Why Does LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky Push for AI Skills?

Ryan Roslanky, LinkedIn CEO, has shown his passion for understanding how AI can change jobs and the employment space on multiple occasions, emphasising how people can compete in the AI era.

He has now taken that one step further. Serving as Executive Vice President of Microsoft, writing a book named ‘Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI’ on behalf of LinkedIn and Microsoft employees.

Announcing the help-book on LinkedIn on 14 January, Ryan explained its need: “The future of work is not off on the horizon. It is here now, moving fast, shaped by the choices we make today.

“AI is already changing how we learn, how we create and how we move forward. The real question is not what the technology can do. The real question is what we choose to do with it.”

He added: “Moments like this do not just test our skills. They reveal our character and our willingness to lead this moment.”

Microsoft’s and LinkedIn’s commitment to people

The book is written by the CEO and Chief Economic Opportunity Officer Aneesh Raman. Microsoft’s Chief Communications Officer Frank X. Shaw explains in a blog post that the book explores “how AI is reshaping work and what that shift means for people navigating it every day”.

He says: “Microsoft and LinkedIn sit at an intersection of how work is done and how careers are built,” he wrote. “We share a belief that the future of work will be driven by human creativity and ingenuity, not technology alone.”

The book aims to emphasise the importance of humans staying at the centre of the AI surge, allowing AI to enhance what workers can do at all levels from applying for a job to progressing in a career to create new economic opportunities.

Ryan adds to this idea: “Technology can be remarkable. But it cannot dream. It cannot care. It cannot lead. Only people can do that.”

A leader passionate about AI

Ryan has emphasised the importance of remaining, or becoming, AI-savvy. He said that among a competitive and uncertain job market, those most likely to get hired will be “adaptable, forward-thinking, ready to learn and ready to embrace these [AI] tools”, according to Business Insider at an informal chat at the company’s office in October 2025.

During this conversation, he was specifically discussing the post-graduate job battle as Gen Z graduates face the reality that degrees no longer guarantee a six-figure salary.

Ryan warned that their situation may not look better down the line as employees will be wanting people who know how to navigate and utilise AI instead.

At this time, unemployment rates for grads remained higher than any other sector at 4.8%, in comparison to 4% for all workers, according to data from the New York Fed.

Five-year career plans are going out the window

At the end of 2025, the CEO also shared how this change in employment is changing the five-year plan, making them obsolete.

Speaking on a ‘No One Knows What They’re Doing’ podcast on YouTube, he said: “You’ll hear people frequently say, ‘hey, you have a five-year plan, like, chart out what the next five years of your life are going to look like, and then follow the path and follow that plan.

“And in reality, when you know technology and the labour market and everything is moving beneath you, I think having a five-year plan is a little bit foolish.”

Ryan advised to instead focus on what they want to learn and the experiences they want to gain.

The AI-help book aims to help people adjust to the changing environment, with Frank adding on Microsoft’s blog: “For leaders, it’s [AI] about rethinking how work gets organised and cultivating a Frontier mindset: the conviction that the most important innovations happen at the edges, where uncertainty is highest and the opportunity to shape what comes next is greatest.

“And for Microsoft and LinkedIn employees, it’s a reminder of the responsibility we share to shape the future of work in a thoughtful, human-centred way.”