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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Community Colleges Are Built For The AI Era
Alex Goryachev is a WSJ bestselling author and former Fortune 100 executive driving AI transformation in education, leadership, and work. In the age of AI, the most critical skill isn't coding—it's communication. Not just between people and technology, but between industries, systems and institutions. The gap between where AI is headed and how education is preparing workers is growing rapidly. But what if the ideal model for a rapidly changing workforce—affordable, flexible, skills-focused—already exists? It does: It's the community college. Yet, community colleges are often overlooked in discussions about AI and workforce development. We underestimate their potential, despite their agility, innovation and direct alignment with the demands of the future economy. A Mission Built For Today's Moment Community colleges were never about chasing prestige; they were always about practical solutions. The 1947 Truman Commission envisioned institutions deeply connected to local economies—responsive, pragmatic and relevant. That mission matters today more than ever. As I work with academic leaders nationwide, it's clear these colleges aren't scrambling to catch up; they're already out front. Yet, they often lack the resources to effectively communicate their role as leaders in developing tomorrow's workforce. That's something we need to address. Modular Learning: Already Their Strength We often treat short-form education and stackable credentials as groundbreaking ideas. But at community colleges, they're standard operating procedure. Between 2021 and 2022, microcredential enrollments grew 95%. From what I've seen in this space, degrees are rapidly becoming optional. Community colleges consistently deliver short-term certificates, evening classes, weekend boot camps and flexible programs directly aligned with industry needs. I've facilitated workshops where faculty and employers collaboratively developed AI-related curricula in weeks—not semesters. If you're looking for best practices in workforce disruption, community colleges offer a clear blueprint: modular, fast and employer-driven. The Speed And Cost Advantage Community colleges are built for speed and relevance—they can stand up industry-aligned programs in a matter of months. Students are taught by instructors with direct experience in the field, ensuring they gain skills that match today's workforce needs, not theory. Executives frequently ask me, 'How can we quickly build an AI-ready workforce?' Often, the answer isn't flashy new platforms; it's leveraging existing networks at community colleges already embedded in their communities. These opportunities just haven't been fully utilized yet. In the industry, I've noticed what I call "the great disconnect" (I even noted this in my newsletter, The Dean of AI): Many educational institutions prioritize degrees while employers increasingly reward fluency with emerging technology skills. According to PwC's 2025 AI Jobs Barometer, roles requiring AI skills command a 56% wage premium, even as total job postings decline and degree requirements drop sharply. Community colleges aren't retrofitting—they've always been positioned exactly where the workforce is heading. Positioned For Those Most At Risk Community colleges uniquely serve populations vulnerable to automation and economic shifts, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): nearly one-third of their students are over age 25, more than half are financially independent, and 90% attend campuses within 50 miles of their homes. You can't realistically ask a single parent working multiple jobs to relocate for training. But you can offer targeted programs nearby, taught by industry-experienced professionals and aligned directly to evolving job markets. Underestimated Innovators: The Startup Parallel Historically seen as fallback options, community colleges face perception challenges similar to those startups once faced. Decades ago, startups were underestimated as scrappy outsiders rather than transformative leaders. Today, they define entire industries. Community colleges occupy a similar space: quietly reinventing how education aligns with workforce evolution. From my vantage point—working across government, academia and business—I've seen firsthand how these institutions sit at the intersection of rapid transformation and economic reality. Job Disruption: Clear Data, Urgent Need As mentioned in the PWC report, AI isn't just altering tasks; it's dismantling entire career pathways: • Nearly half of entry-level white-collar jobs could disappear within five years, potentially driving unemployment significantly higher. • Recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 currently face about 5.8% unemployment, compared to approximately 4% across all workers. • Globally, 92 million jobs may disappear by 2030, even as 170 million new roles emerge, demanding entirely different skills. • In the U.S., approximately 30% of jobs could become fully automated by 2030, significantly impacting roles across industries. This disruption isn't theoretical—it's happening now. Community Colleges Can—And Should—Lead Community colleges are perfectly suited to respond quickly to workforce disruptions: local, agile and closely aligned with industry demands. Having worked with over 100 academic institutions across the world, while building cross-sector innovation programs for