Platform Engineering is quickly becoming the backbone of modern tech organisations – and the businesses that fail to invest in emerging technical and AI skills risk falling behind.
This was one of my key takeaways following the recent Northern DevOps & Platform Conference 2026 at CGI in Leeds, where I heard regional speakers explore one of the biggest challenges facing this industry today: how do we future-proof DevOps, Platform Engineering, and AI in a market where demand for skills is accelerating faster than ever?
The Growing Skills Gap in DevOps, Platform & AI
The event’s speakers discussed essential insights on balancing AI integration with Platform or DevOps – reinforcing many of the conversations I’ve had with CTOs and Heads of Engineering across the UK over the last 12 months.
Businesses are shifting into a new era of platform centric delivery, where teams can move faster, work more securely, and operate with far more autonomy. But the key challenge is the skills needed to thrive in this environment are changing faster than the workforce can keep up.
Across every conversation I had at the conference, one theme kept resurfacing: a shortage of niche DevOps and Platform Engineering talent and the widening skills gap.
Organisations are struggling to hire Platform Engineers who can:
- Design, build and maintain scalable, secure cloud infrastructure
- Automate infrastructure provisioning, deployments and operational processes
- Integrate AI platform services into existing engineering and software delivery workflows
- Troubleshoot complex issues across cloud infrastructure, networking, applications and delivery pipelines
- Implement monitoring, observability and operational practices to improve reliability and maintainability
- Work effectively within product-aligned teams where platform engineering is treated as a core capability
Modern Platform Engineers are expected to operate across cloud infrastructure, automation, observability, security, and increasingly, AI‑assisted delivery practices. AI‑driven automation and decision-making tools also require engineers who understand not just the technology, but the governance, ethics, and operational impact behind it.
For businesses, this isn’t just a short-term hiring challenge – it’s an opportunity to build a long-term, scalable and structural talent strategy that supports niche business requirements.
Why Platform Engineering Is Becoming a Business Priority
One of the biggest takeaways from the conference was how businesses can add value to essential work streams through AI integration across both Platform and DevOps teams – shifting from a simple “nice-to-have” to a strategic business advantage.
Engineering leaders are under pressure to:
- Reduce deployment bottlenecks
- Improve developer productivity
- Standardise infrastructure and tooling
- Accelerate cloud adoption
- Strengthen security and compliance
- Support AI integration at scale
The organisations that move fastest won’t just invest in AI or cloud tools – they’ll invest in the engineering capability needed to put those technologies to work. That’s where real competitive advantage comes from.
"AI will undoubtedly transform how we build, deploy, and operate technology platforms over the next decade. But without the right people, even the best technology will fail to deliver meaningful business outcomes."
James Taylor, Managing Director
Corecom Tech Academy
How We Solve It: Building Talent, Not Just Searching for It
If the talent you need doesn’t exist in the current market, create it.
Through Corecom Tech Academy, our Recruit Train Deploy approach is designed to help organisations close DevOps and Platform Engineering skills gap in a way that is scalable, sustainable, and aligned to real business requirements, while creating meaningful tech opportunities for aspiring technology professionals.
1. Recruit
We identify high‑potential, motivated individuals – career changers, STEM graduates, returners, ex-military, and those with the aptitude to succeed in modern engineering environments.
Rather than focusing purely on existing technical experience, we assess potential, adaptability, communication, and long-term growth capability – the qualities that genuinely matter in high-performing engineering teams.
2. Train
We deliver comprehensive, hands-on training built around real‑world DevOps and Platform Engineering environments, covering:
- Cloud fundamentals
- Infrastructure as Code
- CI/CD pipelines
- Containerisation & orchestration
- Monitoring & observability
- AI‑assisted engineering practices
- Team Topologies and modern delivery models
Our tailored programmes ensure every Associate graduates the Academy project-ready, not just theory-ready with additional training provided in core personal tech skills through structured career coaching, mentoring, and internal workshops.
The result? Talent that is project-ready, commercially aware, and capable of adding value quickly.
3. Deploy
Then, we embed our Associate Consultants (Software / Platform Engineers) into client teams for 12–24 months, giving organisations immediate delivery capability while strengthening long‑term internal talent pipelines.
This approach helps businesses:
- Scale Platform Engineering capability sustainably
- Reduce recruitment risk and hiring delays
- Improve retention through investment in development
- Build future-ready engineering teams
- Create internal capability aligned to evolving technologies and AI adoption
Our Academy doesn’t just ‘fill vacancies’. It creates a continuous pipeline of adaptable, AI-literate engineering talent built around the need of individual businesses and the industry.
To find out how we can support your business, view our Case Studies.
Looking Ahead
AI will undoubtedly transform how we build, deploy, and operate technology platforms over the next decade. But without the right people, even the best technology will fail to deliver meaningful business outcomes.
The Northern DevOps & Platform Conference made one thing clear for me: the future of DevOps and Platform Engineering will be shaped by the organisations that continue to grow and develop their engineering talent from day one.
Our Academy is committed to helping businesses bridge this gap and build the engineering capability they need not just for the next project, but for the next wave of tech delivery.
If your organisation is feeling the pressure of the Platform Engineering, DevOps or AI skills shortage, I’d be happy to discuss how we can support your long-term talent strategy.
Ready to drive real business results?
Contact Corecom Tech Academy today to explore our tailored training programmes!
