American billionaire and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban has a new message for new graduates. That means quitting large corporations and starting small businesses. In a post shared on social media platform “New graduates can teach small and medium-sized businesses how to use agents to optimize processes they may not have had the time or the luxury to run manually,” Cuban wrote. “Large companies don't need new graduates for this. Entrepreneurial companies will love the value you add.”
Why AI agents matter
AI agents are autonomous digital assistants that can complete tasks end-to-end without continuous prompting from the user. These are increasingly viewed as transformative for business operations.
- According to a study by Jellyfish, agent AI adoption among 400 companies jumped from 50% in December 2024 to 82% in May 2025.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared earlier this year that “the age of agent AI has arrived.”
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman compared AI agents to “junior employees.”
- Morgan Stanley predicts that AI shopping agents could add $115 billion to U.S. e-commerce by 2030.
Cuban believes this is exactly where new graduates can step in, teaching small businesses how to integrate AI agents into workflows that they previously lacked the resources to optimize.
Mark Cuban advises young engineers not to be pushed into the shadows of big companies
President Cuban recently urged young engineers entering the job market to prioritize small and medium-sized enterprises over multinational corporations (MNCs) when seeking opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Cuban feels that while large companies often dilute an individual's contribution, small businesses provide a better platform for new graduates to make an immediate impact.In an interview with CNBC and podcast “The Dumbest Guy in the Room,” Cuban explained that small businesses are primarily entrepreneur-driven and lack deep IT departments and large corporations. This gap creates opportunities for new graduates to directly contribute to AI projects. “Small businesses don't have that depth. They're usually entrepreneurial and don't have the flexibility to let people research things. “Engaging new graduates to work on agent AI projects is low cost for them and can yield immediate results,” Cuban said.Cuban also talked about how AI can automate processes to increase productivity, competitiveness and profitability, using the example of his company Cost Plus Drugs.