Fortune 100s, governments and nonprofits, I can confidently say few are as well-positioned to drive rapid, meaningful change. Traveling across campuses, particularly in the Midwest, I've seen AI labs in converted classrooms, cybersecurity boot camps in community centers and training programs co-created with employers. These aren't hypothetical pilots. They're live, working examples of what's possible when mission meets momentum. This moment isn't merely an opportunity to modernize—it's a clear call to action. These institutions have the infrastructure, the mission alignment and the practical expertise. What they need now is decisive leadership and bold investment—from within and from surrounding ecosystems—to fully leverage their capabilities. The critical question today isn't whether community colleges are capable. It's whether we collectively have the courage and vision to empower them fully. I realize this may sound like an advertorial for community colleges. It isn't. I'm simply shining a spotlight on an obvious but overlooked resource. When I launched the Innovation Centers at Cisco in the early days, our small team didn't have big budgets or brand recognition. But we had speed, agility and a clear mission. That combination allowed us to lead. I see the same conditions—and the same potential—alive in today's community colleges. Sometimes the most impactful solutions aren't flashy or new—they're already in place, waiting to be recognized, empowered and fully utilized. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
TECHx
25-07-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Artificial Intelligence Isn't the Magic We Think It Is
Home » Editor's pick » Artificial Intelligence Isn't the Magic We Think It Is It began with a simple click. An employee opened an email. It looked normal. A trusted supplier's invoice. But this message was crafted by artificial intelligence. Not by a human. Minutes later, the company's systems were compromised. This is the reality of artificial intelligence in 2025. It powers innovation and creativity. Yet, it also challenges our security and trust. Across industries, artificial intelligence is transforming how work gets done. According to a 2024 survey, 78 percent of organizations now regularly use AI to boost productivity and decision-making. That's nearly double compared to just a year earlier. Spending on artificial intelligence is skyrocketing too. IDC forecasts that global AI investments will exceed hundreds of billions by the end of 2025. In the Middle East and Africa, AI-related spending is expected to nearly triple from 4.5 billion dollars in 2024 to over 14 billion dollars by 2028. This surge reflects the growing belief that artificial intelligence drives business growth and competitive advantage. PwC estimates AI could add 15.7 trillion dollars to the global economy by 2030. The Middle East alone stands to gain about 320 billion dollars from this shift. However, growth brings challenges. Rapid AI adoption raises questions about ethics, transparency, and human impact. For instance, Stanford's AI Index warns about the environmental footprint and bias risks in large AI models. As a result, organizations are adopting smarter AI governance. They focus on clear policies, responsible deployment, and continuous oversight. In fact, IDC highlights that most AI spending in 2025 will be embedded in existing products and platforms, not standalone systems. This makes governance even more critical. Talent dynamics are changing as well. PwC's 2025 AI Jobs Barometer reveals a surge in demand for AI-fluent roles and hybrid skill sets. Artificial intelligence is reshaping labor markets, creating new opportunities while redefining job roles. So, how do leaders succeed in this fast-evolving landscape? First, measure AI's impact on people, not just technology. Track improvements in work quality, decision-making, and employee wellbeing alongside technical metrics. Second, build AI frameworks that empower users and ensure transparency. Use plain language policies, robust escalation paths, and tools to detect unintended AI use. Third, align AI strategies with local priorities. In the Middle East, this means tapping into national AI initiatives, talent programs, and infrastructure investments. We spoke with Peter Oganesean, Managing Director of Middle East and East Africa at HP, about this pivotal moment. He said: 'In 2025, AI is no longer a futuristic concept, it's a tangible driver of transformation across the region and beyond. At HP, we see AI not as a replacement for human potential, but as a powerful catalyst for it, enabling personalized work experiences, fostering deeper collaboration, and empowering businesses to innovate responsibly. The real story of AI today lies in its ability to balance high-performance technology with sustainable, human-centric impact.' His insight reminds us that artificial intelligence is not just about automation or speed. It is about human-centered innovation and responsible growth. The email at the start was a failure of process, not just technology. The future belongs to organizations that design AI for trust, security, and positive impact. Artificial intelligence is cool, but it's not magic. It's only as good as the people building and using it. If we go all in on speed and power without thinking about the impact, we'll miss the point. The real win is finding that sweet spot where AI makes life easier, businesses smarter, and society better, without losing sight of the humans at the center of it all.
