AI Literacy: A Must-Have Skill for Entrepreneurs in 2025 Entrepreneurs looking to thrive in 2025 must embrace a critical new skill: AI literacy. This isn't just a passing trend; it's a fundamental shift in how businesses operate.

Metaview's 'Year in Interviews Trends Report', backs this up according to Siadhal Magos, co-founder and CEO of Metaview, a London-based artificial intelligence (AI) recruiting-tech company: "Our data shows a continued upward trend of AI mentions across job departments in 2024. Overall, we've seen mentions of AI increase about 35% since the start of the year and frequency of mention is now at an all-time high for the year."

For entrepreneurs, staying ahead means hiring talent that understands and embraces AI. "To stay competitive, you should test candidates for AI curiosity and skills to ensure you're future-proofing your talent." The ability to effectively "guide AI, apply judgment, and optimise its outputs" will become increasingly important as automation transforms the workplace. As AI automates away many routine tasks, human workers will play a more strategic role. "It's essential you're bringing in talent that is well-placed to understand how to leverage this tech for the best results."

Entrepreneurs who prioritise AI literacy in their hiring processes will not only future-proof their organisations but also position themselves to compete effectively in a landscape where technological understanding is paramount.

Balancing flexibility and return-to-office mandates
Workplace flexibility remains a top priority for job candidates, creating a unique challenge for entrepreneurs navigating return-to-office mandates. The data highlights this tension: "Mentions of 'return to office' have been on an overall upward trajectory since the beginning of 2024, peaking in October. Mentions of 'remote work' remained higher than mentions of 'hybrid work' throughout the year." Interestingly, a shift occurred midyear: "From May onward, candidates started mentioning remote work more often than interviewers did."

This underscores a key insight for entrepreneurs: "Candidates continue to value flexibility." Business leaders must carefully define the working environments that enable their teams to excel. For many, a hybrid model will strike the right balance. "If hybrid is the right move for your business, you should aim to create working norms that leave room for flexibility while making sure everyone's bought in on the value of in-person working too." Entrepreneurs can't afford to ignore this preference. Successful leaders will "get clear on what kind of culture they want to build to give them the best chance of continued growth and success." While in-office collaboration is essential for many organizations, trust and autonomy are equally important. "Most high-performing organizations will have a high degree of trust with their employees, and that should extend to offering them the autonomy to deliver their best work in different environments, if they prefer to."

Building a strong company culture
In today's competitive hiring landscape, defining and nurturing a strong company culture has never been more crucial. The trends are clear: "Discussions around 'company culture' peaked in June, and, as of December, were over 40% higher than they were at the start of the year." However, mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have declined significantly: "Mentions of DEI peaked in January and dipped to their lowest point in May. In December so far, DEI was mentioned about 30% less frequently than it was at the start of the year." For entrepreneurs, this moment presents an opportunity to "be more transparent—with themselves and with candidates—about what type of culture is going to enable the team to continue to thrive." Leaders should lean into this moment to define their company's identity. "Now's the time for leaders to get clear on what kind of culture they want to build to give them the best chance of continued growth and success."

How can founders take actionable steps? "I encourage founders to be open about the vision for what they're trying to build and what it's going to take to get there. Honest conversations about values and working norms start in the interview process." Startups in particular should leverage the data available to them to shape their hiring and cultural strategies. Tools like the trends report can help. "The trends report, and the Metaview Trends tool in general, gives startups an ear to the ground on what's actually on the minds of candidates interviewing across a wide range of company sizes and types." This enables startups to "better understand general trends around candidate motivations, concerns, and values" and "proactively think more strategically about how to identify, attract, and assess the right talent for their business."

Ultimately, "if you're clear on what sort of company you want to build, and you know the types of competencies and traits you need to get there, you're setting yourself up for success in building a strong company culture where everyone is excited and motivated to move towards the same north star together."

Leveraging AI in the hiring process

Entrepreneurs who want to stay competitive in 2025 and beyond need to think about how AI can transform their hiring processes. "Organizations who want to remain at the top of their game should be thinking about how to leverage AI to elevate their interview process—if they haven't already."

AI tools can bring significant operational advantages, particularly for startups competing with larger organizations. "Top-performing companies are already getting major operational leverage by using AI to unlock the power of the unstructured data in hiring conversations." Tools like Metaview can "help you extract structured, relevant insights from every conversation, so that you can make more evidence-based, informed hiring decisions and increase the productivity and efficiency of everyone involved in your hiring process."

By integrating AI into their talent acquisition strategies, entrepreneurs can make smarter, faster decisions, ensuring they attract and retain top talent while optimizing their resources.

Preparing for 2025's challenges and opportunities

For entrepreneurs, 2025 presents an array of opportunities to stand out in a competitive landscape. From embracing AI literacy to navigating flexible work demands, and from defining a strong company culture to leveraging AI in hiring, the challenges are significant but surmountable.

By focusing on the key trends—"AI literacy is essential," "candidates continue to value flexibility," and "discussions around 'company culture' are on the rise"—entrepreneurs can position their businesses for success. Transparent communication, strategic hiring practices, and a willingness to embrace cutting-edge tools will set leaders apart as they build resilient, future-ready organisations.