Thoma Bravo co-founder Orlando Bravo during a Bloomberg House event on Thursday, April 30, 2026 in Miami, Florida, USA.
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Billionaire founder of Thoma Bravo says AI will eliminate monotonous work and transform the role of junior employees, despite growing concerns about the impact of technology on entry-level roles.
Orlando Bravo, founder of software-focused private equity firm Thoma Bravo, spoke with CNBC’s Annette Weisbach at the Super Returns conference in Berlin on Tuesday about how the role of junior associates is changing as his firm’s use of AI increases.
Bravo said younger employees will have bigger jobs and “mature faster.” “They spend a lot less time than before on models and comparative studies, and overall, they are now much more engaged in thinking about their investment work and business in a much bigger way.”
“I’m bothering them a lot less because instead of calling them to do something in the middle of the night, I can do something really quickly with (comparable) AI. It’s going to improve their lives anyway, and that’s what they want,” he added.
The comments came amid growing concerns over youth unemployment, with recent data showing the number of young people in England not in education, employment or training rose to more than one million in the first four months of this year.
Young people in the US and UK face an increasingly competitive job market as companies lay off thousands of employees and deploy AI, resulting in a reduction in entry-level jobs.
“AI is going to be great for young people. I’m very upset that there are people who say AI is going to destroy entry-level jobs,” Bravo said.
“If you define an associate’s role as just running spreadsheets, you don’t have to do that. But our associates are now demanding more from companies. They’re building relationships with CEOs, and we need more associates.”
Bravo explained that this is the first time in his 30-year career in the private equity industry that more hiring has been needed because AI creates more jobs.
While some companies, like Bravo, are more bullish on AI’s ability to create jobs, the past year has seen a slew of AI layoffs, with more than 50,000 layoffs in the U.S. being supported by the technology in 2025. sales force, IBMand microsoft AI was cited as the reason for the layoffs.
In April, Meta announced plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce to offset this year’s large capital investments in AI infrastructure, which the tech giant said could reach up to $135 billion in 2026.
On the other hand, Jack Dorsey block The company laid off more than 4,000 people, more than half its workforce, arguing that AI would automate more tasks so it could operate more efficiently with smaller teams.
As young people struggle to secure jobs, UK technology secretary Liz Kendall said the government is focused on upskilling young workers in AI by offering free courses to help expand employment.
Entry-level employees with AI skills could see up to a 25% increase in salary, according to the latest data from the world’s largest recruitment agency. Randstad.
“We help people transition, we give them skills, and we redesign entry-level jobs,” Kendall said in a conversation with CNBC’s Ritika Gupta on “Squawk Box Europe.”
“We have a goal of upskilling 10 million workers by 2030, which is a third of the workforce, and we have already delivered 1.7 million AI skills courses. The truth is this: If you have AI skills, you are more likely to get a job and get a higher paying job. That’s why we’re so focused on it,” she added.