Mint
12-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Your first job could be an ‘AI apprenticeship.' The new entry-level playbook.
The class of 2025 is entering a work world that looks dramatically different than it did even a few years ago. Data released last week indicates the U.S. private sector may be experiencing its most significant hiring slowdown in several years. The gap between the unemployment rate for new grads and the broader labor force is at its lowest point in 40 years—a historic signal that something fundamental is shifting when it comes to entry-level work. But this moment is about more than a chaotic macro environment and a tough job market. The real disruption is deeper. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are accelerating the pace of change across industries. And the Covid-19 pandemic didn't just shift where work happens—it fundamentally changed how we think about work, collaboration, and contribution. For new graduates, all of this change has created a complex job market and work environment. Traditional early-career paths are less defined. Expectations are shifting. The old playbook for entry-level work is being shredded. That may sound like a challenge—and it is. But it's also an incredible opportunity. Character is no longer a soft skill. AI is reshaping work—quickly. PwC's latest AI Jobs Barometer, which is based on nearly a billion job postings globally, found that roles with the highest AI exposure are evolving more than twice as fast as others. The World Economic Forum estimates that nearly 40% of workers' current skills will either transform or become outdated by the end of the decade. And these changes may impact junior employees degrees the most. As AI replaces or augments technical skills, entry level workers will need to emphasize their character and humanity. AI can't build relationships or earn the trust that drives lasting impact in a workplace. Uniquely human traits like empathy and discernment are no longer just 'nice to haves." They are essential skills for employees. This shift isn't limited to those just starting out. It also applies to experienced employees and executives. Leaders will need to redefine performance metrics to be centered on human connection and high-quality character traits like owning outcomes, taking initiative without being asked, careful listening, asking better questions, and doing the right thing when it matters most. Organizations that want to lead in this next chapter will need to promote that kind of human leadership at every level—starting now. Rethink culture and talent development. In a workplace being reshaped by AI, every company needs to take a fresh look at how talent is developed and how culture is intentionally built. The end goal should be a human-led, tech-powered culture where tomorrow's leaders will thrive. Companies should equip and encourage their people to develop fluency in AI and fluency in what makes us distinctly human. That means learning how to prompt, validate, and apply emerging technologies responsibly—while also building leadership and relationship skills like leading a meeting with clarity, telling a compelling story, and solving a problem from first principles. That dual focus will require a shift in how we think about early-career roles. Increasingly, we should view these more like 'AI apprenticeships," where early-career professionals are equipped with the right AI tools and taught to use them with confidence. AI handles routine work. People handle judgment calls. What we value in junior talent is changing, too. It's no longer about how well someone executes a rote task. It's about how they think, how they show character under pressure, how they apply judgment, and how they grow from one moment to the next. That is where leadership matters most. We all need what I call a personal board of directors: people who will challenge us, offer honest feedback when it counts, and remind us to pause, reset, and ask for help when needed. Business leaders must intentionally design and build this kind of support into our workforce. And they should play a more active role in people development, coaching and developing young talent from the start. Think and act differently. The past five years structurally reset work. Some are still hoping for a return to 'normal"—some pre-Covid, pre-AI version of reality—but there's no going back. What we're living through isn't a transition: It is a transformation. The next few years will define what the new normal looks like. And that calls for bold leadership. We can't meet tomorrow's challenges with yesterday's assumptions. We have to think differently—about how teams are built, how careers are grown, and how value is created. The workplace is being rewritten. Businesses—and this new generation of workers—must be bold enough to help write it. Paul Griggs is the CEO of PwC US.
