As more companies integrate AI technologies into their operations, AI expert Professor Yann Truong explains which skills business school students should focus on.
But a closer look at the statistics reveals that the rise of AI is far from an apocalypse just yet: According to the latest GMAC Corporate Recruiter Survey, the skills most sought after in employees remain core human traits, such as critical thinking, communication and even resilience.
This isn't to say that focusing on AI is a waste of time: employers predict that AI, along with other essential skill sets, will grow in importance over the next five years.
To find out exactly how AI is impacting the skills required in business, BusinessBecause spoke to Yann Truong, an expert in artificial intelligence research and professor at the ESSCA Business School.
He cited the following skills as becoming more important with the rise of AI:
Creative problem solving
If you've ever used ChatGPT to create a schedule or put together a list, you'll know that it potentially saves valuable time that would otherwise be spent on menial, mind-boggling tasks. This has a huge impact on what employers are looking for in new hires.
“As AI helps managers automate all the tedious and repetitive tasks, employers expect candidates and students to focus on tasks that add more value to the company, which usually require more critical thinking,” Yang said.
“This is something I hear a lot from employers. The repetitive parts of the job will be done by AI, so [business] Our goal is for graduates to be able to take it to the next level and really think about how AI can help their companies achieve their strategic goals.”
To foster independent thinking, ESSCA encourages students to find their own ways to complete projects rather than being guided every step of the way.
One example is encouraging students to find the limitations of the theories they have been taught and to conduct their own research.
“What is needed is [students] “We need the students to carry out the entire project themselves and discover the challenges and limitations of their work. They plan the project themselves, so they need to be hands-on with the assignments. We give them a lot of data and materials, but minimal guidelines, just ambitious goals,” Yang explains.
By leaving students (literally) to their own devices, they are empowered to use AI tools to invent their own ways to solve problems, from accelerating research to sifting through data to maximizing idea generation.
Using AI to Improve Productivity
AI is predicted to be one of the most sought-after skills of the future, but employers are scrutinizing how graduates will use it. One of the major concerns is how employees can optimize AI to work more efficiently.
“[Businesses] “We're interested in whether students can understand how to leverage new technologies, including AI, to improve their productivity,” Yang said.
Potential uses of AI for productivity include collecting data and creating reports, but this requires a deep understanding of how to leverage AI.
“Students need to understand how machine learning algorithms arrive at certain results, so they need to understand how algorithms are built through neural network layers,” Yang explains.
At ESSCA, which offers a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence Management, students learn how these technologies work at a fundamental level by completing projects that use AI to solve complex problems.
“We're asking them to build algorithms that collect data, organize it, feed it into machine learning platforms, and get results. So they not only need a deep understanding of how it works, but also the ability to deploy it in projects,” he continues.
According to new research and expert assessments, AI will not replace human business skills, but will simply redefine those that are most relevant for companies of the future.
Therefore, learning how AI can be used to enhance traditionally emphasized leadership traits such as decision-making, communication and problem-solving can give students an edge in a competitive business environment.
