Data storytelling is the second-fastest emerging skill sought by employers worldwide, behind only agentic AI, according to WTW.
The professional services firm’s Q3 2026 Talent Intelligence Report also found that sales, marketing and customer service roles make up 25% of demand for talent, more than any other job group. The report analysed publicly available job descriptions from more than 1,500 organisations between January and June 2026.
Erin Page, talent intelligence lead at WTW, said: “The findings show that AI is not replacing the need for human capability; it is changing where organisations need it most. Employers are looking for people who can combine technical fluency with judgement, communication and customer understanding.”
Data storytelling also made the top five emerging skills in Europe and North America. WTW said this points to rising demand for people who can turn data and the output of new technology into narratives that shape commercial decisions. Customer analytics ranked fifth among emerging skills globally, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems featured in North America’s top five.
WTW identified emerging skills by comparing how often they appeared in job descriptions over the past six months with the previous six.
Prompt engineering ranked sixth globally and third in Europe. WTW said professionals in non-technical roles are increasingly using AI tools in their daily work. AI governance is rising alongside agentic and generative AI as organisations invest in the oversight needed to use the technology responsibly.
Among established skills, relationship management and commercial negotiation ranked highly in the top 20. WTW linked this to a focus on retaining existing accounts and securing favourable terms as spending constraints tighten.
Account manager ranked third in the top 20 jobs in demand and sales representative fifth, behind customer service representative and software engineer.
Ruchi Arora, senior director, Work & Rewards at WTW, said employers needed to understand how work is changing at the task level. “A structured approach can help organisations target automation effectively, identify adjacent talent pools and focus investment on the skills that will create sustainable value,” she added.
Banking was among the leading sub-industries hiring software engineers, cyber security engineers and solution architects, while insurance featured among the top sub-industries for cyber security engineers.