Axios Live: How employers are rethinking AI's role in entry-level work
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Microsoft’s Katy George with Axios’ Nathan Bomey on stage at an Oct. 28 Axios Live event. Photo: Nick Klein for Axios
SEATTLE — Business and education leaders said AI is reducing routine early-career tasks, challenging employers to reimagine how workers gain substantive experience and advance in their fields.
Why it matters: Business leaders are betting that the technology could create new workforce opportunities, even as concerns about AI reducing jobs persist.
Axios' Nathan Bomey and Melissa Santos spoke with Microsoft corporate vice president of AI and Work Transformation Katy George and Technology Alliance CEO Laura Ruderman. The Oct. 28 event was sponsored by Western Governors University.
What they're saying: "I think all workforces need to be transformed, and, more importantly, the way we work, the way our business processes run, the way we make decisions, the way that we protect our infrastructure," George said. "All of that is changing with AI."
- George discussed how AI integration at Microsoft automates traditional "grunt work."
- "What we can do instead is to redesign the early career to, frankly, make them more interesting jobs," George said. "But it requires [entry-level workers] to actually level up in terms of judgment and perspective much faster."
Yes, but: Microsoft is reportedly offering voluntary employee buyouts to about 60,000 employees, or a quarter of its global workforce.
- George contended the company is also hiring and argued that AI implementation at Microsoft is "doing far more strategically in terms of driving growth and innovation and risk reduction, and actually creating new opportunities for people."
State of play: Ruderman said schools and training programs are emphasizing different skill sets due to AI's proliferation.
- "I hear a lot from educators now that critical thinking and all of those soft skills are coming back into vogue."
Content from the sponsor's segment:
In a View From the Top conversation, Western Governors University senior vice president and executive dean for the School of Technology Paul Bingham described how the school is preparing students for the workforce while being mindful of AI's impact:
- "The way that we're preparing is to infuse the AI skill sets into all of our legacy programs of computer science and cybersecurity, data analytics, cloud and network engineering," Bingham said.
