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.
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