Freelancers can barely keep up with the rising demand for AI expertise. This is shown in the Tech Trends 2025 report by Malt.
Between 2023 and 2024, European companies’ demand for AI projects grew by 230 percent, according to a report from Malt, a European freelancer platform. The supply of freelancers with AI skills only increased by 31 percent in the same period. The gap between supply and demand continues to grow. Expertise in large language models like those from OpenAI is particularly in demand, with an increase of 413 percent.
According to Malt, the combination of generative AI, data analysis, and low-code solutions is a driving force in the European technology sector. Low-code platforms such as Flutterflow, Make, and n8n are gaining ground. The demand for low-code projects in general also grew by 40 percent. Freelancers are anticipating this and are upskilling faster than companies.
Belgian Market
The report also includes figures for the Belgian market. In Belgium, the demand for Odoo developers is particularly increasing. The rise of the Belgian ERP platform goes hand in hand with an increase in the number of ERP profiles. There is also more demand for React.js, Microsoft Azure, and cybersecurity expertise.
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The report shows that Belgian companies are investing in a solid digital foundation, Malt notes. For instance, the demand for data analysts (+80%) and system administrators (+59%) increased. At the same time, Flanders remains a clear hotspot with 44 percent of the tech freelance supply.
Europe First
Finally, it appears that companies are increasingly choosing European solutions. The demand for European cloud providers such as Scaleway doubled, and open-source tools like Metabase and language models from Mistral are also gaining ground.
Cybersecurity projects in Europe grew by 35 percent, with audits, compliance, and risk management at the forefront. According to Malt, security is increasingly seen as a core component of technological architecture.