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AI Is Changing Hiring: The Skills Employers Actually Want in 2026 — Transcript

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0:07This is your money matters and we're
0:09talking about employment. Now, for a lot
0:11of you that have entered the job market
0:13or even those that are seeking to do so
0:15right now, the landscape has actually
0:18shifted very materially over the course
0:20of the last two years. I am of course
0:22talking about the implications of the
0:24advent of artificial intelligence.
0:26You're probably using it in your
0:28day-to-day lives, but so too are the
0:31companies that will seek to employ you
0:33down the line as well. Everybody is
0:35talking about productivity. A lot of
0:37companies are talking about the fact
0:39that they have either frozen hiring or
0:41even reduced hiring. What does that mean
0:43for you? Are there skills that you
0:45should pick up? Are there skills that
0:47you should not pay attention to? Joining
0:50me to talk about some of that is Niti
0:52Sharma, the chief executive officer of
0:54Team Le Digital. Niti, thanks so much
0:56for taking the time and uh we've had a
0:58similar conversation in the past, but I
1:00think a lot of water has already flown
1:02under the bridge since then. So, let me
1:04start by asking you how you see the
1:06landscape for the job market right now
1:09and especially if you compare it with
1:11maybe two or three years back.
1:14>> Uh Alex, thanks for having me here
1:15again. I think it's always interesting
1:17to discuss about what's happening in the
1:19job market and especially for young
1:21talent who's looking at getting their
1:23first jobs in. Of course, there has been
1:25a huge change over the last 18 to 24
1:28months. AI has not just impacted certain
1:31roles, but it's also creating newer
1:34roles, newer jobs requiring very
1:36different skill sets than what it had in
1:38the past. Uh so to your point when you
1:41started the introduction, yes, there are
1:43some jobs that are slowing down, that
1:45are diminishing, some of them are going
1:47away completely. uh jobs especially in
1:49the BO KPO sector jobs which are doing
1:52redundant data roles I think all of
1:55those roles will get impacted in a big
1:58way we've seen some impact already uh
2:00the IT services companies have has
2:03slowed their hiring for conventional
2:05technology stacks but they have
2:07massively increased their hiring on AI
2:10and AI adjusted skills so big shift in
2:12terms of what skills are coming in
2:15traditionally most of these companies
2:17have used degree degree. So whether it's
2:18an engineering degree or a BSE computer
2:20science degree, you know, as a filter to
2:23start taking taking interviews but today
2:26the degree does not matter on it on its
2:29own. What matters is what the skills
2:31people are bringing to the table. And
2:33for a fresher obviously the question is
2:35how do I gain skills you know when I'm
2:37just learning or you know studying in a
2:39in an institution. I think apart from
2:42the degree what employers are looking
2:44for and what institutions are trying to
2:46build are skills which are relevant not
2:49just for today but also for the next 18
2:51to 24 months. AI skills is in the you
2:54know is obviously the core of everything
2:56that we're discussing today. There's a
2:58huge talent gap as far as AI is
3:00concerned. About four four and a half
3:02lakh AI professionals exist in our
3:04country but the demand is additional two
3:07lakhs two lakh AI professionals and this
3:10could go up to about 12 to 13 lakhs by
3:12next year. So the so the requirement of
3:15skills is only going to go up and and
3:18it's not it's not going to shift away
3:20from AI for sure in the next two years
3:22time frame. But it does not mean that
3:25everyone has to become an A IML coder.
3:27everyone becomes an AI engineer. I think
3:30just using AI to do our jobs better is
3:33equally important as against just
3:36creating AI or writing more codes to to
3:38create more AI agents or use generative
3:41AI at at a workplaces. Many new jobs
3:44like I called out especially in the data
3:46center side or in AI side as AI
3:48auditors, govern uh AI govern governance
3:51specialist, model validators, risk
3:53managers, cyber security, cloud
3:55professionals. So a lot of new jobs
3:58getting created and a lot of traditional
4:00jobs are going away and that's a big
4:02shift uh as we start right now.
