“While there is an increase in IT job hiring in the commonwealth in 2025, companies are being very selective in who they hire and the number of requirements a candidate must have has gone up. Many of us in recruitment can report an uptick for specialized skills and AI,” said Chris Rittmuller, senior business development manager of TCI Pro’s Louisville office.

However, he said, tech workers in the Midwest do face uncertainty due to the changing economic climate, AI’s rise and some layoffs.

“Nationally, tech and software sectors have had a contraction for capital investment in the last 18 months,” said Jake Budler, vice president of platform for Endeavor, a global nonprofit organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurs. “But we have seen nontech companies grow as they have layered on more technology, inciting growth in sectors like healthcare tech in the Midwest.”

Statistically, jobs categorized within the computers and information technology category fell in Kentucky by 1.2% in 2024, including professional, business and technical services, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics.

“Overall, we saw healthcare, utilities, banking/finance and manufacturing lead the way in needs for technology positions,” Rittmuller said.

This included healthy hiring cycles at area Louisville firms, including Stock Yards Bank, LG&E and 360 Care. The hot jobs into early 2025 include infrastructure roles such as network engineers, hardware help, desktop support roles and software developers.

“We don’t think AI, in the short term, will affect jobs much in the area’s tech market other than possibly entry-level developer roles or other job functions easily handled by automated solutions,” said Dan Lutes, senior business development manager in the TCI Pro Louisville office.

“Time will tell how AI technology evolves, and companies will always look to automate menial tasks and create efficiencies utilizing AI advancements within job responsibilities and requirements. Most technology roles require significant input, so the human component is still essential,” Lutes added.

Tech companies delivering AI solutions as a service, such as data governance, have seen a surge in the last 12 months in consultative technical sales, according to Sam Smith, senior vice president at ASB Resources in the Louisville office.

Over that same time period, Kentucky’s healthcare, manufacturing and travel/logistics sectors have also seen increased demand for generative AI and advanced analytics, he said.

“Partnering with platforms like IBM Watsonx and AWS, we are prioritizing scalable solutions that reduce costs and sharpen decision-making, reflecting a focus on technologies that enhance productivity,” Smith said, referencing the now-enterprise-grade AI product IBM named after founder Thomas Watson and the computer power Amazon sells to drive the latest AI. “Customers are leveraging these tools with practical outcomes, automating workflows, mitigating operational risks and unlocking data-driven insights.”

Smith said ASB Resource’s data/AI solutions practice is relatively new to Louisville and started as a project staffing firm that provided technical resources on an interim basis.

AI will ramp up 

“We are now making a significant investment in the Louisville market,” he said. “Over the next 12 months, we’re targeting triple-digit growth, doubling down on AI governance frameworks (IBM and AWS), hybrid cloud solutions (AWS/ RedHat/ Databricks), and industry-specific workflow automation (watsonx/ServiceNow) to help local businesses scale securely.”

Smith’s view is that tariffs and uncertainty in 2025 have begun to affect the area’s tech investment decisions for corporations.  His company has “experienced a few projects put on hold until the uncertainty surrounding tariffs is resolved. Once the uncertainty is resolved, I suspect that projects again will begin to ramp up.”

Budler contends the market is seeing tech solutions enhance industry disruption and acceleration for change, from startups moving into growth cycles in the last 12 months. He named several companies he is watching that are in various stages of growth.

Up-and-coming companies in the Kentuckiana area using tech to leverage industry knowledge for new twists in solutions include Swell, guiding mental health for soldiers in the field and veterans with a healthcare IT play; Treehouse, a software-enabled installation platform for electrification projects that relocated part of its operations to Louisville from the West Coast; and 820 Solar and sister company Brightwell Capital, with workflow management solutions for large solar installations.

“Northern Kentucky continues to be a hub for applied AI startups, thanks to support from investment capital, business accelerators and incubators,” Budler said.

Specialty skills success story 

Other large well-established Kentucky corporations and cities looking to grow their tech workforce have found success in working with Louisville’s Interapt, which offers a unique apprenticeship training model alongside its software engineering and data science services. Interapt now has 370 employees across 40 states, with headquarters in Louisville, where it began in 2011.

“In the five years since the pandemic, we have continued to see a need for specialized skills and services,” said Ankur Gopal, founder of Interapt. “Our clients ask for skill sets in data science and we work with them to assist in onboarding new talent, from college graduates to veterans to those automated out of job and seeking a new technical skill.”

While Interapt continues to focus on its offering of IT services, its unique talent development model includes managing apprentices for a year, allowing Interapt to also assist in setting up internal career pathways for its clients. The company has expanded in the last three years into government sectors in local, state and federal areas with IT service offerings in cybersecurity, data science, AI and software engineering.

Gopal indicated a new model in tech skills talent development is being implemented in communities seeking growth patterns. His team partnered with the City of Frankfort for several years, helping to create a pathway that aligned with the city’s goal of investing in local residents to fill essential jobs. And now he is taking that model to Western Kentucky with a similar skills training approach, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity, data science and software engineering.

“Because of the economic volatility we see in today’s markets, including interest rates, employers look for turnkey solutions where Interapt can assist in guaranteeing a workforce in critical areas,” Gopal added.

Strong interest in IT governance and policy development was noted in spring 2025 during a Senior IT Leaders Professional Dinner for 40-plus area executives hosted by TALK, the employer-led, nonprofit tech council in Louisville.

“Going forward, key conversations for large corporate players in industry will include the importance of having a comprehensive inventory of AI models, ensuring quality and rights of use for training data, and maintaining transparency and accountability in AI predictions,” Smith said.

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