Bengaluru, Nov 22 (IANS): Over 70 per cent of senior executives in large organisations now want even non-technical employees to have automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills, says a new study.

C-level executives and senior managers at large organisations are now seeking new candidates who have these skills, showed the survey by enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company UiPath.

When executives are looking to hire a new candidate, even in a non-technical role, nearly 70 per cent of surveyed executives believe it is important that they have experience with and/or knowledge of automation and AI tools -- and 73 per cent would choose someone with automation skills between two similarly qualified candidates, showed the results.

"We're hearing loud and clear that executives want all employees to have automation and AI skills, and that employees, in turn, demand training to be successful with these emerging technologies," Tom Clancy, Senior Vice President, UiPath Learning, said in a statement.

The study comes at a time when companies around the world are turning to automation to boost business productivity and employee satisfaction.

For the study, UiPath surveyed more than 500 C-level executives and senior managers at large organisations to understand how important it is to enterprise executives that their employees -- even those in non-technical roles -- have automation and AI skills.

The results showed that automation and AI skills are becoming increasingly critical for all employees, regardless of job focus.

The survey found that 94 per cent of individuals in non-technical roles at respondents' organisations already interact with automation and AI technologies in some capacity.

While over 40 per cent of surveyed executives believe automation and AI skills can increase employees' responsibilities, 64 per cent said that these skills can increase employees' pay and 67 per cent said it can give employees more opportunities for career advancement within their organisation.