4:04>> A couple of points there Niti and uh
4:07because this technology itself is
4:09changing so rapidly even as we speak
4:11right the adoption is is is also causing
4:14shifts to take place. the uh the point
4:17that you were making is not necessarily
4:19in the coding space and this is an
4:21important point to make because
4:23ultimately a lot of companies globally
4:25are also developing what is called vibe
4:28coding which is you you don't
4:30necessarily need to know the prompt
4:31yourself you can essent or rather you
4:34don't need to know the code yourself you
4:36simply have to be able to prompt better
4:38so insight in the space that you are
4:41building for and your ability to
4:44communicate
4:45clearly and effectively are perhaps more
4:47important than the ability to code.
4:50Would you agree?
4:52>> Absolutely. You're right. Uh while
4:54coding is not going away, uh Alex, you
4:56know, there was this whole myth about
4:58all software engineers and all coding
5:00jobs will go away. I think the coding
5:02jobs are going to change. Uh supervising
5:05a code, monitoring a code, uh
5:08implementing the code in the right
5:10manner, reviewing a code are skills that
5:13are required. And for that software
5:15development or coding uh you know skills
5:17are needed. It may not be needed purely
5:20to write lines of code but it is needed
5:22to ensure that the implementation works
5:24in the right fashion. So yes there is a
5:27combination of what would software
5:28coders do? They would probably write few
5:31lines of codes using AI but more
5:34importantly supervise and monitor and
5:37ensure that I'm reviewing a code which
5:39becomes more effective for my customer.
5:41M so and all of this is what we're
5:44talking about from the perspective of
5:45the services industry. The other thing
5:47Niti that has happened over the course
5:49of the last one and a half years and I'm
5:50hearing this anecdotally uh there is
5:52also data to suggest that uh enrollment
5:55in certain universities that offer uh a
5:58masters in business administration have
6:00seen a drop off. Uh the value of that
6:03degree is not necessarily what it was
6:06maybe five or seven years back. one
6:08would you agree with that statement and
6:10two if if you do what else have you seen
6:14that has lost value in the way of
6:15degrees
6:17>> so why I don't think that the admissions
6:20will go down because the degree has
6:22lower value and MBA you know is is a
6:25very important degree uh and more than
6:28degree a skills development framework
6:31where you know when where professionals
6:33are actually groomed for managerial
6:36roles and that that ask is only going to
6:39go up because while we are all calling
6:41out technology, we're all calling out AI
6:44changing the world of work, there is a
6:46lot of human and humane skills that are
6:49that are more more importantly required
6:52in the future. So I would not say that
6:55the degree value is going to go down.
6:57Where it is actually probably slowing
6:59down is the kind of programs that these
7:01institutions have been have been
7:03developing so far. Given that everything
7:06that we do now has to have an AI
7:09integration, it is important that these
7:11institutions carve out programs which
7:14integrate and help students understand
7:17how do they use AI for effectiveness,
7:19how do they use AI for creativity, how
7:22do they use AI for thinking and
7:24strategizing but more importantly how do
7:27we use brain as as a human being to
7:30ensure that our creative work continues
7:33and our customer relationship ship work
7:35continues. So I think it'll be a
7:36combination of what programs these
7:38institutions bring in. Uh but yes, I
7:40think because the world of work is
7:42changing, because skill sets are
7:44changing, even institutions will have to
7:47pivot and change what they train the
7:49students in. You know that's such an
7:51interesting and important point that you
7:53make Niti because if you look at the
7:55behavioral and psychological uh and
7:59mental changes that have occurred
8:01because of various technologies coming
8:03to the four then they are manifold and
8:06they are playing out as we speak right
8:07now. Because if you think about the the
8:10generation that grew up with a
8:11smartphone and access to a search
8:13function, the ability to retain
8:16information and certain dates uh has
8:19diminished in a big way. Whereas a
8:21certain generation that did not have
8:22access to the ability to type a question
8:24out at will will remember data points
8:28and information far longer. Similarly,
8:31as we stand right now with people who
8:32are using artificial intelligence to
8:34answer simple questions and even write
8:37the work for them, is this something
8:40that needs to be tempered in a big way?
