Explore KSACs by Pathway

Explore Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Credentials (KSACs) by IT Pathway.

In late 2025, the Partnership pulled together members of industry from across tech to share how the in-demand skillsets for entry-level roles in their fields have changed in the last two years. The KSACs below reflect their feedback on entry-level expectations, especially in a tech workplace increasingly shaped by AI.

Previously two separate KSA lists, Data Management and Analytics have been combined as of 2026. This is in direct response to feedback from members of industry, who shared that with the onset of generative AI, most entry-level data roles will require literacy in skillsets across both of these two specializations.

4. Data Integration, Pipelines, and Automation

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Label	KSAC Description		Bloom's Taxonomy Level
a	Describe ETL and ELT approaches and when each is most appropriate	knowledge	2
b	Explain batch versus streaming processing and the constraints associated with each approach	knowledge	2
c	Explain API-based data integration and how APIs are used to move data between systems	knowledge	2
d	Describe data synchronization, latency, and reconciliation concepts and their impact on analytics reliability	knowledge	2
e	Identify common pipeline stages and dependencies, from ingestion through transformation and delivery	knowledge	2
f	Explain how automation and AI are used in modern pipelines, including schema inference, transformation, and orchestration	knowledge	3
g	Identify pipeline failure modes such as schema drift, duplication, delayed data, and silent data loss	knowledge	3
h	Interpret pipeline logs, alerts, and monitoring outputs to diagnose data flow issues	skill	3
i	Assess pipeline reliability, data freshness, and downstream impact on analytics or AI use cases	ability	4

4. Data Integration, Pipelines, and Automation

Credentials

Vendor Certifications - DBMS

Vendor Certifications - Cloud

Vendor Certifications - Tools

Others