Key takeaway: Ethan Mollick of Wharton urges young job seekers to prioritize mastering tasks rather than relying on narrowly defined AI skills, which can become obsolete as technology evolves. AI can take on difficult pieces of work, so it's crucial to know how to instruct and evaluate its output. Mollick also recommends broad knowledge (including the humanities) and stronger soft skills as entry-level roles shift and job redesign becomes urgent.
Wharton’s Ethan Mollick: To Get Hired in the Age of AI, Master Tasks — Not Just AI Skills
Key takeaway: Ethan Mollick of Wharton urges young job seekers to prioritize mastering tasks rather than relying on narrowly defined AI skills, which can become obsolete as technology evolves. AI can take on difficult pieces of work, so it's crucial to know how to instruct and evaluate its output. Mollick also recommends broad knowledge (including the humanities) and stronger soft skills as entry-level roles shift and job redesign becomes urgent.
15:17, 08.11.2025Technology
Wharton’s Ethan Mollick: Focus on Tasks, Not Transient AI Skills
If you are early in your career and navigating a job market reshaped by artificial intelligence, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick offers clear advice: prioritize mastering tasks over collecting narrowly defined AI skills. Mollick — an influential voice on AI who authored Co-Intelligence and has advised organizations including JPMorgan, Google, and the White House — told Business Insider that many AI-specific skills can quickly become outdated as tools evolve.
"It would be helpful for young people to think more about what tasks they're actually really good at, because that's where they stay ahead of machines," Mollick said. "And then you can find a job where the machine helps you with the other pieces of your task."
"Being able to be an expert enough in something to know whether it's good or bad turns out to be really important."
Mollick explains that every role comprises many tasks, and a single applicant rarely excels at all of them. AI can enable smarter task distribution — taking on the pieces applicants struggle with and freeing people to focus on the parts they do best. To make the most of AI, he says, workers must learn how to give clear instructions and critically evaluate the outputs the technology produces.
He also recommends that young professionals build broad knowledge while developing deep expertise in specific areas. Because AI systems are trained on a wide range of sources, a grounding in the humanities and general knowledge can make it easier to judge nuance, context, and quality — skills that remain valuable even as technical tools change.
Mollick cautions that AI threatens some entry-level roles across industries, which may make it harder for recent graduates and Gen Z jobseekers to break in. He said he is concerned that organizations and policymakers are not moving quickly enough to rethink job design and workforce development to account for automation.
As automation takes over certain technical tasks, soft skills such as communication, leadership, and organization become more important. Indeed’s Hiring Lab highlights those skills as top priorities for employers. Some leaders who embrace AI worry employees may lose the ability to perform tasks they once learned by practice — which is why Mollick emphasizes the value of real-world judgment and domain expertise.
Bottom line: Young job seekers should identify the tasks they perform best, learn to work with AI (including writing clear prompts and evaluating results), and cultivate broad, human-centered knowledge and soft skills to stay competitive.
Source: Business Insider interview with Ethan Mollick.