Udacity surveyed 2,500 professionals about their AI journey and accidentally discovered a bit of magic in the future of work.

When I was 15, I took a bus from New Jersey into Manhattan to find the oldest magic shop in the country. I had no idea what I was doing—just a burning curiosity and a belief that if I could learn magic, I could transform my life.

I spent hours in that shop, my mind flooded with possibilities of a future I could build for myself now that I had access to new tools, information, and mentors.

Decades later, I'm watching workers have that same moment with AI.

We recently surveyed 2,500 professionals and discovered something remarkable: 43% are already using agentic AI at least once per day in their work.

They're diving in with the same hunger I had in that magic shop, experimenting with tools that have opened up a whole new world for them.

And, based on our data, workers are also discovering that their best work requires much more than self-taught tricks.

The Two-Sided AI Journey

Even with limited resourcing, workers are already unlocking some of AI’s potential. 70% of workers say that AI tools have increased their productivity and creativity, while more than 40% say it's improved their work-life balance, reduced stress, and helped them make better decisions.

But, as these workers become more fluent with AI tools, they're gaining unprecedented insight into their own limitations. 61% believe AI could replace their current role within the next 3-5 years.

And, that belief extends beyond individual roles. Over that same 3-5 year horizon, 63% of workers say AI could replace most or all of their current team, while 58% believe AI could replace most of what their entire organization does (i.e. the products it makes or the services it provides).

These aren’t predictions made in a vacuum, they’re informed assessments from workers who've spent months experimenting with these tools. They've seen AI draft their reports, build volumes of code, conduct online research, analyze their data, and solve problems in ways that rival or exceed human outputs. When you understand AI's capabilities intimately, you start to see your work differently.

The AI Training Gap That's Holding Everyone Back

In magic, you can learn some basics from library books and YouTube videos. You might even impress your friends at parties. But to become truly skilled—to perform professionally, to create original effects, to understand the deeper principles—you need proper training and a lot of practice.

The same is true with AI, and workers have been woefully underresourced. According to research from Accenture, 94% of workers are ready to learn AI skills, but only 5% of organizations are providing training at scale.

The Magic of Proper AI Training

I went on to become the general manager of that same magic shop I used to visit when I was a kid. In that role, I watched countless beginners walk through our doors. The ones who succeeded weren't necessarily the most naturally talented. They were the ones who committed to proper training—who learned the fundamentals, practiced deliberately, and had the right resources for skills development.

The workers who will thrive in the AI economy are no different. They need the right skill development tools, mentorship, and hands-on learning opportunities.

(Shameless plug time)

That’s why I’m so excited for Udacity’s new set of agentic AI courses and Nanodegree programs. They’ve been intentionally designed to help professionals from every job function in any industry get the skills they need to meet the moment.

Here’s a quick overview of what we’ve built. I think you’re going to love it.

3 Ways to Learn Agentic AI Online

For developers and engineers

In Udacity’s new Agentic AI Nanodegree program, you’ll go beyond single chatbots to engineer sophisticated, coordinated teams of AI agents. The program will take you from advanced prompting techniques like Chain-of-Thought and ReAct to designing agentic workflows with patterns like Routing and Parallelization.

You'll master building and orchestrating agents in Python that can reason, plan, and use tools to interact with databases and external APIs. You’ll also build a powerful portfolio by tackling hands-on projects, including a multi-agent travel planner, an AI-powered project manager, and a fully automated sales system to solve real-world problems.

For executives

Udacity’s Agentic AI for Business Leaders course (part of Udacity’s AI for Business Leaders Nanodegree program) will teach you how to evaluate agentic AI solutions and quantify their potential value for your business. You’ll also learn the frameworks you need for implementation, change management, risk management, governance, and strategic planning as you guide your organization through the agentic AI adoption journey.

For “non-technical” roles

Udacity’s Agentic AI Fluency course is designed for professionals who want to integrate AI agents into their workflows, enhance efficiency, and stay competitive. You’ll learn to work confidently alongside AI agents in modern workflows and harness them without writing a line of code — including learning how agents operate, where they add value, and how to leverage AI-driven tools to enhance productivity, decision-making, and efficiency across industries. You’ll even build your own AI agent using intuitive no-code tools, gaining real-world experience to thrive in the AI economy.

AI-Fluent Workers Define the Future

The 43% of workers that are already experimenting with agentic AI daily represent something extraordinary: a grassroots movement of professionals who recognize that the future belongs to those who understand these powerful tools.

But experimentation alone isn't enough. Just like my journey in magic, workers need access to the latest tools, information, and mentorship to truly unlock AI's full potential—and by extension, their own.

The question isn't whether AI will change your job, 61% of workers already believe it will. The question is whether you'll be ready to perform when the spotlight hits.

The stage is set. The audience is waiting. Are you ready to learn the magic of AI?

Follow Udacity on HackerNoon for more tips on how to level up you, your team, and your organization.

About the Author: Jared Molton is the Vice President of Consumer at Udacitywhere he leads product experience, analytics, marketing, CRM, and more. Previously, he served as a product lead at Chewy and Amazon.