It’s Sunday, July 6, 2025, and in this week’s roundup, learn in 5 minutes or less:

Are you passionate about journalism and mentoring?

FT Schools is seeking university students to support our global network of Student Advocates.

As a University Mentor, you'll guide 60 sixth formers, help shape FT’s school outreach, and champion student voices, all while developing your leadership skills.

This paid, part-time role (12 hours/month, remote) lasts for 6 months.

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We’re past the hype stage. AI is here and it’s moving faster than most industries can keep up with.

AI is automating inboxes, summarizing documents, writing code, generating reports, even leading basic analysis. That means many knowledge workers especially those early in their careers are staring down a future that feels uncertain.

But here’s the truth: AI isn’t replacing everyone. It’s replacing tasks, not people specifically, AI is replaceing people who rely solely on repeatable, predictable work. What’s left are the deeply human capabilities and skills that machines can't replicate, no matter how sophisticated the algorithm becomes.

The reality is clear: the nature of work is changing and your value is being redefined.

The winners in this new era will be those who invest in distinctly human skills that AI can’t replicate, no matter how fast the technology advances.

These skills aren’t about outcoding the machine, they’re about outthinking it, outconnecting it, and outleading it.

Here's five (5) skills to focus on.

AI can analyze tone or sentiment, but it can’t feel.

Your ability to recognize, regulate, and respond to emotions in yourself and others is one of the most valuable traits in any professional setting. This is your emotional intelligence (EQ)

Your EQ shows up when you calm tension in a heated meeting, read the subtext in a stakeholder’s feedback, or recognize that a colleague is burned out before they say a word. It's essential for managing teams, building trust, and creating psychological safety none of which can be automated.

To develop it, practice pausing before reacting, asking reflective questions, and actively listening. The better you are at managing relationships and reading emotional cues, the more irreplaceable you become in leadership and team-driven roles.

AI can offer insights but only you can choose what to do with them. Strategic thinking is your ability to look beyond what’s immediately in front of you and consider long-term impacts, trade-offs, risks, and interdependencies.

This skill helps you turn information into action. It means identifying where your department fits into a company’s larger vision, proposing a pivot before a project fails, or aligning efforts with broader business goals.

To strengthen this muscle, ask: Why are we doing this? What would success look like? What could go wrong? and how would we respond?

Strategic thinkers aren’t just doers we are architects of outcomes.

AI can give you the data but data doesn’t change minds, stories do.

The ability to take complex ideas and distill them into compelling, relatable narratives is an elite-level skill in every industry.

Whether you’re writing a memo, pitching a project, or presenting to execs, how you say something is often more important than what you say. Humans respond to meaning, emotion, and connection. That’s what storytelling unlocks.

Develop this skill by studying how great communicators frame their messages. Use structure (Problem → Action → Result), keep it audience-centered, and never underestimate the power of clarity.

Your words are leverage so use them wisely.

AI works alone, you don’t.

The most valuable professionals are those who can work across teams, manage up, and influence without formal power.

Whether you’re in your first job or managing a team, your ability to get things done through others is a career accelerator.

This means knowing when to speak up, when to step back, and how to build consensus around shared outcomes. It means recognizing personalities, managing conflict, and aligning diverse stakeholders even when priorities clash.

To improve, study people not just tasks.

Observe team dynamics and ask questions that reveal motivation.

Influence doesn’t come from title it comes from trust, timing, and tact.

That’s something no algorithm can deliver.

If there's one skill that trumps all in the AI age, it’s adaptability.

Rigid careers are becoming obsolete and so the ability to reinvent yourself, learn new tools, pivot when needed, and stay curious is what keeps you in the game long-term.

This goes beyond being open to change, it’s about actively seeking it.

Taking on stretch assignments. Learning new technologies. Getting uncomfortable, on purpose.

Adaptable professionals see disruption not as a threat, but as an opportunity to evolve.

Build this trait like a habit. Say yes to projects that scare you a little.

Dedicate 30 minutes each week to learning something new.

