Despite the huge demand for AI and machine learning professionals, the biggest advantage in the job market in 2025 remains Excel knowledge. Microsoft’s old spreadsheet editor turned out to be more in demand than Python, SQL, or even Machine Learning.
Despite the huge demand for AI and machine learning professionals, the biggest advantage in the job market in 2025 remains Excel knowledge. Microsoft’s old spreadsheet editor turned out to be more in demand than Python, SQL, or even Machine Learning.
According to Business Insider, a study by the education platform Course Report found that out of 12 million job postings on Indeed, Excel was mentioned in 531,000 ads. This is the highest rate among all technical skills. For comparison, Microsoft Office was listed in 344,000 jobs overall, HTML in 129,000, while Python was listed in only 67,000 and Machine Learning in 31,000.
Analysts explain that the demand for Excel is directly related to data processing, which is the basis for the development of artificial intelligence. The program, created in 1985, is used as a key tool in making financial and business decisions. «The Excel interface is too deeply integrated into corporate processes. Only the way in which data gets there is changing,» said PromptQL co-founder Rajoshi Roche.
SecurityPal CEO Pukar Hamal expressed a similar opinion: «We like to talk about new interfaces, but the last mile is always the same — the data ends up in Excel. That’s where the decisions that drive the real money are made.»
At the same time, the salary gap between classic Excel specialists and AI engineers is huge. While spreadsheet skills are paid at market rates, machine learning specialists can earn over $200,000 per year, and top AI companies offer compensation packages of up to $1 million. However, even in these conditions, Excel remains the most frequently mentioned skill in job vacancies.
Excel was released back in 1985 as a spreadsheet editor for data processing and has survived more than one generation of technology over four decades. Its relevance is explained by its versatility: the program is used in finance, logistics, marketing, manufacturing and even in the field of AI, where it serves for data pre-processing. In 2025, against the backdrop of the AI boom, Excel has proven that it remains indispensable in the technological world.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Microsoft took another step towards fully integrating artificial intelligence into its office products: now Excel has the =COPILOT function, which works like a regular formula, but with the capabilities of generative AI.
