I’ve felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to guest lecture at Stanford many times over the past few years.
This summer I’m looking forward to making it a more regular occurrence with Redefining Creativity: Designing Human Connections In an AI World led by Rebeca Hwang.
The Shift
AI is fundamentally changing how companies hire.
There was a time when your resume was your most valuable asset. Good grades, a solid degree, a respected job title — these were the golden tickets to a stable future.
But that world is gone. In its place is something more volatile. More confusing. And, ironically, more human.
Teaching the next generation is central to my work on The Human Skills That Make Us Irreplaceable in the Age of AI.
What I Talk About With Stanford Students
I always start with the same question: “How many of you are worried AI will take your job?”
Most hands go up. Then I ask: “How many of you are actively building the skills that AI can’t replicate?”
Almost no hands.
That gap is exactly what we spend the session on. Leadership. Storytelling. Social influence. Change management. The skills that compound over a career and don’t show up on any technical spec sheet.
I tell them: the resume isn’t dead. But the skills that back it up have completely changed. A Stanford degree opens the door. What happens in the room depends on things they didn’t teach you in class.
What Surprises Me About This Generation
These students are sharper than I expected and more anxious than they let on.
The questions they ask backstage, after the lecture, are the ones that actually matter. Not “what should I major in?” but “how do I figure out what I’m actually good at?” and “how do I get into rooms I wasn’t invited to?”
Those aren’t academic questions. They’re real ones. And they’re exactly the right ones to be asking at 21.
The best students I’ve met at Stanford aren’t the ones trying to become irreplaceable someday. They’re the ones already acting like it.
Conclusion
I’m looking forward to sharing how to use human relationships to become Irreplaceable in an AI world.