Billionaire serial entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban has some job search advice for his two children and others looking for entry-level jobs in the age of artificial intelligence.
The advice is simple. Prioritize working at a small company rather than competing for a job at a large company.
In large companies, Cuban says, AI skills are probably somewhat irrelevant. You may know how to use AI effectively, but so does everyone in your company’s large, established IT department.
“Small businesses don’t have that depth,” Cuban told CNBC Make It. “They’re usually driven by entrepreneurship and don’t have the flexibility to get people to research things. Having new graduates work on agent AI projects is low cost for them and can get results quickly.”
In a Sept. 30 podcast episode of “The Dumbest Guy In the Room,” Cuban used his company, Cost Plus Drugs, as an example, saying, “People who understand AI and agents can go and look at our processes and use AI to automate them…(could) help us be more productive, more competitive, more profitable.”
Cuban pointed out that podcast host John Dick’s company, Civic Science, was in a similar location.
“[Small businesses]have to compete differently, but they don’t have the resources to have a huge IT department,” Cuban said. “Similar to what we saw in the early days of the internet, we hired young kids who were comfortable with the internet and were already able to learn it and implement new things.”
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A July report by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 95% of companies have yet to see a measurable return on their AI investments. The MIT report says a minority of companies are primarily early-stage technology startups run by young entrepreneurs who are building their processes around AI models specific to their business.
“I say it (to my kids), just like I tell all the young kids, there are going to be two types of companies in this country. There are going to be companies that are good at AI and there are going to be companies that used to be in business… and if you’re looking for a job, it’s easier to work for a small company than a big company,” Cuban said on the podcast.
Cuban, 67, has three children, including two daughters who currently attend college at Vanderbilt University and UCLA. He advised people to “learn everything you can about AI, but even more about how to bring it into your enterprise,” he said on the Aug. 20 episode of the podcast TBPN. “Companies don’t understand how to implement all of this at the moment to gain a competitive advantage,” he added.
Some other experts argue that young people seeking entry-level jobs in the age of AI should emphasize soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence and critical thinking to potential employers. Being curious, adaptable, and open to new learning opportunities is “a skill in itself,” Kiersten Barnett, executive director of the nonprofit New York Jobs CEO Council, said at the CNBC Workforce Executive Council Summit on Oct. 7.
Ben Goodwin, co-founder and CEO of beverage company Olipop, told CNBC Make It in September that much of the $1.85 billion company’s success has been due to human skills, not technical ability.
“What’s really important to me is believing in myself, controlling my emotions, storytelling, etc. (and) getting as good as I can at guiding people as quickly as possible,” he said.
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