The world is changing whether you’re ready or not, so know that the adaptable are already ahead.

In a world racing toward automation, what will separate thriving professionals from the rest is not how well we perform tasks but how well we think, connect, adapt, and lead.

AI will become a powerful co-pilot, but we are the one setting the destination.

Double down on what makes us human and that will be our moat, our leverage and our edge.

If you’re ready to future-proof your career with sharp strategy, modern tools, and high-impact mindset shifts join the growing CareerGuard community.

👉 Subscribe to the CareerGuard Newsletter to get content like this every Sunday.

Anokye - Co-Founder of The CareerGuard

Are you passionate about engineering? Project management?

Every year, we offer a graduate scheme in project management and engineering. Our graduate opportunities are rotational programmes, allowing you to learn about our vast business from experts whilst carrying out real work on real projects.

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Register your interest here and complete the form in its entirety…(tell them, you heard about this from the Careerguard 😉 )

When it comes to career and income growth in the AI era, traditional financial advice like "save more" or "cut lattes" won’t cut it.

The smartest financial move you can make right now is investing in high-leverage, human-centric skills. These are the capabilities AI can’t replicate, like influence, strategic thinking, storytelling, and adaptability.

The market rewards people who can lead, pivot, and communicate with clarity.

Think of it this way: your skills are income-generating assets. The better your skills age in an AI-driven market, the more optionality you have. That optionality translates into raises, new job offers, consulting gigs, and side income. It’s not about working more, it’s about becoming more valuable where machines fall short.

Start by budgeting for growth: online courses, coaching, books, workshops, anything that sharpens the irreplaceable parts of your skillset.

Forget chasing the highest salary right now.

Focus on building the kind of talent stack that makes you impossible to ignore and difficult to replace.

Staying relevant in an AI world isn't just about skill, it’s about mindset and that starts with mental flexibility.

In a fast-changing workplace, stress often comes from clinging to old routines, roles, or expectations, but true wellness means embracing change without letting it break you.

Mental flexibility is the ability to adapt your thinking when conditions shift. It's recognizing when a process no longer serves you, when it’s time to upskill, or when to let go of rigid career timelines. The most resilient professionals aren’t the most experienced, they’re the most responsive.

To protect your peace and stay sharp, develop rituals that help you detach from the need for control such as journaling to reflect, meditation to quiet mental noise, and learning breaks to stay curious.

AI can analyze data, but it can’t reset, refocus, or reframe.

That’s your human edge so use it to stay clear, calm, and in control.

Instead of resisting AI, make it your productivity co-pilot.

The fastest-growing professionals aren’t the ones who do everything manually, they’re the ones who automate low-value tasks and focus their brainpower on strategic outcomes.

If you’re still spending hours on formatting, copywriting, or meeting notes, it’s time to reallocate your time.

Start simple: use ChatGPT, Gemini or CoPilot to draft rough outlines, summarize complex PDFs, or prep questions for stakeholder meetings.

Try tools like Notion AI or Otter.ai to help manage projects or capture meeting takeaways.

These tools won’t replace your thinking, they’ll remove the friction so you can focus where it counts.

Set a new productivity rule: anything repeatable gets delegated, either to a human, a process, or a machine.

AI shouldn’t be something you fear, it should be something that frees you to operate at a higher level.

One of the most powerful (and AI-proof) career skills today is the ability to influence without authority.

In flat teams and cross-functional projects, the people who drive change aren’t always the ones with titles. They’re the ones who build trust, speak with clarity, and move others toward a common goal regardless of their role on the org chart.

Influence without authority is about understanding people: their incentives, their fears, and their blockers. It’s about framing your ideas in a way that resonates with their priorities and it’s about doing this consistently, with empathy and precision.

Machines can give input but they can’t generate buy-in.

You can sharpen this skill by practicing strategic communication.

Use the “because” technique in your requests.

Listen more than you speak in meetings.

Anticipate objections and address them proactively.

Influence isn’t a personality trait it’s a career weapon and in a world full of smart tools, it’s the smart people who can lead others that still win.