How Gen Z can get ready to face the future of work and the AI landscape.

Cantú, Rubén. Interview by Laura Portillo. Austin, TX. October 29, 2023.

1. Can you please tell me about your profession and a little bit about what you do?

I am the Executive Director of the Office of Inclusive Innovation. In our office, one of the things we do is reach out to undergraduate students and work with them to help develop their professional and personal skills through the lens of entrepreneurship, so they can master the process. This enables them to venture into any field they desire, whether they choose to become full entrepreneurs. We adopt a much more holistic approach, which I term holistic entrepreneurship. This approach extends into our executive leadership track, which aids young women and entrepreneurs in general in learning how to think on an executive level.

2. Can you provide examples of how you have successfully adapted to changing work environments or technologies in the past? How do you see these experiences being relevant to the future of work?

The curriculum changes from semester to semester; there’s always refinement happening. During the pandemic, we did a complete 180. We had to ensure classes were engaging and educational while maintaining attention throughout, and people really loved being part of the program. They felt like they found a place where they belong, as we prioritized humanity and human aspects in the program before technical training.

3. What are your thoughts on the workforce after COVID-19? How have processes/practices/procedures changed since then?

The program has become much more human-centered; we have leaned into emotions, feelings, and trauma. We explore what that entails and how to utilize it to our benefit, instead of shying away from discussing difficult topics. Learning is impeded when barriers prevent you from processing new information, and when you’re not present. For example, it’s hard for little kids to learn if they haven’t eaten lunch.

The same concept applies; we must learn how to address primary concerns first. While our sessions are not full-on therapy for the students, there is an aspect of trauma-informed training. We pause the class when we need to delve deeper into difficult topics and process them so people can feel like they can remove their masks. That’s when breakthroughs occur, and when we return to the training, the learning sticks and is applied much faster since we’re not trying to force anything.

4. What do you see as the top five skills needed to succeed in the future workplace?

1. I believe we need students to understand that linear thinking will yield linear outcomes. We’re transitioning into a world of quantum thinking, and if you don’t know how to think on a quantum level, you’ll be stuck trying to produce solutions in a world that has already surpassed you.
2. Being adaptable goes beyond just holding multiple outcomes and scenarios in mind at the same time, especially as artificial intelligence evolves. It’s not about learning coding since computers can code themselves; it’s about knowing how to navigate human relationships and being each other’s greatest coach and champion. If we all learn how to be better people, machines will only augment our efforts. We can no longer fail in our unique roles, which are comprised of the unique elements that make us human. Hence, we need to lean heavily into human emotion.
3. Moreover, we need to develop the ability to view the world more critically. It’s not about criticizing the way things are, but learning how to ask “why” on multiple levels. You should be asking “why” incessantly, understanding historical events, asking difficult questions, and preventing history from repeating itself. Question why we have systems that continuously displace people, and how we can change these systems.
4. We should be capable of pausing and not just following orders blindly. I train my students to change the system because they are part of the system. Some people just want good employees to follow orders and deliver good output so they can continue playing the game, but this doesn’t work for everyone. We need to keep improving the system to make it inclusive and beneficial for all.
5. Beyond critical thinking, we need individuals who understand that competition is a finite game and will ultimately lead to our downfall. Regardless of what Wall Street advocates, while competition can serve as a catalyst, it’s destructive in the long run. Although no situation is perfect and predator-prey dynamics exist, a deeper sense of collaboration prevails even in the toughest times. We need to learn how to live with an interactive, interdependent, collaborative mindset since we don’t want to destroy each other.

5. What are key ways to up-skill employees in these areas?

Some key ways to up-skill employees include facilitating more hands-on learning. Stop theorizing about it but have them apply their learning and lead. They don’t have to lead the whole company, but we’re often too afraid of letting employees make mistakes that they never actually learn. People need to take on responsibility gradually and see how they fare. Leaders should inspire other leaders. Companies need to allow employees to step in and apply these principles.

6. In your opinion, how can a candidate effectively demonstrate their adaptability and willingness to learn new skills in a fast-paced and ever-evolving work environment?

From a value perspective, one must be very observant. I focus on understanding how to build systems within my mind and schematically.

