As AI becomes a larger part of early-career work, graduates are gaining valuable technical skills but may have less time to develop the industry knowledge and traditional expertise their roles require. The experiences of Underwood, Dylan Patel and others highlight the growing debate over how employers should balance AI literacy with practical, client-focused skills.
AI training versus traditional expertise
There is little doubt that Underwood, Patel and Clinton are developing valuable AI knowledge that could support them throughout their careers. However, as more of their working time is devoted to AI, questions remain about how much time they can spend learning about the fields in which they are expected to work.
Underwood says she wants to develop traditional public relations skills, even though they are not currently a major focus of her role. She remains confident about her future with the agency’s growing AI team.
“There are some things I haven’t had a chance to do yet, like pitching directly to the media, which I’m definitely going to do,” she says.
Why industry knowledge still matters
For Simon Platt, chief operating officer at Portman Finance Group, the concern is that graduates are becoming too focused on AI. He says that although using AI effectively is important, the company’s two-year graduate programme is entirely focused on “learning the industry”.
“Our graduates rotate through four disciplines every six months and work directly with senior relationship managers to learn their specialization,” explains Pratt, who is based in Northampton.
“They will learn about all of our financial products, how to draft credit documents to submit to lenders, and how to build meaningful relationships with customers. They will be able to execute transactions from start to finish.”
AI skills need to be combined with domain expertise
Claire Reid, chief technology and innovation officer at PwC UK, believes that graduate roles relying too heavily on AI may not necessarily provide a strong path to long-term career advancement.
“There won’t be a postgraduate job in the future that doesn’t require a foundation in AI literacy,” says Reid, who is based in Glasgow.
“But AI skills alone won’t help you in your career; they need to be combined with domain knowledge about what clients actually want.”
Patel looks to build on his AI experience
Now back in Coventry, Dylan Patel remains confident that his AI research will continue to be valuable and is looking forward to developing his expertise further.
“I would love to explore different positions within the business. Through my involvement in AI-related projects, I am already working closely with different areas of the business and gaining valuable knowledge and experience in the process,” he says.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk