The Fintech Power 50 Annual 2025

The race for AI talent: Why it’s accelerating and what it means By Tram Anh Nguyen , co-founder CFTE and chairwoman Global Women in AI

In the 21st-century economy, talent has always been a competitive edge. But with the rise of artificial intelligence, we are no longer simply talking about talent, we are now in a full-speed race for AI-ready talent. And the finish line is moving fast. Across industries and nations, the same pattern is unfolding: some individuals and organisations are scaling their capabilities at exponential speed, while others are quietly losing ground. What’s driving this divergence isn’t access to technology. It’s readiness to use it – strategically, structurally and systemically. Today, AI is not just automating tasks. It’s rewriting how value is created, how decisions are made, and how institutions are designed. This shift is producing a new kind of talent landscape. On one side, we see Mass Displacement: roles built on routine execution are shrinking or vanishing. On the other, we see the rise of Supercharged Professionals – those who amplify their impact by integrating AI into the way they think, decide, and deliver. And at the very frontier are Creative Disruptors – individuals building entirely new systems, often achieving in months what used to take years. But the most striking insight? This race is still invisible to many. It’s not marked by degrees or titles. Traditional indicators of success – seniority, credentials, even technical skills – no longer predict future performance. What matters now is the ability to operate in ambiguity, structure complex problems and use AI to build, not just to speed up.

This is not about learning to prompt ChatGPT. It’s about learning how to lead in an AI-powered world. The CFTE – Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship’s Performance Hexagon shows that as AI takes over task execution, the real value shifts upward - to those who solve problems, design systems, and create new pathways. For individuals, this means moving from tool users to system thinkers. For organisations, it means embedding AI-readiness into the core of leadership, talent strategy and workflows. And for nations, it’s no longer about workforce size, but talent density – how many people can adapt and lead in a world of constant transformation. We are living through a structural transformation of work, value and relevance. CFTE’s whitepaper – The AI-fication of Talents – is not a future trend it’s the present

The future of talent must be AI-ready. But it must also be equitable. Global Women in AI by CFTE is a movement to ensure that women are central in shaping the future of AI. We all know how impactful AI already is, and how transformative it will continue to be but are we creating the most impactful technology ever without women, without everybody being at the table? This matters because diversity influences the kind of systems we build. When more perspectives are involved, technology becomes more inclusive, more ethical and more useful to society as a whole. Our mission at Global Women in AI is to create the pathways that make this possible: equipping women with knowledge, building communities of support, and opening opportunities to lead. Inclusion must be designed, encourage and supported.

» The future of talent must be AI-ready. But it must also be equitable.

reality. And like every race, the advantage goes to those who see it first, and act faster. We are not running against each other; we are running against irrelevance. For nations, companies and societies, the

Tram Anh Nguyen co-founder of CFTE and chairwoman Global Women

question is not just who adopts AI fastest. It’s who builds the deepest, most inclusive capacity to lead in this era of intelligence at scale. This is why CFTE is proud to work with nations, leaders, educators, and institutions that understand this isn’t just a tech challenge, it’s a human one. One that demands the wfull power, perspective and leadership of everyone, especially the women too often left at the margins of the last wave of innovation, Global Women in AI is playing its part.

in AI, is a global leader building the systems, alliances, and platforms that ensure the AI transition delivers widespread, human-centred progress. Whitepaper report : Ai-fication of Talents Whitepaper LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tramanhnguyen9