What AI Bosses Advise Their Kids About Jobs --- We asked experts about the future of careers in an AI-driven world

“When Daniela Amodei meets with potential customers and business partners, they sometimes toss her a sheepish question as they leave: "What should my kid study in college?"

 

After all, the Anthropic co-founder has a front-row seat when it comes to how AI models like Claude are transforming jobs and the economy -- a topic that spooks parents everywhere. (And not just parents.)

 

We asked Amodei and four other leaders in AI how they think about their own children's futures and what advice they give them. Their offspring range from 6 months to 26 years old -- eons in AI terms. But the parents have one thing in common: They worry, but they aren't freaking out. And neither are their kids.

 

Manny Medina

 

Co-founder of Paid.AI, a platform that helps companies get paid for work done by AI agents

 

Four children, ages 4, 9, 19 and 26

 

There are two areas that I think will be vibrant in the short to medium term. One is energy. The other is healthcare.

 

Outside of the sun, the most powerful source of energy is the atom. I've been telling my kids, you should really figure out how to get into nuclear. My oldest kid just got a job at TerraPower, a company founded by Bill Gates that works on applications of nuclear power.

 

One of the other shortages we'll continue to have is healthcare, specifically around cancer. My 19-year-old decided to go into nuclear medicine, which is using nuclear isotopes to treat cancer.

 

With the younger ones, I have more flexibility in seeing what's coming out, but also a lot more stress in that I can't see the future that far out. The part I want to make sure of is that they don't look at AI as a threat. They should just figure out how to do something amazing.

 

Given how unevenly AI is developing in the world, vast amounts of people will be left behind. So helping the poor, feeble, sick, that could be an interesting path. And the environment -- caring for animals, people, oceans. My 9-year-old adores animals and loves to dream about solving problems like ocean pollution. We live on this Earth. The problem is not going away.

 

Caroline Hanke

 

Global head of organizational growth and health at SAP, leading internal AI workforce transformation

 

One child, age 15

 

My son is a soccer player, and he obviously wants to become a professional soccer player. I asked, is this the right space to focus on? He said, I believe being a professional soccer player is future-proof because no one will want to watch AI robots on the field. So he tried to pitch me on this plan.

 

I truly believe agility and openness to change -- people that can cope with change and adapt quickly -- those will be the central skills I want my teenager to have. The technical skills relevant for today are not going to be relevant even two years from now.

 

It really is more soft skills -- critical thinking, adaptability. Also ethics -- where human judgment comes into play. I would even question whether communication skills will matter so much because I think AI will get very good at that.

 

In terms of what he should study in college, I'd want him to stay as broad as possible. He'll decide on his own, but if I had to choose, I'd rather it be something in the space of mathematics because logical thinking is something that will be required in any future role because of how AI works.

 

Ethan Mollick

 

Management professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and author of 'Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI' (Portfolio, 2024)

 

Two children, ages 16 and 19

 

We're an AI-studying household, so it comes up in conversation.

 

My kids are interested in broad careers like law and medicine, so I'm less worried. I think generalist jobs, where there are many different skills bundled together, are good jobs in an AI world. You're good at some stuff, bad at some stuff. Being a doctor is not just diagnosis, you do a whole bunch of other things. You're probably not equally good at all of them, so if AI steps in to help where you're weaker, that's a good thing.

 

In terms of figuring out AI-proof careers, if your kid wants to cut hair or be a plumber, that's wonderful. But to bet it all, thinking you have the answers when everyone is up in the air, how can you be certain?

 

Take an insurance policy by being broadly educated, being deeply educated, being flexible in the face of change, maybe saving money to get through the disruptions -- the things you'd do in any time of uncertainty.

 

A liberal-arts education matters more than ever.

 

Jaime Teevan

 

Chief scientist and technical fellow, Microsoft, and trustee, Yale University

 

Four children, ages 17, 19 (twins) and 21

 

I have four boys, and the middle two are identical twins. I joke I'm running an A-B experiment with them.

 

All of us old people are superworried about AI and, when we worry about our kids, we're really worrying about ourselves. Kids won't have the same challenges we have of trying to retrofit old assumptions.

 

I tell my kids, play around, try things out. People need to know how to use a model, but not necessarily build it.

 

Metacognitive skills will be very important -- flexibility, adaptability, experimentation, thinking critically, being able to challenge things. Developing critical-thinking skills requires friction, doing things that are hard, doing deep thinking.

 

For that, a traditional liberal-arts education is really important. That's true at a macro level, at a time of extreme disruption. And it's also interestingly true at a micro level. Think of what AI does. It used to be that communicating with a computer was deterministic: You press this button, and this thing happens.

 

Now it's based on natural language, providing context, expressing intent and thinking critically.

 

AI is amazing at generating recommendations and can have opinions, but it can't take responsibility. That's a human role.

 

Daniela Amodei

 

President and co-founder, Anthropic

 

Two children, ages 4 and 6 months

 

When I think about what my kids will need as they get older, it's human qualities: the ability to relate, to empathize and be around other humans. What's not going to be replaceable is how you treat other people, how well you communicate with them, how kind you are.

 

Fundamentally, I have a deep, hopeful belief that humans ultimately like to be around and spend time with other humans.

 

So, if anything -- and this sounds funny to say about future teenagers -- I might orient my kids toward more socializing and understanding how they relate to people in their own unique way.

 

There are two schools of thought on human creativity. One is: Look, the AIs are going to be better than us at everything, and nobody's going to want to do anything anymore. But I'm an optimist, and so I tend to be in the second school of thought, which is that Humans have an intrinsic desire to make meaning and create things just because they enjoy the act of creating.

 

Humans are surprisingly resilient and adaptive, and our desire to be creative and to be in groups won't go away.” [1]

 

1. What AI Bosses Advise Their Kids About Jobs --- We asked experts about the future of careers in an AI-driven world. Weber, Lauren.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 04 Mar 2026: A10.