Finance professionals say the AI skills gap is widening

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(The Center Square) – A new survey from the CQF Institute found 76% of finance professionals believe their academic training did not adequately prepare them for the artificial intelligence skills required in the workforce.

The CQF Institute, a global quantitative finance membership organization based in London, reported 88% of quantitative finance professionals worldwide believe a skills gap exists across the industry. Quantitative finance is a field that analyzes investment opportunities.

Additionally, 76% say the gap between required skills and available talent has grown over the past three years.

“AI is raising the technical bar across quant finance,” Dr. Randeep Gug, managing director of the CQF Institute, said in a statement. “Financial institutions are discovering that deploying advanced AI systems requires far more professionals with strong quantitative and computational foundations than the market currently produces.”

The Center Square reached out to the institute, which was not available for an interview by press time.

As AI technology and tools become embedded in the education world, 58% of the institute's respondents said the technology has expanded the scope of their responsibilities over the past two years.

Those changes are expected to accelerate. Nearly 74% of respondents predict artificial intelligence will drive a major or complete transformation of quantitative roles within the next five years.

The growing technical demands are already affecting hiring. More than half of those surveyed, 55%, said it is difficult to find strong quantitative professionals with the necessary mix of mathematical, computational and AI-related skills.

At the same time, 75% of professionals reported their current roles require capabilities they were never taught in college, prompting many to rely on self-directed learning or on-the-job experience.  

But educators continue to express concern that AI could become a shortcut for cheating. They're concerned that current safeguards are insufficient. 

As this AI boom continues in 2026, more than 130 AI-related bills have been introduced across 31 states, addressing restrictions on AI classroom use and curriculum integration. 

The survey, titled the “Careers in Quantitative Finance Survey,” was conducted among 135 quantitative finance professionals globally, according to the CQF Institute.