LinkedIn launches AI skills verification as employers shift focus from degrees to capabilities

LinkedIn will let you show off your vibe coding chops with a certificate

Finally, a way to prove to your LinkedIn followers that you're proficient in vibe-coding. LinkedIn announced a new partnership on Wednesday allowing users to official certifications in AI skills, drawing on usage data from prominent AI apps. The integration includes the video and podcast editor Descript, coding apps Lovable and Replit, and AI agent building platform Relay.app. These platforms will use AI to assess your skills as you use them, and generate a certificate based on your usage patterns, product outcomes, and proficiency within the tools. The Microsoft-owned social network didn't provide exact details on what users would need to do to qualify as proficient on the platform. Once granted, certifications will appear on your LinkedIn profile alongside other professional skills. LinkedIn plans to add more partners to the program in the coming months, including Gamma, GitHub, and Zapier. The platform is also inviting companies to register interest in being a partner in the new verified skills program. "Jobs require fluency in the technology your employer depends on and AI proficiency; the ability to use these tools to deliver today is now the most in-demand skill. Today, trust matters more than ever. More than 100 million professionals have verified their identity on LinkedIn. Now, with the addition of verified skills, you can add an additional way to prove what you can actually do," Hari Sirinivasan, VP of Product at LinkedIn, said in a statement. According to a report by the learning platform eDX published last August, the number of job postings that required AI as a skill doubled in the trailing 12 months. A separate report from Indeed's Hiring Lab echoed the same trend and noted that the number of U.S. job postings mentioning AI-related keywords rose to 4.2% by the end of 2025. The report mentioned that tech is still the most common sector where companies use AI-related words in postings, but other sectors like banking and marketing are also rising.

LinkedIn will now let you show off how good you are with AI tools

* LinkedIn profiles will soon be able to show off AI proficiency awards * Recruiters are looking for AI skills more than they're looking for traditional degrees * Only select partners will support this because they need to monitor actual user engagement LinkedIn is continuing its mission to offer verification labels for more users through programs that link them to their workplace or verify their government ID, but the Microsoft-owned platform is now looking to verify users' AI skills. The new feature will let professionals prove their proficiency with various AI tools, rather than just listing generic skills on their profiles. However, because verification will be based on real usage and not self-reported claims, only a select few partners will be backing up these badges. LinkedIn is giving you even more badges to show off on your profile Descript, Lovable, Relay.app and Replit are among the first to be supporting LinkedIn's initiative - Gamma and Zapier will also be joining at a later date, as will Microsoft-owned GitHub, which should come as no surprise. Partner companies will actually use AI to assess users' AI proficiency, based on actual product usage and results. The social networking platform says this is a must in today's labor market, with AI proficiency now the most in-demand skill. LinkedIn also noted that the jobs market is shifting towards this skills-first model, rather than overly focusing on formal degrees. With the badges, job seekers will be able to stand out and recruiters will be able to identify genuine capability even quicker. It's unclear whether these badges will be factored into filtering tools. More broadly, LinkedIn says that more than 100 million of its users have now verified their accounts. It met this target just days before its deadline in December 2025, when the company declared it wants every member, job and company to have at least one type of verification. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

LinkedIn knows your CV and degree are becoming irrelevant. It has a plan for that | Fortune

In a rapidly evolving job market, the prestige of a university degree is facing stiff competition from a more pragmatic metric: actual capability. LinkedIn is betting that employers are increasingly prioritizing demonstrated AI skills over traditional resumes, and to that end, the platform has launched a new verification system to address this shift. On January 28, the professional networking giant announced it is teaming up with "leading AI innovators" to allow professionals to display verified proficiency with top AI tools directly on their profiles. This initiative marks a significant pivot toward a "skills-first approach" that LinkedIn claims is currently shifting the labor market. As the company told Fortune, employers are no longer simply asking what degree a candidate holds; "they want to know what you can actually do." The end of the standard test? The mechanics of this new feature depart from traditional certification methods. Unlike standard credentials that often rely on one-time exams, this new system integrates directly with the software tools themselves. LinkedIn has launched the program with partners including Descript, Lovable, Relay.app, and Replit. These companies will validate a user's knowledge based on "real usage patterns, product outcomes, or demonstrated proficiency within the tool, not assumptions or tests." The tool builders utilize AI to assess proficiency based on how the product is actually used. Once the assessment is complete, the partner company creates a certificate that the user can choose to share on their LinkedIn profile, providing a "trusted signal" to potential employers. Furthermore, these credentials are designed to be dynamic; the tools will "automatically update as skills improve," ensuring that a profile reflects a candidate's current capabilities rather than past achievements. Demand for AI fluency The launch timing focuses on what LinkedIn identifies as the "most in-demand skill" in the current economy: AI proficiency. The company notes that modern jobs require fluency in the specific technologies employers depend on, and verifying these skills is becoming the primary path for professionals to find new opportunities. While the launch focuses on AI tools, LinkedIn has confirmed that additional partners, including Gamma, GitHub, and Zapier, will become available in the coming months. LinkedIn's move adds more evidence to what the Wharton Business School and Accenture called the "skills mismatch economy," where there's an oversupply of generalist traits and an undersupply of specialized, execution-oriented ones. "I think just that there is this massive skills gap," Wharton professor Eric Bradlow previously told Fortune. "The skills that people, that companies are saying they want in job postings, are just not the way people are representing themselves." Almost everyone is talking about leadership, teamwork, and communication, but not technical depth, scientific methods, and analytical precision. Beyond mere convenience, the LinkedIn initiative addresses this growing need for specificity and authenticity in digital hiring. This feature builds upon LinkedIn's broader verification ecosystem, which covers identities, workplaces, and jobs, and it aims to solve pain points for both sides of the hiring equation. For recruiters who must sift through a crowded field of applications, verified skills help surface genuine capability faster. For professionals trying to build authority, the verification offers networks and employers greater confidence in their work. Ultimately, the goal is to help job seekers stand out for their real-world expertise rather than just their educational pedigree. For this story, Fortune journalists used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

