Over the past few years, skilled developers and tech professionals have been in high demand for startups and corporations alike. And 2016 will be no exception. What will be different, however, is the sheer quantity of specialties companies are seeking in order to fill highly specific gaps, from data engineers to machine learning experts with deep knowledge of their fields.

Given that many companies are already hiring — or will be shortly — I asked 15 startup founders from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) which categories of technical talent they are looking for this year and why these roles will be so impactful. Their best answers are below. READ MORE: 15 top tech jobs of 2016 | Mashable