At a Business Insider roundtable in Davos titled “Futureproofing Your Workforce in the Age of AI,” 15 HR and C-suite executives revealed how artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming hiring practices and career pipelines across industries. The discussion, presented by Indeed, highlighted two critical shifts: AI’s impact on entry-level positions and the evolution of candidate evaluation methods.
Elizabeth Faber, Global Chief People & Purpose Officer at Deloitte, emphasized that while her firm remains “human-led and technology-powered,” they’re navigating AI integration carefully to maintain their people-focused business model. She expressed optimism about AI creating new business opportunities while acknowledging the need for intentional workforce planning.
Melissa Stolfi, Chief Operating Officer at TCW and former Goldman Sachs executive, shared that her company has already downsized its analyst class due to AI’s ability to handle tasks like modeling and company research. However, she stressed the importance of maintaining a “pyramid structure” to preserve the apprenticeship culture that develops future managers. TCW now employs AI agents for tasks previously performed by junior analysts, representing a tangible reduction in entry-level hiring.
Svenja Gudell, Indeed’s Chief Economist, presented concerning data showing that tech job postings increasingly require five-plus years of experience, partly because employers need experienced workers to oversee AI integration. She warned of a looming talent pipeline crisis: “If you’re not training the initial incoming group, at some point you are going to run out of the people that have the five years experience.”
The conversation shifted to how AI has transformed the application process itself. Nathalie Scardino, Salesforce’s President and Chief People Officer, revealed her company receives two million applications annually and has pivoted to assessing candidates based on learning aptitude rather than years of experience. Salesforce now focuses on adaptability and real-life skill demonstrations rather than traditional credentials.
Becky Frankiewicz from ManpowerGroup, which processes 10 million resumes yearly, noted that while AI can reduce bias when properly trained, the company sees seven million applicants failing to connect with jobs—highlighting a significant matching problem that AI might help solve by identifying candidates’ potential beyond traditional qualifications.
Key Quotes
We’re very optimistic about the opportunities that AI and emerging technology provides for growth for our people. We just have to be very careful on how we navigate it, and very intentional.
Elizabeth Faber, Deloitte’s Global Chief People & Purpose Officer, emphasized the need for careful AI integration while maintaining their human-led business model, reflecting the tension between technological efficiency and workforce development.
We’ve already seen a slight reduction in our workforce. However, it is important for us to maintain some type of a pyramid structure because we do want to build the pipeline for the next generation of managers.
Melissa Stolfi from TCW acknowledged that AI has enabled workforce reductions in entry-level positions while recognizing the critical need to preserve career development pathways for future leadership.
If you’re not training the initial incoming group, at some point you are going to run out of the people that have the five years experience because you didn’t have that pipeline build up.
Indeed’s Chief Economist Svenja Gudell warned of an impending talent crisis as companies increasingly require experienced workers to oversee AI while simultaneously reducing entry-level hiring that creates that experience.
The onus on the recruiter is now assessing people’s learning aptitude. That is the biggest shift in recruiting that I have seen.
Nathalie Scardino from Salesforce described how her company has fundamentally changed hiring criteria from experience-based to learning-ability-based assessments, representing a paradigm shift in talent evaluation driven by AI’s impact on job requirements.
Our Take
This discussion exposes a fundamental contradiction in corporate AI strategy: executives recognize that eliminating entry-level positions threatens future leadership pipelines, yet they’re proceeding with reductions anyway. The optimism about AI creating “new opportunities” feels disconnected from the concrete reality of downsized analyst classes and increased experience requirements. What’s particularly striking is the tech sector’s five-year experience requirement surge—the very industry driving AI adoption is most aggressively cutting off its own talent pipeline. The shift toward assessing “learning aptitude” is promising but raises questions about how candidates demonstrate this without the apprenticeship opportunities being eliminated. ManpowerGroup’s seven million unmatched applicants suggests AI hasn’t solved hiring inefficiencies—it may have created new ones. Companies appear to be optimizing for short-term efficiency while creating long-term strategic vulnerabilities in talent development.
Why This Matters
This roundtable discussion reveals a critical inflection point in how AI is reshaping workforce development and hiring practices across major industries. The simultaneous reduction in entry-level positions and increased experience requirements creates a potential talent pipeline crisis that could impact business leadership for decades. Companies are essentially eliminating the traditional career ladder’s bottom rungs while still needing future executives—a paradox that remains unresolved.
The shift from credentials-based to skills and learning-aptitude-based hiring represents a fundamental reimagining of talent evaluation, potentially democratizing opportunities for non-traditional candidates. However, it also raises concerns about how young professionals will gain the apprenticeship experiences that have historically developed business acumen and soft skills. The seven million resume-to-job mismatch ManpowerGroup identified suggests AI’s promise to improve hiring efficiency hasn’t yet materialized at scale. As companies navigate this transition, their decisions will determine whether AI creates a more equitable hiring landscape or exacerbates barriers to career entry for the next generation.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-is-changing-job-applications-and-hiring-2026-1