8:42Because you have for example as that for
8:45for a writer, you can lose the ability
8:48to write incisively or in the manner
8:50that you were writing before if you
8:52don't practice that craft.
8:55I I think uh because the the way it's
8:58changing, it's okay to have people use
9:01technology, use AI to do their work to a
9:05certain extent. But let's understand
9:07that technology can only do that much.
9:09We still need our brains. We still need
9:11to to think about pro problem solving,
9:14about creating new products, about
9:16understanding how our customers behave,
9:19their patterns, their consumption
9:21patterns. our ability to use technology
9:24is equally important. So it's it's not
9:26just about okay let me use AI or the
9:29chat GPT search function to get a
9:31response and obviously a lot of it is
9:33self-healing but apart from that what do
9:36I ask how do I ask why do I need to ask
9:39this and why do I not need to ask
9:41another questions are very very
9:42important the other aspect Alex that is
9:45coming up in the front uh you know as
9:47far as people are concerned is their
9:50critical thinking ability their
9:51communication ability the ethics
9:54governance risk management agement you
9:56know skill sets uh judgment I think
9:58those are skills that are that cannot be
10:00automated or digitized using AI or any
10:03other technology tool any technology can
10:07only help us improve what we are doing
10:09better but our thinking capability our
10:12conversations our communication
10:14capability customer relationship ability
10:17has to be done by people and that cannot
10:20go away so so for me I think it's okay
10:22to use AI or any other technology tool
10:25to work efficiently but not using your
10:28mind and brain and your thinking power I
10:31think that is going to be detrimental
10:33for people in the long run. So, so let
10:34me ask you this uh and since your your
10:37organization uh helps uh uh for for
10:41manpower requirements across the board
10:43uh and not just necessarily for IT per
10:46se, right? I'm asking outside of IT. It
10:48is a technical skill that you need. Uh
10:51from the point of view of somebody who's
10:53listening to this and who may be
10:54preparing for an interview, what is it
10:57that you look for beyond uh your
11:00technical knowhow or your your knowledge
11:03of subject? because you would want to
11:05judge all of the things that you've just
11:06described. So how would that pan out?
11:10>> Yes. So I think technical or domain is
11:13just one part of the you know evaluation
11:16that we do. The other part of the
11:18evaluation is the fitment of the person
11:21from a behavioral standpoint. You know
11:23their ability to learn continuously
11:26their ability to upskill their ability
11:28to adapt and adapt to new changes to new
11:31situations. uh their decision making uh
11:34skill sets, their risk-taking skill
11:37sets. I think there are many of those we
11:40obviously put it under the behavioral
11:41skills uh you know back bracket. But
11:44apart from domain and technology, it is
11:47important and and that's what we we
11:49gauge as to how how is the person
11:51thinking, how is the person behaving,
11:53you know, what is their risk takingaking
11:55capability, capacity, how much can they
11:58get pushed, what is their customer
12:00orientation. Many of those skills need
12:03to be gauged and I'm telling this to you
12:05that it cannot be done using just you
12:07know AI assessments. It has to be
12:10speaking to people meeting them
12:12understanding their requirements
12:14understanding where they're going you
12:16know what their career road map is and
12:18what we want to bring in you know so
12:21that we can work alongside with them. So
12:23I think multiple skill sets technology
12:26domain is just one part of what what we
12:28evaluate on
12:29>> and and variety of skills one would
12:30assume right if you if you bring more
12:33more uh um more aspects to the table or
12:36more dimensions to the table the better
12:40it is. So you can have a variegated
12:42experience or knowledge and that can
12:44always hold you in goodstead. Niti
12:46thanks so much for taking the time and
12:48speaking to me. Pleasure speaking with
12:49you as always.
12:50>> Pleasure Alex. Thank you. Right, that
12:52brings us to the end of this edition of
12:54your money matters. Tell us what you
12:55think. If you are in the market for a
12:57job, what is your experience like? Let
12:59us know and do stay tuned. This is NDTV
13:02Profit.

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