If you’re a parent trying to AI-proof your kids’ futures, entrepreneur-turned-professor Scott Galloway says your focus should be on helping them develop durable skills like storytelling and relationship-building.
In an episode of the “The Diary of a CEO” podcast released on Monday, host Steven Bartlett asked Galloway which skills will matter most in the future.
Galloway said that a decade ago, private schools were heavily investing in Mandarin and computer science, believing those would give students an edge. “How’s that worked out?” Galloway said. “‘Thank god my kid knows Mandarin,’ said nobody right now.”
Instead, the next generation should focus on developing what Galloway called the most enduring skill: storytelling. “That’s your ability to look at data, create a narrative arc, and then communicate that story in a compelling way via all the different mediums,” he said.
The most successful CEOs are usually strong storytellers, Galloway said, pointing to Jeff Bezos’s 1997 letter to shareholders, Jensen Huang’s stadium-style presentations, and Alex Karp at Palantir doing live earnings calls on his phone.
In the age of AI, the ability to form relationships with other humans will also be vital, Galloway said.
“At the end of the day, I have three different law firms pitching me business, three different investment banks, three different CRM companies,” he said. “Who do I have the best relationship with, and who do I want to work with?”
Galloway said a “fundamental understanding of the sciences” will also come in handy.
While some business leaders, such as Google’s head of research, say a grounding in coding and other technical skills remain important, others are placing greater emphasis on soft skills.
LinkedIn’s CEO, Ryan Roslansky, said curiosity, courage, communication, and compassion are increasingly important human-centered skills in the age of AI.
One soft skill that Galloway warned young people, especially young men, are losing is the ability to endure rejection. He said that when he mentors young men, one of the first things he tries to reintroduce into their lives is the capacity to hear and persevere through “no.”
Overall, Galloway said he would want his kids to “be able to write well, to be able to look someone in the eye, to be competitive.”
And instead of pushing children into specific fields because they seem promising, he said parents should help them find something they are genuinely good at.