A couple of things are essential:

a) understanding the processes that exist,

b) the roles that are set, and the outcomes that are expected.

c) evaluate all the gaps based on their weight — how big is this gap,

d) how is it affecting our bottom line or our ability to be there for our customers,

e) and then figuring out how that gap relates to a larger outcome.

Then, understand the value of what you’re going to do. I would approach my manager and say, “I’ve been here for a couple of weeks/months. I’ve been asking questions. I’ve built a system from what I understand. Do you agree with the system? I see these gaps that are affecting the larger output. Through the responsibilities I have, I’d like to have an opportunity to see if I can fill in this gap. Here’s a prototype, and I’d like for you to give me maybe an X amount of time to test it out. If it succeeds, we can implement it. If it doesn’t, we can let it go.”

But I’m constantly looking for improvement because at the end of the day, I’m there to help the company grow, and my job is to be looking out for blind spots to figure out how we can support the organization. This also requires leadership that has the ability to accept that they may not always be the smartest person on the job. They shouldn’t feel threatened by that. It’s okay to have smarter people on your team; you don’t always have to be the smartest one, but you need to foster a connection where people are willing to lend their talents to help you win.

We all have different talents, but instead of working for someone smarter than me, I’d rather work for someone caring because at least I know that in their care, they will guide me and make the right decisions for the entire team. If someone is just smart and doesn’t care, they may do the smart thing, but they might leave us behind. The goal is to create a strong sense of community and team.

7. What are your thoughts on Generation Z entering the workforce?

They are probably one of the smartest generations that are coming into the workforce. They are way ahead of their time. I’m thankful for that. They’re going to have a clash culturally between millennials, X’ers, and for that matter Boomers. Here’s the issue, they are believed to have mastered emotional intelligence and also have a healthy dose of humility so they don’t come in so cocky, but willing to learn is going to really be the saving grace. Just because they might be tactically smarter than perhaps the older generations, doesn’t mean they have the experience to lead just yet. But if the older generation and the younger generation get together, they can transfer those skills to each other and help each other strengthen.

I think this is a happy healthy dose of humility that might be needed from Gen Z. If they’re not careful (because millennials saw this as they came into the workforce too) the older generations won’t like them. Millennials really need to decide to be mentors and take Gen Z under their wing and support them in their growth. I can already hear their latest conversations about this person trying to take my job, instead of this person is trying to enhance my job and we should be looking at it from that standpoint.

8. Are recent grads well-equipped or ready to enter the workforce post-graduation?

I think the issue is you don’t know what you don’t know. I would say that having them have as much experiential training prior to coming into the workforce would be great. I’m not about exploiting people for free labor, but if they choose to put themselves in places where they could really learn and it’s viable for them to learn, as much inside of a situation or internship or even inside of a team of some sorts, the more that they understand how teams work the better off they’ll be because everything is done inside the team.

Let’s take for example, working from home. I work from home now, but you still have to remain connected to your team. If you fall out of regular communication with your team you won’t know how to succeed in working inside of teams. You will not only suffer but you’ll make the entire team suffer too. There is a clear understanding of how to work with teams even though not all of them get along, not all of us have to see eye to eye, it’s going for the long run and your ability to develop that emotional intelligence to listen to people.

9. What strategies do you believe are crucial for organizations to adopt in order to stay competitive in an increasingly global and digital economy?

You have to look at the entire process and find everywhere there is weakness and understand if you want to keep that process or you have to do away with it. Young people will need to further explore how to strengthen the entire team. They’re going to have to look at how to leverage partnerships to strengthen teams that way too. We can no longer think linearly, every business now is a global business. If you’re not thinking about a global level, let me tell you your next-door neighbor is and another company, like a company in China, is thinking globally and they’re thinking about how they take your local customers. So you’re not thinking on that level, you’re thinking of building a relationship in a community that is sustaining you. If not, then you will get eradicated, I hate to say it.

Artificial intelligence will replace a lot of the things we currently do, so start looking now at how AI will augment your job rather than disrupt it. Customers are going to be super savvy. They’re going to be even more demanding, and they’re going to be more prepared to make informed decisions. Consumers have a lot of power and choice. We’re going to have to start building brands that are built on authenticity, trust, and transparency. They can see and smell the non-sense a mile away, and when we see companies that are not choosing to do the right things, no matter how good they are, depending on the skill, could make customers choose differently. Amazon is facing this right now. They’re growing so fast with these warehouses, but they’re not treating the warehouse workers equitably. For customers, I reason that if the competition is giving you the same opportunity to get that same kind of quality, and they treat the people better, or they have a better culture, and they resonate with that brand, they’ll go with them. A company has a real chance of succeeding if they know how to build a real trusting relationship with the customer.

