By Sarah Jackson
Publication Date: 2026-10-01 18:15:00
As AI reshapes how people work, particularly along the lowest rungs of the career ladder, many college students and entry-level workers are left wondering what skills will carry them furthest.
Two skills in particular are important to develop right now, if you ask Aparna Nair, IBM’s chief talent, leadership & culture officer.
Entry-level workers “have to be focused on ensuring that they are actually building critical thinking [and] judgment,” Nair tells CNBC Make It. “There are some things that are going to rapidly change, and some things that humans, only, can do today, which is where they need to double down.”
In an IBM survey of 1,500 chief human resources officers and 8,800 employees worldwide published in September, roughly 57% of CHROs considered critical thinking an important skill in the AI era, compared to 49% of employees. Approximately 48% of CHROs consider judgment under uncertainty and ambiguity an important skill, compared to just 29% of employees.
“Traditionally people…
