The job-hunting advice I give my own kids in the age of AI
Billionaire serial entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban offers job-hunting advice for his two children and anyone looking for entry-level roles in the age of artificial intelligence.
The advice is simple: Prioritize working at a smaller company rather than struggling to find a job at a large company.
Cuban says that in a large business, your AI skills are probably a bit irrelevant: You may know how to use AI effectively, but so does everyone else in the company’s large, established IT department.
“Small and medium-sized companies don’t have that depth,” Cuban tells CNBC Make It. “They’re often entrepreneurially focused and don’t have the flexibility to get people to research things. Having a fresh graduate work on AI projects is cheap for them and can get immediate results.”
Cuban cited his own company, Cost Plus Drugs, as an example: in a podcast episode It’s part of “The Dumbest Man in the Room,” released September 30. “People who understand AI and agents, [who] We can go and look at our processes and automate them using AI… [can] “Help us be more productive, competitive and profitable,” he said.
Cuban noted that podcast host John Dick’s company, CivicScience, is in a similar position.
“[Small companies] “They have to compete differently and they don’t have the resources to have a huge IT department,” Cuban said. “Just like we saw in the early days of the internet, you recruited younger kids who were more comfortable with the internet, had already learned it, and could come in and implement new things.”
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According to one study, ninety-five percent of companies have yet to see a measurable return on revenue from their AI investments. July report From researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to the MIT report, a small number of minority companies are early-stage technology startups led by young entrepreneurs who have built their company’s processes around artificial intelligence models specifically tailored to their business.
“I’m telling [my children]As I tell every young kid, there are going to be two types of companies in this country: There are going to be those that are great at AI and those that have been in business… And if you’re looking for a job, it’s going to be easier to work at a small company rather than a big one,” Cuban said on the podcast.
Cuban, 67, has three children, including two daughters who attend college at Vanderbilt University and UCLA. In his “TBPN” podcast, he advised them to “Learn everything possible about AI, but learn more about how to apply it in companies.” An episode on August 20. “Companies don’t understand right now how to apply all of this to gain a competitive advantage,” he added.
Some other experts also say that young people seeking entry-level jobs in the age of artificial intelligence should emphasize soft skills like communication, emotional intelligence and critical thinking to potential employers. Being curious, adaptable and embracing new learning opportunities “is a skill in itself,” Kiersten Barnet, executive director of the nonprofit New York Jobs CEO Council, told the CNBC Workforce Executive Council Summit on Oct. 7.
Ben Goodwin, CEO and co-founder of beverage company Olipop, attributes much of his $1.85 billion company’s success to his people skills, not his technical talents, he told CNBC Make It in September.
“The things that were really important to me were things like believing in myself, emotional regulation, storytelling. [and] “To be as good as possible at directing people as quickly as possible,” he said.
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