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- Recent surveys show business leaders are prioritizing AI literacy over experience for some jobs.
- LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said AI skills will have an edge over the "fanciest degrees."
- The CEO said AI won't replace humans, but rather humans with AI skills.
That shiny degree you got from a top college? LinkedIn's CEO says that it may not provide the same edge it once did for the job market of the future.
Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn and EVP of Microsoft Office and Copilot, said during a fireside chat at the company's San Francisco office on Tuesday that embracing AI and three other qualities will be more valuable in the future as companies incorporate artificial intelligence in the workplace.
"I think the mindset shift is probably the most exciting thing because my guess is that the future of work belongs not anymore to the people that have the fanciest degrees or went to the best colleges, but to the people who are adaptable, forward thinking, ready to learn, and ready to embrace these tools," Roslansky said. "It really kind of opens up the playing field in a way that I think we've never seen before."
AI literacy has become the new résumé skill recruiters are on the hunt for.
A 2024 survey by Microsoft found that 71% of business leaders would choose the less-experienced candidate with AI skills over the experienced candidate without them.
LinkedIn data shared on Tuesday during the company's "AI in Work Day" event showed that job postings requiring AI literacy increased by about 70% year-over-year.
As employers change what they look for, Karin Kimbrough, LinkedIn's chief economist, said at the event that "adaptability is the new currency."
"AI is changing rapidly. It's going to change the type of skills we want, the kind of jobs we're going to have. It's going to change where we go next in our career, and it's changing how employers are looking at talent," she said. "That's a lot. It's a little scary."
Despite AI's pervasiveness in the workplace, Roslansky said he doesn't believe AI will replace humans outright; people who embrace AI will replace those who don't, meaning knowing how to talk to chatbots won't be enough.
Interpersonal skills are still valued, Roslansky said.
"I believe that the human component to all of this is quite frankly going to be most people's secret weapon," he said. "So, empathy, communication, adaptability, being able to actually just have a conversation with someone. Don't forget the human skills. Those are critical to being successful in anything that you're trying to do moving forward."
