{"id":108849,"date":"2025-08-25T12:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/108849\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T12:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:44:07","slug":"in-the-age-of-ai-some-tech-leaders-think-communications-degrees-may-actually-be-more-valuable-than-computer-science-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/108849\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Age of AI, some tech leaders think communications degrees may actually be more valuable than computer science degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"

In between bites of cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e at Chicago gastropub The Gage last week, ServiceNow<\/a> Chief Transformation Officer Kelley Steven-Waiss asked a room full of CHROs a bold question: What if computer science degrees weren\u2019t actually as valuable as everyone\u2019s been claiming?<\/p>\n

In this heavily AI-powered world, some would guffaw. I leaned in closer. What if, Steven-Waiss posed, it was actually those with communications degrees who would likely win out in the end? The soft people skills that comms majors learn\u2014like conflict resolution and ability to influence, persuade, and inspire\u2014are just going to increase in importance in the age of AI, she said at a Fortune dinner presented in partnership with ServiceNow.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting theory, and may make sense at a time where tech job postings<\/a> remain 36% below pre-pandemic levels, with entry-level tech roles<\/a> down 34%, according to a recent Indeed study.<\/p>\n

And with some fearing that entry-level roles could decrease thanks to AI, it may be time to think of other options for recent grads. Steven-Waiss proposed a solution: A two-year, entry-level career program where new hires enter a \u201cproblem-solving pool.\u201d She envisions companies hiring up to 100 early-in-career, digital natives every year that rotate around a company and figure out where their contributions and passions are highest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the new hustle those of us GenXer\u2019s learned climbing the corporate ladder or doing the summer job. There\u2019s going to be people that figure out, \u2018God, I\u2019m really good at engineering,\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m really good at inbound product management\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m really good at finance,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem-solving team with a mission and they will learn how to collaborate, and we will likely see innovative new solutions that existing teams wouldn\u2019t have come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven-Waiss said this type of model would be a positive for the bottom line, too. Companies wouldn\u2019t have to have specific jobs in each department to budget for. Everyone in the problem-solving pool would make the same salary, and finance departments would know exactly what the spend would be, she said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen you grow up in a function or a career path, you almost always wear that jersey. So in the case that they\u2019re coming into this rotation, where there\u2019s no set job, they\u2019re wearing the jersey of the company,\u201d Steven-Waiss said. \u201cThey\u2019re wearing the jersey of the problem they\u2019re actually working to solve, and they are going to learn so much about the dynamics, about how the company makes money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media
kristin.stoller@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Around the Table<\/p>\n

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of CEOs who leave the top position transition to an executive chair role. But does having two leaders make sense? New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite more employees completing online courses and job-skill certificates, a new study finds they don\u2019t often pay off. Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/p>\n

How much does it cost to fire your CEO? While it can vary, it\u2019s almost always not cheap. Bloomberg<\/a><\/p>\n

Watercooler<\/p>\n

Everything you need to know from Fortune.<\/p>\n

The Great Resentment. Employer revenge is returning, as bosses lord over workers<\/a> with RTO mandates and pay cuts. \u2014Nick Lichtenberg and Ashley Lutz<\/p>\n

ChatGPT counselor. A quarter of Gen Zers say they are following ChatGPT\u2019s career advice<\/a>, and only 3% admit they regret it. \u2014Jessica Coacci<\/p>\n

Toxic traits. Job ads that call for \u201cambitious,\u201d \u201cself-reliant,\u201d or \u201cresults-driven\u201d candidates disproportionately attract narcissists<\/a>. \u2014Orianna Rosa Royle<\/p>\n

This is the web version of Fortune CHRO, a newsletter focusing on helping HR executives navigate the needs of the workplace. Sign up<\/a> to get it delivered free to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In between bites of cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e at Chicago gastropub The Gage last week, ServiceNow Chief Transformation Officer Kelley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[182,181,507,23276,23586,71578,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-108849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-colleges-and-universities","12":"tag-entry-level","13":"tag-fortune-chro","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}