How to Get Hired in the AI Era - Clara Shih with Nicholas Thompson

How to Get Hired in the AI Era - Clara Shih with Nicholas Thompson

Author: Atlantic Re:think September 2, 2026 Duration: 50:43
For years, tech CEOs have promised that AI will take on the menial, repetitive tasks that have long been a part of office life. Typically, those tasks are assigned to younger, less experienced workers—and poll after poll shows Gen Z is increasingly concerned about what AI will mean for their job prospects. Clara Shih says those fears are, at least partly, justified. As the former head of Meta's Business AI Group, and the CEO of Salesforce AI before that, Shih knows firsthand how companies are deploying AI and where it's affecting hiring. Now, as the founder of the New Work Foundation, Shih is building tools to help young workers navigate this complex hiring maze. In conversation with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, Shih details the skills students should focus on to prepare for the AI era, how employees can leverage the technology, and why more people—of all ages—might soon find themselves working for an algorithm. Produced independently of The Atlantic’s editorial staff. (0:00) Introduction (02:35) What New Work Foundation is doing for Gen Z job seekers (04:00) Is your major cooked? Testing the "Field Report" tool (06:50) What AI exposure scores don’t capture (10:20) How colleges should prepare students for the AI era (17:30) Why beginners shouldn't use AI to learn something new (22:00) Is college still worth it? (23:42) Why applying for a job is harder than it used to be (29:52) AI will make big companies more efficient—and less fun  (33:12) How the bitter lesson could apply to entire organizations (36:12) The three buckets all white-collar work might soon fall into (42:51) Are companies actually laying people off because of AI? (47:54) What Clara would do if she had an unlimited budget to invest in AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicholas Thompson sits down with some of the sharpest minds working at the edges of artificial intelligence in The Most Interesting Thing in A.I.. This isn't a dry technical briefing or a series of speculative futures; instead, each conversation digs into the tangible, often surprising ways this technology is already altering the fabric of our daily lives and institutions. You'll hear from leading thinkers who cut through the hype to discuss the real ethical dilemmas, economic shifts, and social transformations unfolding right now. Produced by Atlantic Re:think and PwC, the podcast provides a grounded space to explore questions about creativity, power, work, and truth in an age of intelligent machines. The discussions are built on the premise that understanding AI's impact requires looking beyond code and algorithms to consider human values and consequences. Tune in for thoughtful, accessible dialogues that reframe how we think about one of the most significant forces of our time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 41

The Most Interesting Thing in AI
Podcast Episodes
How AI Is Changing Code - Paul Ford with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:44
In the last year, AI has arguably made more progress in coding than in any other domain. Its technical capabilities – harnessed through apps like Codex and Claude Code – have changed the way engineers work. Boris Cherny,…
The AI Jobs Disruption - Erik Brynjolfsson with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:27
Of all the potential risks and promises of AI, perhaps none are as immediately dire as this: How will it impact jobs? Will employers still need workers? What will it mean if the answer is “no?” Depending on who you’re ta…
The Limits of Predictive AI - Carissa Véliz with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:10
Can AI predict a person’s future? It’s a promise often made by sales teams, but the technology’s record is far from spotless. Even if it did achieve perfect foresight, a practically-clairvoyant AI might be incompatible w…
AI Utopia or Catastrophe? Nick Bostrom with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:16
Will AI destroy the world, or transform it into one of abundance? Across two books and several papers, philosopher Nick Bostrom has envisioned a range of AI futures. He joins Nicholas Thompson to discuss the ethics of ho…
Sam Altman on Where AI Models Go Next, with Nicholas Thompson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:15
OpenAI’s Sam Altman sits for an interview with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, to discuss AI’s trustworthiness, its dangers, and its impact on young people. Altman also discusses his company’s pledge to “stop com…
Data Centers in Space - with Nicholas Thompson and Ariel Ekblaw [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:35
AI needs data centers, and those data centers need energy and cooling. Recently, one proposal has captured the popular imagination: put data centers in space, where there’s ample solar energy and naturally cool surroundi…
Season 4 Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:59
Where does AI go next? And what happens to us? Join The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson as he speaks with leaders, developers, philosophers, and more about AI’s impacts, present and future. New episodes every Wednesday,…
The Copyright Wars - with Nicholas Thompson and Bill Gross [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:14
In this episode, The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson speaks with serial entrepreneur and Idealab founder Bill Gross about his latest venture, ProRata, a bold attempt to create a fair exchange of value between AI compani…