About one in four VA roles in a new 2026 dataset names AI in its requirements, and the tool named most often is ChatGPT, in 7.5% of them. If you're trying to become a virtual assistant with AI skills, that tells you where to start.
The numbers come from one recruitment agency's own data, so I'll show you exactly what they cover. Then we'll look at which tools get named, which VA roles ask for AI most, and what Upwork and LinkedIn add.
Where the 2026 Data Comes From
VA Masters, an agency that places Filipino VAs with overseas clients, published "AI in Virtual Assistant Job Requirements 2026." It covers 322 VA roles opened from February to August 2026.
Three things to know before you quote it. First, it's the agency's own pipeline, not the whole market. The report itself says its clients may be more comfortable with tech than the average small business.
Second, its recruiters write the job descriptions after a call with the client, and the client approves them. Third, the figures were corrected on September 15. The headline went from 26.4% down to 23.9%, because Zapier and n8n had been counted as AI tools. Use 23.9%.
Which AI Tools VA Job Posts Name
Here's the headline: 23.9% of the roles mention AI in any form. Only 10.2% name a specific AI tool.
ChatGPT is named in 7.5% of all 322 roles, and Claude in 4.7%. After that the numbers get small fast: Gemini, Midjourney and HeyGen at 1.2% each, Runway at 0.9% and Synthesia at 0.6%.
[INSERT IMAGE: va-masters-ai-tools-table.jpg] VA Masters' table of AI tools and automation platforms named in 322 VA roles, February to August 2026
The report notes that the video and image tools near the bottom show up almost only in creative and social media roles. It also discloses that VA Masters uses Claude in its own operations.
Now the part I found most useful. Automation tools are counted separately, and they're not small. Zapier appears in 5.6% of roles and n8n in 2.5%. Together, that's more roles than ChatGPT alone.
Automation means connecting apps so a task runs by itself, like a form entry that lands in a spreadsheet and triggers an email. As the report puts it, "Employers are not only asking for someone who can write a prompt." If that's new to you, my Zapier for beginners guide starts from zero.
Virtual Assistant With AI Skills: Which Roles Ask Most
This part runs against the usual assumption. The roles that mention AI most are the creative and technical ones, not the routine ones.
Tech and development roles and analytics roles top the list, with 44.0% each requiring AI. Writing and content creation is right behind at 43.3%, then design at 36.7%, social media management at 35.6% and marketing at 33.0%.
Administrative and operations support comes in at 21.8%. It's the biggest category by volume, and it sits just under the average. So roughly one in five admin VA roles in this data asks for AI.
Below that: real estate at 20.8%, e-commerce management at 20.5%, sales at 13.0%, and finance and accounting at just 5.3%.
Two more findings worth knowing. Small clients aren't behind: among clients with ten or fewer employees, 26.7% of roles require AI. That's based on the 30.1% of roles where client size was recorded.
And the share isn't climbing fast. Leaving out March, which the report treats as noise, every month sat between 22.4% and 29.3%. What did rise was how often a specific tool was named, from 4.2% in February to 13.4% in August. The agency calls that an observation, not a trend, because February rests on a single role.
What Upwork and LinkedIn Add
Upwork's In-Demand Skills 2026 report (February 4) found that skills explicitly referencing AI grew 109% year over year on its marketplace. AI video generation and editing grew 329%, and AI image generation and editing grew 95%.
General Virtual Assistance is number one on Upwork's Customer Service and Admin Support list. Ecommerce Management is the fastest-growing skill in that category, up 130%.
LinkedIn reported on October 27 that members who list AI literacy skills are 78% more likely to get hired. Only 1.2% of members list an AI skill at all. LinkedIn names administration and writing among the fields now looking for these skills.
For scale, Indeed's Hiring Lab says AI mentions hit a record high in December 2025, and that was still just 4.2% of US job postings. Across all jobs, a job post that mentions AI is still the exception.
What This Means for VAs
If you do admin work, expect about one in five roles to ask for AI, at least in this agency's data. If you're in writing, design or social media, it's closer to two in five.
Name the tool, not just "AI." ChatGPT and Claude are the two employers write down most. If you can also connect apps with Zapier, say that too.
And since only 1.2% of LinkedIn members list an AI skill, listing yours honestly helps you stand out. Here's which VA skills to put on your resume.
This post is the "what." For the "how," read my guide on how to become an AI virtual assistant, with a three-month learning plan.
