Many Solomons clients are business owners and professionals, and many look after families across generations. For them, the most practical part of Cathie Wood’s conversation with Johnny Shin on 14 September was about work: what AI means for businesses, careers and the next generation.
Cathie acknowledged the widespread concern about job losses but argued that history points the other way:
“The history of technology is it’s a net job creator.”
She cited recent research reported in the Financial Times and The Economist estimating about 1 million net new jobs created globally by AI. She said the real pressure is at entry level, because AI can now do many of the tasks graduates used to be hired for. In the United States, she noted, unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds has risen to 9.5%, against an overall rate of 4.1% that has been easing.
Her advice to young people was direct. Keep applying for jobs, because it still takes a median of three months to find work. In the meantime: “Identify a problem that frustrates you and start a company and use only AI. Do not hire anybody.” That experience, she said, is likely to move a candidate to the top of an employer’s list. She was equally frank about the odds: “90% fail. But that means 10% succeed.”
For businesses, she described adoption happening from both directions. Leaders are committing from the top, and staff are experimenting on their own from the bottom up. Because AI works in natural language, she said, people have never been closer to being able to code. She encouraged founders to reward employees who take the initiative and to make sure they share what they learn.
Johnny gave a local example. An intern at a Solomons AI hackathon built a client relationship tool, and on the strength of that work he secured a role at AustralianSuper.
Her closing advice on the topic was that “the most important thing is just to start using it”.