West Australian
09-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
New research busts 6 AI myths: Artificial intelligence makes workers ‘more valuable, not less'
Despite widespread fears that artificial intelligence could automate jobs and cut employees' wages, AI actually makes people 'more valuable, not less', new research by professional services firm PwC has found. 'What causes people to react in this environment is the speed of the tech innovation,' PwC global chief AI officer Joe Atkinson said. 'The reality is that the tech innovation is moving really, really fast. It's moving at a pace that we've never seen in a tech innovation before. 'What the report suggests, actually, is AI is creating jobs.' In fact, both jobs and wages are growing in 'virtually every' AI-exposed occupation — or jobs that have tasks where the technology can be used — including those that are the most automatable, such as customer service workers or software coders, according to the 2025 AI Jobs Barometer report. 'We know that every time we have an industrial revolution, there are more jobs created than lost. The challenge is that the skills workers need for the new jobs can be quite different,' said Carol Stubbings, PwC UK's global chief commercial officer, in the report. 'So the challenge, we believe, is not that there won't be jobs. It's that workers need to be prepared to take them.' The report, which analysed more than 800 million job ads and thousands of company financial reports across six continents, challenged six common myths about AI's impact: Myth: AI has not yet had a significant impact on productivity. However, the report found that since 2022, productivity growth in industries 'best positioned to adopt AI' has nearly quadrupled, while falling slightly in industries 'least exposed' to AI, such as physical therapy. Notably, the industries that are the most exposed to AI, such as software publishing, showed three times higher growth in revenue per employee, according to PwC's data. Myth: AI can have a negative impact on workers' wages and bargaining power. PwC's data showed that the wages of workers with AI skills are on average 56 per cent higher compared to workers without these skills in the same occupation, up from 25 per cent last year. In addition, wages are rising twice as fast in industries that are the most exposed to AI compared to the industries least exposed. Myth: AI may lead to a decrease in job numbers. The report found that while occupations with lower exposure to AI saw strong job growth at 65 per cent between 2019 and 2024, growth remained robust — albeit slower — even in occupations more exposed to the technology (38 per cent). Myth: AI may exacerbate inequalities in opportunities and wages for workers. Contrary to fears that AI will worsen inequality, the report findings show that wages and employment are rising for jobs that are augmentable and automatable by the technology. The report noted that employer demand for formal degrees is declining faster in AI-exposed jobs, creating broader opportunities 'for millions'. Myth: AI may 'deskill' jobs that it automates. The report found that instead, AI can enrich automatable jobs by freeing up employees from tedious tasks to practice more complex skills and decision-making. For example, data entry clerks can evolve into a 'higher value' role such as data analysts, according to PwC. Myth: AI may devalue jobs that it highly automates. The data shows that not only are wages rising for jobs that are highly automatable, but the technology is also reshaping these jobs to become more 'complex and creative', and ultimately, make people more valuable. The study offers another perspective: In a world where many countries have declining working-age populations, softening job growth in AI-exposed occupations could even 'be helpful' and benefit such countries. The productivity boost by AI can actually create a 'multiplier effect' on the available workforce and satisfy the gaps that companies might not have been able to be fill otherwise, as well as growth for businesses, Mr Atkinson said. 'It's a prediction supported already by the productivity data we're seeing,' he added. 'I think it could absolutely and will be a good thing.' Ultimately, the study takes the stance that AI should be treated 'as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy'. Rather than using the technology to cut costs on headcount, companies should help their employees adapt and work together to create new opportunities, claim new markets and revenue streams. 'It is critical to avoid the trap of low ambition. Instead of limiting our focus to automating yesterday's jobs, let's create the new jobs and industries of the future,' the report said. 'AI, if used with imagination, could spark a flowering of new jobs and new business models. For example, two-thirds of jobs in the US today did not exist in 1940, and many of these new jobs were enabled by advances in technology,' the report added. CNBC
