The Future of C# Developers in 2025 and Beyond: How AI is Impacting Jobs and Skills

As Technology Director at Gravitas Recruitment Group, I’ve seen a massive change in C# development this past year. In 2024, we placed a variety of specialist C# and .NET Developers in various roles, while seeing a clear shift in what employers were looking for in the developers they hired.

AI is on the rise. We recently found that 70% of C# jobs now require AI integration experience, especially with the OpenAI .NET library. This also affects salaries. C# Developers with AI skills earn 15-20% more than those without.

According to Stack Overflow 62% of professional developers use AI tools already. Up from 44% last year. The new OpenAI .NET library (2.0.0-beta.1) allows C# Developers to connect to OpenAI and Azure OpenAI services.

Transforming development practices

In November 2024 Microsoft released Microsoft.Extensions.AI. This set of .NET core libraries provides C# abstractions for working with AI services like language models and embeddings. It unifies the .NET ecosystem, plus it makes it easier for developers to add AI to their apps.

The .NET ecosystem has many emerging tools for AI. We’re seeing some of our candidates using Semantic Kernel for adding AI to .NET apps.

These tools simplify certain aspects of C# jobs, along with reducing time to learn different AI models or services.

Code generation and development speed

AI in C# development is visible in:

• Code Completion and Refactoring: Visual Studio IntelliCode provides developers with AI powered IntelliSense, complete line suggestions and refactoring tools so you can code faster.
•  Automated Testing and Quality Assurance: AI can generate test cases from app behaviour. Maximise test coverage and find edge case bugs and vulnerabilities.
• Debugging Assistance: AI can help you find errors and suggest fixes and even explain the problem. Which can save a lot of debugging time as LearnPrompting notes. 

AI is great for C# development but don’t rely on it too much. Developers need to verify and adjust the code AI generates. The key is to use AI to do the routine stuff so you can focus on the strategy of coding.

Emerging technical role requirements

AI is changing the skill requirements for C# Developers:

• ML.NET and AI integration is now required for tasks like classification, regression and clustering
•  Working with Large Language Models is becoming more common, enabling features like text generation, code generation, chatbots and conversational AI
• There’s a growing trend towards using Smaller Language Models (SLMs) that can run locally and at the edge, giving more flexibility in designing AI powered applications
•  Understanding data structures for AI workloads is useful for organising complex data types, managing data efficiently and stacks and queues for specific order-based operations

Essential skills for C# Developers to build future success

To survive in this changing world, C# Developers need to have:

Technical foundations

• Knowledge of AI libraries like TensorFlow.NET, CNTK, Accord.NET.
• AI integration patterns and recommended best practices for .NET applications.
• Cloud based AI and ML services using C#.
• ML.NET and Azure AI services.

According to JetBrains Developer Ecosystem Survey 69% of developers have used AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot for coding. This trend is set to continue in 2025 and includes the following areas:

Data and analytics

• Data structures and algorithms
• Machine learning
• Data preparation and model training

Business and communication

• Business to AI solutions
• Technical to non-technical
• AI ethics and governance

Challenges and opportunities

AI is a game changer, but it also brings a number of challenges for C# Developers to deal with. These include:

Technical challenges

• Keeping up with AI tech
• Securing AI apps
• Hybrid system technical debt

Career opportunities

There will be increased opportunities for those who want to learn resulting in:

• More demand for C# AI Developers
• Higher pay for C# and AI specialists
• New AI architecture and implementation roles

We recently surveyed over 5,000 Software Developers and niche tech specialists on our database through Gravitas' Annual Big Tech Employment Survey 2025. The results showed that 14% of permanent employees and 22% of contractors want to upskill or develop their careers in Data, AI/ML areas. Most permanent employees (75%) and many contractors (65%) think AI will make their jobs more efficient in the next year. Only a small number (6%) worry that AI might affect their job stability.

However, most see many benefits, such as:

• Improve task efficiency
• Help fill the skills gap    
• Improve data analytics & planning          
• Deal with customer queries more efficiently       
• Reduce human error     
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement         

Register your interest in receiving our free Annual Big Tech Employment Survey 2025 by emailing marketing@gravitasgroup.com

Final word

There’s no two ways about it - C# development is tied to artificial intelligence.  While AI will automate some of the development, it will also create new opportunities for those who adapt and grow. By learning C# and AI, developers can stay relevant in this ever-changing tech landscape.

Gravitas Recruitment Group is a specialist tech recruitment agency that offers job search support and hiring solutions across various sectors, including Fintech, Insurtech, Healthtech, Greentech, Transportech and Public Sector, which includes NHS, education and healthcare.

We’ve won many awards including Recruitment Company of the Year at APSCo.

Search our C# jobs here.