KENNESAW, Ga. | Sep 26, 2025

What skills should you cultivate to stay relevant in a workplace being reshaped by AI? Given the massive workplace disruption of today, what can students and professionals pursuing careers in fields like data science, computer science, and similar do to maximize their chances in the job market and future proof their careers? Spoiler alert: it isn’t about doubling down on deep technical skills!

Skillset #1: Higher Level Strategic Thinking
Strategic thinking isn’t reserved for the naturally gifted. Rather, it’s a skill you can build with intention and practice. The future isn’t too bright if you allow yourself to be a data or computer scientist who will do exactly what you are told, exactly how you are told to do it. Even if you do good work, you’re leaving all the strategy and bigger picture thinking to someone else. That’s a risky spot to be in!

Even before AI, the most valuable employees were those coming up with the big, successful ideas as opposed to those executing someone else’s idea. With AI taking over a rapidly increasing share of tactical work, it is more critical than ever to move beyond just technical skills and into strategic thinking skills.
If AI soon takes over strategic activities too? That’s a problem to discuss another day. Regardless, a terrific way to put off your displacement by AI is by moving into the strategic thinking zone.

Skillset #2: Design And Planning Skills
Having a high-value, strategic idea is great, but it doesn’t pay the bills by itself. To pay off, that idea must be developed, refined, and implemented. It is important to be able to help design and plan the processes to make an idea a reality.

To do that, we typically start with a business problem, a bunch of data, myriad software tools, and complex existing processes that must be both accounted for and adjusted. The complexity of navigating all the permutations available while accounting for all constraints is very high. There are also cultural, political, or business policy factors that AI will struggle to comprehend and account for.

Thus, being able to lead design and implementation planning processes will provide more job security than just being a member of the implementation team.

Skillset #3: Soft Skills And Emotional Intelligence
While technical skills are essential, they’re not enough. The highest levels of career success have always gone to those who bring more to the table: trust, clarity, empathy, and influence. In the age of AI, this pattern isn’t fading, it’s intensifying. People want to work with those they trust, respect, and like. That’s especially true in times of rapid change, high stress, and uncertainty… which pretty much describes the environment we’re in right now!

For your ideas to gain traction, you need to communicate them clearly and persuasively. You must be able to explain how your solution adds value, why the risks are acceptable, and why it’s worth acting on. I feel so strongly about this that I wrote an entire book on it! (shameless plug coming… see Winning The Room). After all, thinking strategically and being able to design a great solution won’t help you if you can’t get others to understand it, embrace it, and take action!

Now let’s turn to emotional intelligence. This is related to, but different from, communication and general soft skills. Emotional intelligence is the ability to read the room, to understand what is motivating or upsetting others, and to moderate your own emotions when necessary. High stress, confrontational interactions can’t be navigated with logic alone. You also need solid emotional intelligence to back you up.

Skillset #4: Adaptability
In today’s fast-changing environment, even a brilliant, well-designed idea can become obsolete before it’s implemented. Maximizing the previously mentioned skills will require being adaptable, flexible, and resilient to change. It means being willing and able to assess new information and adjust your plans accordingly … even if it means walking away from ideas you once championed.

Adaptability requires taking hits to your ego at times. It also means embracing change when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or downright frustrating. However, without developing that adaptability you’ll not only risk moving too slowly to keep succeeding, but you’ll likely keep yourself at a higher than healthy stress level.

Staying Relevant In The Age Of AI
So you want to succeed in the age of AI while pursuing a career in fields like data science, computer science, or similar? Absolutely, as I discussed in last month’s blog, you should learn all you can and show you can apply that knowledge. However, technical mastery alone won’t be enough.
To stand out, you need to be a person that people want to work with because you:

1. Generate compelling strategic ideas,
2. Design and plan how to bring those complex ideas to life,
3. Communicate those ideas clearly and effectively to gain support from others, and
4. Adapt and adjust quickly as situations evolve

These skills have always mattered, of course. But today, with AI rapidly taking over many human tasks, these skills are more important than ever. In fact, they might just be what keeps you from being replaced by an algorithm!