What “Cloud Skills” Miss in 2025
🚨 Your cloud strategy is DEAD. Long live the AI Cloud. And I'm just a 19-year-old student watching this happen faster than anyone realizes. It's not enough to "move to the cloud" anymore. That's a 2015 mindset. The real game is building on the AI cloud, where intelligence is baked into every service. From databases that auto-optimize with AI to APIs that generate code or images. Here's the thing: Microsoft, Google, Amazon aren't just selling compute. They're selling intelligence. Every update isn't just about faster VMs. It's about tighter integration with GPT-4, Claude, or their own bespoke models. My professors are still teaching us about traditional server architecture and network protocols. Basic stuff. Meanwhile, I’m building entire applications with serverless functions and AI APIs that were unimaginable 2 years ago. It’s like learning to drive a Model T while everyone else is in an F-16. But here’s the catch: This isn’t just for big tech. This is for everyone. Just last month, I had an idea for a small local business. They wanted an AI assistant to answer customer questions in Urdu about their products. I fired up Azure AI Studio. Used a custom GPT model, connected it to their product data. Built a fully functional MVP in 48 hours. From zero to a working prototype. The total cost for the first week? Less than 500 Pakistani Rupees. Like, nothing. My classmates spent weeks debugging a simple CRUD app for a project. I built an AI agent using services barely out of beta. This isn't me bragging. This is me saying: the playing field is leveling. Fast. In Pakistan, we have tons of small businesses who can’t afford huge tech teams. But with these AI + Cloud ecosystems, anyone can spin up powerful AI solutions. It’s a massive opportunity for my generation to build things that actually matter here. What happens when every single business process can be AI-augmented, easily and cheaply, on the cloud? Traditional jobs aren't just at risk. Entire industries are being re-architected from the ground up by this fusion.