LinkedIn launches verified AI skill levels to replace self-reported badges

LinkedIn launched a feature enabling users to display proficiency levels in AI coding tools on their profiles, assessed by the tools' companies rather than self-reported. The platform partners with Replit, Lovable, Descript, and Relay.app, while developing integrations with Microsoft-owned GitHub and Zapier. LinkedIn has traditionally permitted users to add skills and certifications to their profiles as a means of highlighting professional accomplishments. This new update diverges from that model by shifting the evaluation process to the developers of the AI tools themselves. Instead of individuals declaring their own expertise, these companies evaluate a user's performance and assign a proficiency rating that integrates directly into the LinkedIn profile. The partnerships form the foundation of this capability. Replit, Lovable, Descript, and Relay.app collaborate with LinkedIn to enable the proficiency assessments. Ongoing development targets expansions with GitHub, which Microsoft owns, and Zapier, broadening the range of AI coding tools covered under this system. The assessment mechanism ensures objectivity. Users interact with the AI tools, prompting the respective companies to measure skill relative to others. The resulting proficiency level then appears automatically on the user's LinkedIn profile, distinguishing it from manually entered endorsements or badges. Screenshots provided by LinkedIn illustrate specific ratings. Lovable assigns a "bronze" level in "vibe coding" to qualified users. Replit employs numerical levels to quantify proficiency. Relay.app designates levels such as "intermediate" for its "AI Agent Builder" tool. These examples demonstrate the varied rating formats across partners. Proficiency levels operate dynamically. As users accumulate more experience with a particular tool, the rating updates in real time to reflect improved performance. This continuous adjustment aligns with ongoing usage patterns documented by LinkedIn. The feature emerges during a period when companies deploy similar AI tools to automate tasks, resulting in thousands of worker layoffs. Professionals exhibit varied responses, with some embracing AI skills while others express reservations about job displacement. Pat Whealan, LinkedIn's head of career products, addressed the development. He stated that AI-specific skills serve as an increasingly important signal to recruiters, and the update facilitates easier assessment of candidates' abilities in these areas. Whealan emphasized the complementary nature of the feature, saying, "This is less about replacing any of those other existing signals, and more about showing new ways that people are doing work." He continued, "And how do we give a verifiable signal to both hirers and other people looking at their profile, that they actually are using these tools on a regular basis," as told to Engadget.

LinkedIn Says Employers 'Want To Know What You Can Actually Do' As It Rolls Out Verified AI Skills - Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE)

LinkedIn is moving away from degree-driven hiring by rolling out a new system that lets professionals showcase verified, real-world AI skills directly on their profiles. LinkedIn launches AI skills verification On Wednesday, the professional networking platform announced that it is partnering with several AI-focused companies to introduce skill verification based on actual tool usage rather than tests or formal credentials, reported Fortune. LinkedIn said the initiative reflects a broader shift in hiring priorities, as employers increasingly focus on demonstrated ability instead of academic background. "Employers are no longer simply asking what degree a candidate holds," LinkedIn told Fortune. "They want to know what you can actually do." AI Tools Validate Real-World Proficiency The program launches with partners including Descript, Replit, Relay.app and Lovable. Instead of one-time exams, the companies assess users based on real usage patterns, work outputs and performance within the tools themselves. Once verified, professionals can choose to display the credential on their LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn said the credentials are dynamic and will automatically update as a user's skills improve, offering employers a more accurate and current signal of proficiency. Additional partners, including GitHub, Zapier and Gamma, are expected to join in the coming months. AI Reshapes Hiring And Career Paths At the same time, nearly half of hiring managers turned to AI to screen resumes and rank candidates, fueling steady growth in the AI recruitment market through 2030, though experts warned human oversight remained essential. Companies also began prioritizing AI fluency over traditional credentials. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised Gen Z entrepreneurs who skipped college to start businesses, reflecting broader skepticism about the necessity of higher education as employers increasingly focused on adaptability and real-world expertise. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs