Why LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky Thinks AI Rules Workplaces

The post-graduate job battle goes on. Recent Gen Z graduates are continuing to face the reality that degrees no longer guarantee a six-figure salary.

Ryan Roslansky, CEO at LinkedIn, is warning their situation may not look any better down the line – as employees will be on the hunt for AI-savvy talent instead.

Unemployment rates for grads remains higher than any other sector at 4.8%. This compares to 4% for all workers, according to the latest data from the New York Fed.

According to Business Insider, Ryan said during an informal chat at the company’s office: “ I think the mindset shift is probably the most exciting thing, because my guess is that the future of work belongs not anymore to the people that have fanciest degrees or went to the best colleges.”

He predicted that those most likely to get hired will be  “adaptable, forward-thinking, ready to learn, and ready to embrace these tools,” referring to AI.

Degrees becoming redundant?

Many tech leaders have climbed the ladder without having a degree or diploma.

Fortune reports that the likes of Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Twitter (now X) Co-Founder Jack Dorsey are among the success stories.

Speaking on the ‘This Past Weekend’ podcast in April 2025, Mark said: “I’m not sure that college is preparing people for the jobs that they need to have today.

“I think there’s a big issue on that, and all the student debt issues are really big.”

As a Harvard University dropout himself, the CEO added: “It’s sort of a taboo thing to say, ‘maybe not everyone needs to go to college’, and because there’s a lot of jobs that don’t require that, people are probably coming around to that opinion a little more now than maybe 10 years ago.”

Open AI CEO Sam aims to support the future of the AI-savvy talent, taking on the likes of LinkedIn with a new AI-powered hiring and employee certification platform.

The product, known as the OpenAI Jobs Platform, will help companies both large and small to find AI-savvy workers and unlock future skill sets.

Fidj Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of Applications, announced in a blog on 1 October that businesses will “use AI to help find the perfect matches between what companies need and what workers can offer”.

She added: “If you’re looking to hire an AI-savvy employee, or you just need help with a specific task, finding the right person can be hit-or-miss. The OpenAI Jobs Platform will have knowledgeable, experienced candidates at every level and opportunities for anyone looking to put their skills to use.

“And we’ll use AI to help find the perfect matches between what companies need and what companies can offer.”

AI like 'having a second brain'

During the conversation at LinkedIn’s San Francisco office on 30 September, Ryan said using AI is like “having a second brain” that knows him “extremely well”.

The CEO also serves an an Executive Vice President of Microsoft and says it helps when communicating with the tech giant’s CEO Satya Nadella: “A lot of time when I’m sending a super high-stakes email to Satya Nadella or other CEOs or world leaders, etc, you’ve got to make sure you sound super smart when you do that.

“So, I would say that, without a doubt, almost every email that I send these days is being sent with the help of Copilot.”

Despite the rate of unemployment among recent graduates, Ryan says they must start upskilling to use AI in the workplace, adding: “It really opens up the playing field in a way I’ve never seen before.”