10. How can companies ensure the well-being and engagement of employees in a hybrid or fully remote work environment?

I think passing a carte blanche policy on anything is a mistake. I think there’s a conversation that needs to be had as a team. For example, working remotely. I like working remotely but there are sometimes I would rather have an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting. Everyone on the team should make an agreement on when an in-person meeting should happen. There’s always a negotiation, and we need to find out how that works. We want to talk about how remote work is possible, which is something that happens when people get together to collaborate.

I think as we look at it on a deeper level. While everything can be done remotely, an agreement in the conversation needs to be had as a team, not just from a leadership perspective to address what are the needs of the business and how the needs will be met, based on your role and the collaborative effort of everyone else. Look at what happened with Farmers Insurance; the company decided everyone was coming back to work and they had workers quitting because of it. That is a whole bunch of people that you could have kept if they could just have had some kind of conversation with them. Now leadership made the decisions, that’s on them.

I get that certain things need to be done by leadership but we forget that the people that are sustaining the business. They are the ones keeping it alive day in and day out. They also need to have something that works for them. So if we all have a sense of team, then we’ll collectively find a way to make it work. But if we’re not all bought in then that’s when you know employees feel taken advantage of because they believe the company doesn’t care about them. When leadership takes advantage of the people, and then overworks them, workers start losing trust, attrition rises and their retention is affected.

11. What are your thoughts on AI technology in the future workforce? How has it affected your company and/or the workplace?

Some concerns include:

1. Job displacement: AI has the potential to automate many tasks, which could lead to job loss in certain industries.
2. Bias: AI systems can be biased if the data they are trained on is biased. This can lead to unfair decisions and outcomes.
3. Privacy: The use of AI could lead to privacy concerns, as more personal data is collected and analyzed.
4. Ethics: There are ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI, such as the potential for autonomous weapons or the development of AI that is smarter than humans.

Here are a few ways AI could impact the future workforce:

1. Automation of repetitive tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more complex work.
2. Improved decision-making through data analysis and machine learning. Enhanced personalization and customization of services and products.
3. Increased efficiency and productivity in various industries.
4. Improved customer service and support with AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants.

AI has not affected my job or workplace just yet, but I think in the next three years we’re going to see the impact of what this integration of AI technology has done to our existing practices and process and the way we think. We are offloading our way of existence and professional sustenance to a machine.

The question becomes, what will we choose to focus on that would still keep us active and sharp and a contributor to our society. I believe that human fulfillment and pursuing creative and self-expression pathways might open up. One can only hope and dream about a place where humans can choose to work if they want, but have the ability to have their basic needs met so they have been an ever bigger contributor to society through their creative outlets. Again, this is a biased answer because I am naturally creative and I seek to explore all forms of creativity and the intersection of technology.

12. What else should we know about the future of work and how to prepare the next generation of workers?

Jobs that are being developed right now — we have no idea how they function. The biggest thing we can do right now is to stop being so strict, stern, and structured. Even though we need some level of structure, everything is going to be rewritten. Everything is going to be restructured. Everything is going to be shaken up and there are jobs that are being created right now that we haven’t even learned how to train for. So, stop trying to force people into compliance. In the world of culture, there’s a paradigm like the Yin and Yang paradigm, where you can either create a world of compliance or one of contribution.

The things that lead you to either a world of compliance or a world of contribution are the level of creativity that you foster inside your company and the level of conformity that is pushed upon your people. So, you can either choose — you need both to function.

I think for most companies when they’re trying to control all the unknowns, they rob people of their creativity, or they extract their creativity to predict the outcome and scenario. There’s always a level of unknown that needs to be there that allows the imagination and creativity to thrive. This creates the happy accidents we would have never seen because we were so stuck in doing things the way that we always do. We’re not robots, and we won’t stop the ability to be creative. That creativity allows for there to be a cultural contribution.