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Andreas Welsch's avatar

I have been thinking about this question lately as well. What I believe is often missed in this discussion is that the scope of entry-level roles will (need to) shift as well along with the technology. If part of the entry-level role has been information acquisition, AI will be able to support with or do that going forward. So, gathering information yourself by sifting through data will no longer be a core responsibility. But reviewing the proposals that AI generates and role playing through different personas or scenarios will all of a sudden become part of it—because time opens up for higher-level work and because the tools and economics to use them are much more capable and favorable than assembling a panel of human experts that an entry-level team member would otherwise need to consult. However, to be prepared for this new and evolving definition of roles, entry-level professionals need to be trained before they enter the workforce. Higher education, training, and application beyond using AI write essays will need to adjust as well. Despite the calculator being available, students still learn addition and subtraction, and even more complex concepts and operations, so they know what digits to enter or how a result comes to be. While the use of GenAI has increased significantly over the past few quarters, students will need to develop the skills to apply the fundamentals of how to interact with AI coupled with a deeper understanding by domain (as you point out, too), so they can perform at the proficiency and quality of a professional with 3-5 years of experience on the first day of their first job. In short: I am convinced that there will be “entry-level” roles for a long time; it’s just a matter of what the scope for entry is and how to get from yesterday to today.

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Michael Lane's avatar

Hi Andreas I tend to agree with your assessment I think Generative AI especially will just ultimately shift the goal posts and Primary and Schools and Higher Education Institutes like mine will need to respond accordingly with their approach to education. Students will still need to learn the fundamental concepts theories and frameworks that help us to understand the world in all its complexity, so these will still need to be taught and understood by students to accommodate this major paradigm shift brought on by Generative AI

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Michael Weir's avatar

A personal experience with my two college-age children has had me thinking about this topic for a while now as well. I have been asking both of them how often AI is brought up in their classes as something for which they must prepare themselves for, and their answer is virtually never. Even recently the topic of AI discussed in their classes is likely more about cheating.

One child just graduated with a degree in supply chain and analytics. He received two offers upon graduation. The other child is still a college sophomore. For the past several years, I have been asking both of them questions about how their universities are approaching the topic of AI. Sure it gets mentioned now and again, my children acknowledged, but the universities don't appear to have come up with a solution for increasing the awareness of AI to the point where the students are either seeking a solution to the knowledge gap at their university, in their class or major selection, or preparing themselves on their own time. In fact, my children have been a bit skeptical about my AI warnings thinking I have been reading dystopian fiction novels secretly in the basement.

I did my best to help my sophomore select his business major which is now Business Analytics and Information Systems (BAIS) which I felt was an upgrade to some other business majors in regard to this topic. Focusing back on my older child who just graduated - I told him to pay attention to any mention of AI at his new job as supply chain roles can be impacted by AI to a high degree. I told him to get involved in those initiatives, be the leader that bridges the gap to his supply chain knowledge on projects. Check the AI output to verify the quality and find potential pitfalls. In other words, be the person who knows how to leverage AI to be a force multiplier in his role to improve his professional profile.

Finally, I have been recommending books to them that focus on the deployment of AI agents in business, and how it will impact workers. I don't believe either of them have read the recommendations. I am open to any suggestions / recommendations on how to keep the pressure on these two (TED talks, Interviews, books, podcasts, etc.)

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Kiran Adapa's avatar

Great read Prof. Davenport. This diamond model (vs a pyramid) with fewer entry level folks seems already true (as of June 2025) in the software world.

Thanks for offering some concrete pointers from your recent panel. I like these two points about become a subject matter expert at something and exercise ones critical thinking capabilities. It is essential for entry-level workers to take these approaches and, I believe, that they will have a chance to better position themselves at the bottom of the diamond.

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Michael Lane's avatar

Great article Tom maybe the hierarchy of organisations will stay the same but less people will be needed at each level; and the level and depth of knowledge and skills with a greater emphasis on those that truly distinguish us as humans from machines; and capabilities and ability to work with AI at operational, middle management and senior management level will need to increase significantly; and lifelong learning will become essential

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Tom Casey's avatar

You are 100% correct in asking the question about what happens when you lose the feeder system for mid- and executive-level employees. The bigger question to me, however, is what does that company even do when you no longer have a robust workforce to which you can market? It seems that there will be an even greater divide between groups, and I do not see the gap being closed by simply keeping an open mind and "embracing change". I think we will eventually need to decide to give up some efficiency and consciously invest in an entry-level workforce to maintain some semblance of our humanity. Not sure how, but the alternative seems potentially dystopian.

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