NewTech Academy’s AI Automation Specialist course is built on the same logic. 

• It lasts 6 months and includes 200 hours: 150 hours of live online evening classes and 50 hours of independent project work, with 70% of the time spent on practice. 
• The course ends with a 30-hour final project in which you choose a business case, design the architecture, build a working prototype, calculate the ROI, and deliver a live demo. 
• Along the way, you work with Claude, ChatGPT, Make, n8n, Zapier, Cursor, Copilot, and Lovable. 
• The program is designed both for people changing careers and for those who want to expand their skills, with or without technical experience.

The AI Automation Specialist: the Job that Connects Business and Technology

An AI automation specialist identifies processes that can be improved with artificial intelligence, implements the solutions and monitors them, turning a company’s operational needs into measurable results. The role matters especially in a market like Romania’s: in 2025, only 5.2% of Romanian companies used AI, according to Eurostat, and those getting started need someone who knows where to begin.

What does a workday of an AI Automation Specialist actually look like? Tiberiu describes it like this:

“On a typical day, the specialist doesn’t start the morning by opening an AI model. They open a conversation with the process owner: where things get stuck, how long they take, what exceptions come up. Then they map the steps, build a small prototype, and test it with two or three users. The same cycle: understand, build, validate. The tool is the means, not the goal.”

We also asked Tiberiu about a process that was worth automating – “In the WMS, replacing the wait for reports and charts with simple questions and clearly explained answers, for both management and operators.” And a process that wasn’t – “Let’s replace a colleague’s judgment,” with no clear rules. “When an atypical case comes up, the automation breaks and creates more work than it saves,” Tiberiu explains.

That’s also where the advantage lies for people working in marketing, HR, or operations. “They come with context. They already know where it hurts. Coding is learned along the way; not understanding the business is the hard obstacle. They see what’s worth automating, and that’s half the job,” says Tiberiu Radu.

Tiberiu’s Message for Future Students

The AI Automation Specialist course starts on Monday, October 5, 2026. For those signing up now, Tiberiu has a message:

“If you’re signing up now, my message is simple: you start with an advantage if you come from business, and in six months the goal isn’t the certificate, but an automated process that someone actually uses. Expect practice, iterations, and moments when you say ‘this isn’t worth automating’. Get the most out of it by linking every module to a case from your own work or field. From the first week, remember: not ‘what can AI do?’, but ‘which process is worth it?’. The rest you’ll learn along the way.”

Want to know if this course is right for you? The NewTech Academy team offers a free online counseling session on Zoom, where you can talk about your goals and how the course works. Apply now or explore the AI Automation Specialist curriculum.

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