CNBC
06-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
New research busts 6 AI myths: Artificial intelligence makes workers 'more valuable, not less'
Despite widespread fears that artificial intelligence could automate jobs and cut employees' wages, AI actually makes people "more valuable, not less," new research by professional services firm PwC found. "What causes people to react in this environment is the speed of the tech innovation," PwC Global Chief AI Officer, Joe Atkinson told CNBC Make It. "The reality is that the tech innovation is moving really, really fast. It's moving at a pace that we've never seen in a tech innovation before." "What the report suggests, actually, is AI is creating jobs," Atkinson said. In fact, both jobs and wages are growing in "virtually every" AI-exposed occupation — or jobs that have tasks where the technology can be used — including those that are the most automatable, such as customer service workers or software coders, according to the 2025 AI Jobs Barometer report. "We know that every time we have an industrial revolution, there are more jobs created than lost. The challenge is that the skills workers need for the new jobs can be quite different," said Carol Stubbings, PwC UK's global chief commercial officer, in the report. "So the challenge, we believe, is not that there won't be jobs. It's that workers need to be prepared to take them," said Stubbings. The report, which analyzed over 800 million job ads and thousands of company financial reports across six continents, challenged six common myths about AI's impact: Myth: AI has not yet had a significant impact on productivity. However, the report found that since 2022, productivity growth in industries "best positioned to adopt AI" has nearly quadrupled, while falling slightly in industries "least exposed" to AI, such as physical therapy. Notably, the industries that are the most exposed to AI, such as software publishing, showed three times higher growth in revenue per employee, according to PwC's data. Myth: AI can have a negative impact on workers' wages and bargaining power. PwC's data showed that the wages of workers with AI skills are on average 56% higher compared to workers without these skills in the same occupation, up from 25% last year. In addition, wages are rising twice as fast in industries that are the most exposed to AI compared to the industries least exposed. Myth: AI may lead to a decrease in job numbers. The report found that while occupations with lower exposure to AI saw strong job growth at 65% between 2019 and 2024, growth remained robust — albeit slower — even in occupations more exposed to the technology (38%). Myth: AI may exacerbate inequalities in opportunities and wages for workers. Contrary to fears that AI will worsen inequality, the report findings show that wages and employment are rising for jobs that are augmentable and automatable by the technology. The report noted that employer demand for formal degrees is declining faster in AI-exposed jobs, creating broader opportunities "for millions". Myth: AI may "deskill" jobs that it automates. The report found that instead, AI can enrich automatable jobs by freeing up employees from tedious tasks to practice more complex skills and decision making. For example, data entry clerks can evolve into a "higher value" role such as data analysts, according to PwC. Myth: AI may devalue jobs that it highly automates. The data shows that not only are wages rising for jobs that are highly automatable, but the technology is also reshaping these jobs to become more "complex and creative," and ultimately, make people more valuable. The study offers another perspective: In a world where many countries have declining working-age populations, softening job growth in AI-exposed occupations could even "be helpful" and benefit such countries. The productivity boost by AI can actually create a "multiplier effect" on the available workforce and satisfy the gaps that companies might not have been able to be fill otherwise, as well as growth for businesses, said Atkinson. "It's a prediction supported already by the productivity data we're seeing," he added. "I think it could absolutely and will be a good thing." Ultimately, the study takes the stance that AI should be treated "as a growth strategy, not just an efficiency strategy." Rather than using the technology to cut costs on headcount, companies should help their employees adapt and work together to create new opportunities, claim new markets and revenue streams. "It is critical to avoid the trap of low ambition. Instead of limiting our focus to automating yesterday's jobs, let's create the new jobs and industries of the future," the report said. "AI, if used with imagination, could spark a flowering of new jobs and new business models. For example, 2/3 of jobs in the U.S. today did not exist in 1940, and many of these new jobs were enabled by advances in technology," the report added.
