‘Companies have shifted from experimenting with tech to embedding it across their operations,’ says Malt’s Tech Trends Report

Europe is seeing tech innovation growing at a rapid rate – but are businesses able to keep up? 

Malt, an independent, European community for talent tech, released its 2025 Tech Trends Report, offering an insight into the ever-evolving tech landscape and jobs, specifically around AI, data, and security between 2023 and 2024.

The business analyzed millions of searches from companies across Europe and the evolution of skills among 200,000 tech and data freelancers to gain a deeper understanding of the market.

UNLEASH spoke exclusively to Claire Lebarz, CTO of Malt to get the inside track.

Key findings from the tech market

It’s no secret that AI is growing at an unprecedented pace – but according to Malt’s research, it also found that demand is far outstripping what AI freelancers are able to supply. 

For example, European demand from companies for AI projects grew by 230% between 2023 and 2024, compared to the number of AI expert freelancers only rose by 31% in the same time period.

The report suggested that freelancers are ‘three steps ahead’ when it comes to tech trends, typically as they anticipate huge increases in AI tools, training, and skills. 

Yet Malt’s Tech Skills Index shared that 30% of the top growing skills (cloud, cybersecurity, and data) do not overlap between supply and demand.

There’s also been a greater emphasis on responsibility, as cybersecurity is no longer being seen as an add-on but a fundamental requirement.

In fact, there was a 35% increase in cybersecurity-related projects 2024, with a particular focus on audits, compliance, and risk governance. 

Businesses are therefore recognizing that security needs to be fully embedded, rather than being treated as a separate layer. 

What stands out this year is how quickly companies have shifted from experimenting with new tech to properly embedding it across their operations,” Lebarz says. “There’s real momentum behind building systems that are robust, secure and ready to scale. 

“Demand is rising for DevOps, cloud engineers and data architects across Europe – people who can make AI work in practice, not just in concept. At the same time, the growth of low-code and open tools is giving more teams hands-on access to tech while maintaining enterprise-grade control.”

Lebarz continues to explain that freelancers are at the “heart” of this shift – yet many have already built expertise in tools and platforms that businesses are only beginning to explore. 

“We’re seeing a sharp rise in experienced independent talent, especially those with the ability to connect data, infrastructure and security into something usable,” she adds. 

“They’re helping companies move faster and make smarter choices. But one gap remains: green tech. Despite growing pressure around emissions and ESG, sustainability still isn’t a priority in most briefs. 

“That’s a missed opportunity, and one we’ll need to correct quickly if we want this new stack to be future-ready.”

So to stay ahead of competition, should business leaders must move faster, think greener, and tap into the freelance talent?