Scott Galloway and Jensen Huang: Your kids need 3 skills to thrive in the AI era — and none of them are taught in school

This is enough to make young people — and their parents — wonder: What should children and young adults actually be learning right now?

Jensen Huang’s message to new grads: It’s an exciting time

In May, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang spoke to graduates at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, offering a measured dose of optimism. AI won’t ruin career dreams, he argued — instead, “a new industry is being born.”

He continued by telling the 5,800 graduates: “A new era of science and discovery is beginning... I cannot imagine a more exciting time to begin your life’s work. No generation has entered the world with more powerful tools — or greater opportunities — than you.”

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But don’t rely too heavily on AI tools

Huang’s encouragement was welcome. But this optimistic perspective seems to gloss over a more complicated picture when it comes to future employment and the impact of AI. In a recent Financial Times interview, an anonymous financier said that “AI native” new hires are producing surprisingly shallow work — so much so that his firm is now actively recruiting humanities graduates over those who lean heavily on AI tools.

Scott Galloway weighs in on the importance of human skills

It was in this context that tech entrepreneur, NYU Stern professor and author Scott Galloway sat down with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast in early May to discuss what parents can actually do to AI-proof their children’s futures.

Galloway’s answer was deliberately counterintuitive — and worth paying attention to whether you’re a recent grad, a parent or a grandparent looking to your family’s future.

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Storytelling and building relationships

When Bartlett asked Galloway which skills would matter most, Galloway pointed not to coding bootcamps or data science degrees, but to two fundamentally human abilities: Storytelling and the capacity to build real relationships.

He noted that a decade ago, elite private schools were steering students toward Mandarin and computer science as the twin currencies of future success.

“How’s that worked out?” he said dryly, before answering: “‘Thank god my kid knows Mandarin,’ said nobody right now.”

Storytelling, Galloway argues, is ‘the most enduring skill’ — defined not as spinning yarns but as “your ability to look at data, create a narrative arc, and then communicate that story in a compelling way.”

As an example, he pointed to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s 1997 letter to shareholders — a document so compelling in its vision that Galloway says it made him want to invest on the spot.

The same principle applies in Canada. Whether you’re pitching a startup to a Bay Street investor, presenting a business case to a Crown corporation or applying for a federal grant, the ability to frame data into a narrative is what separates forgettable presentations from funding decisions.

Galloway’s second essential skill is “the ability to establish strong relationships with other sentient beings.” He argues that a strong real-world network — built through genuine human connection, not LinkedIn endorsements — is one of the most durable career assets a young person can develop. It opens doors to jobs, clients, mentors and business partners that no algorithm can replicate.

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One last skill future Canadian workers need to learn

Galloway added a third, less-discussed skill that he believes young people — particularly young men — are dangerously underpracticed in: Handling rejection.

“It’s hugely underrated… the ability to endure rejection,” he said. He recommends giving young people as many low-stakes opportunities as possible to hear “no” — so that when it matters, they already know how to absorb it and move on.

Drawing from his own experience, Galloway described rejection as “the secret to his success.”