(Illustration via Pixabay by geralt)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS reshaping work faster than any technological shift in recent memory. It is already drafting emails, analyzing data, writing code, accelerating decisions, and automating routine tasks across industries. At a recent roundtable with Massachusetts employers, we asked what this means for hiring. Their answer was striking: As technology advances, the hardest skills to find are not technical — they are human.

Employers told us they are struggling to find employees, especially at the entry level, who can communicate clearly, ask thoughtful questions, collaborate across differences, adapt when conditions shift, and persist through ambiguity.

That reality has implications for how we prepare students. In an AI-driven world, competitive advantage will belong to the states that couple rigorous academic standards and accountability with intentional development of the human skills technology cannot replace—judgment, adaptability, ethical reasoning and the ability to navigate relationships—and directly connect both to real-world economic opportunity.

We have been here before. When Massachusetts passed the Education Reform Act of 1993, it marked one of the nation’s most ambitious efforts to align public education with a changing economic landscape. That reform succeeded in large part because leaders in education and business came together around a shared understanding: strong schools were essential not just for individual opportunity, but for the state’s long-term economic vitality. By investing in higher standards, equitable funding, and accountability, Massachusetts built one of the strongest education systems in the country.

Three decades later, the economy is being reshaped again, this time by artificial intelligence, automation, and global interconnection. And once again, the moment calls for education and business leaders to act together.

The pace of technological change means no single body of knowledge or set of technical skills will remain sufficient for long. In an AI-driven economy, the most valuable skill is not only mastering today’s technology, but having the capacity to learn tomorrow’s. This is where education and business interests converge.

In recent years, schools have rightly strengthened their focus on career readiness, expanding access to industry pathways, technical credentials, and job-specific training. That progress matters. But preparation cannot stop at the demands of the present. Many roles will evolve—or disappear—within a decade. Preparing young people for the future requires more than narrow job training. It requires strong academic and technical foundations developed through learning that demands sustained application, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving. Done well, this approach strengthens content mastery while building the adaptability and judgment employers increasingly value.

Too often, professional norms and interpersonal skills are learned informally, through family networks, part-time jobs or extracurricular opportunities that are not equally accessible to all students. When schools do not teach these skills intentionally, gaps widen in academic outcomes, career opportunity and long-term economic mobility.

That’s why schools must explore even more structured opportunities that teach their students how to communicate, collaborate, and persist through challenges. To fully realize this vision, schools need employers as collaborators and co-designers of learning experiences, not just end-users of talent. Their participation can open doors to internships, mentorships, project-based learning, and tangible opportunities that are integral to how academic knowledge is taught and applied.

And let us be clear: academic rigor is non-negotiable. Literacy, numeracy, and scientific reasoning are essential gateways to all future learning, and Massachusetts’s commitment to high standards and meaningful assessment must endure. This must be the next phase of the 1993 Education Reform Act.

Research and employer experience already point in the same direction. Students master content more deeply when they have time to apply it, test it, revise it, and use it in meaningful contexts.

There are already promising examples of this work across the Commonwealth. Through its REALWork model, the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership moves students through a sequenced set of internships embedded in their academic programs, applying classroom learning to real industry challenges. They explore fields early, build professional networks, earn early college credit, and clarify pathways to living-wage careers. Rigor is not diluted; it is reinforced through real-world application.

In the Berkshires, the Berkshire Innovation Center provides a complementary, business-led approach outside the school day. Its Future Innovators program connects students directly with local employers to tackle hands-on projects, build technical and professional skills, and see how classroom knowledge translates into emerging industries. We need more initiatives like this, in even more communities.

As true partners, employers must be clear about what they value. If communication, collaboration, curiosity, and ethical judgment matter, they should show up not just in job descriptions, but in how skills and credentials are recognized in hiring, onboarding, and advancement. Signals from the labor market shape what schools prioritize.

Policymakers, too, have a role. As Massachusetts considers the future of statewide assessment, it has an opportunity to ensure that strong academic standards are complemented by measures that capture students’ ability to apply knowledge, think critically, and solve complex problems. High expectations and modernized assessment can—and should—reinforce one another.

AI is transforming the economy. That is inevitable. What is not inevitable is whether our education system keeps pace. Delay has consequences—for students, for employers, and for the Commonwealth’s long-term competitiveness.

Massachusetts once led the nation by aligning rigorous academics, accountability, and economic vision. We can do so again by ensuring students graduate with strong academic foundations including the creative human skills that allow them to adapt, lead and innovate in an AI-driven world. Even in the age of AI, our greatest competitive advantage is still human.

Jay Ash is president & CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. JD Chesloff is president & CEO of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable. Chad d’Entremont is executive director of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy.