Israel Leads World in AI Talent Concentration, Surpassing US and China
Israel leads the list of countries with the highest concentration of AI talent in the world. The country has surpassed China and the United States, which have long been known as the two most dominant nations in AI development today.
Based on 2024 data from LinkedIn and Microsoft, Israel ranks first with 1.98%. The next positions are occupied by Singapore (1.64%) and Luxembourg (1.44%).
“Many countries with the highest concentration of AI talent, such as Israel, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Estonia, have relatively small populations and land areas. However, they stand out significantly in terms of rapidly developing AI talent,” said Chua Pei Ying, LinkedIn’s Chief Economist for the APAC region.
“This can be achieved by building a supportive ecosystem. Companies invest in developing their employees’ skills, and governments create policies that encourage continuous learning,” Chua added.
Neither China nor the US made it into the top 10 of the report. In China’s case, its absence is due to LinkedIn services being inaccessible there, so data could not be collected.
India also did not make the top 10 list. Nevertheless, there was an increase of up to 252% over the 2016-2024 period, indicating that India has been quite aggressive in developing AI talent domestically. In fact, AI-related hiring in India recorded a surge of up to 33.4% in a single year throughout 2024.
In terms of AI-related hiring, Singapore recorded growth of 25%, followed by the US at 24.7%. Chua explained that Singapore’s focus on continuous learning has contributed significantly to its competitiveness in the AI era.
“Our data shows that workers in Singapore are the fastest learners. They spend 40% more time learning AI skills compared to other countries in Southeast Asia,” she explained.
The following is the list of the top 10 countries with the highest concentration of AI talent, as cited from CNBC Make It:
Israel (1.98%)
Singapore (1.64%)
Luxembourg (1.44%)
Estonia (1.17%)
Switzerland (1.16%)
Finland (1.13%)
Ireland (1.11%)
Germany (1.09%)
Netherlands (1.07%)
South Korea (1.06%)
Meanwhile, the same report states that 66% of company leaders said they would not hire employees who lack AI skills.
The report also revealed companies’ preferences in recruiting candidates. A total of 71% of respondents chose to hire inexperienced people with AI skills over experienced candidates without AI skills.
The joint Microsoft and LinkedIn survey was conducted among 31,000 respondents across 31 countries.
In this study, LinkedIn took into account several AI engineering skills, such as machine learning and natural language processing, as well as AI literacy skills such as the use of ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot.